Family Therapy

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What is family therapy?

Family therapy – otherwise known as systemic therapy – focuses on relationships between a group of people, rather than solely on an individual’s experiences. In this sense, systemic therapy is about helping people in close relationships help each other. Systemic therapy may include parents and children of all ages, grandparents, siblings, partners, friends, carers – or anyone else who is important to the family.

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Systemic family therapy - what are the benefits?

Every family system is a bit like a human body. Sometimes it feels great, and things work well. Other times, even small things can feel like huge challenges. When we hurt one part of our body, every part can be affected in some way. But all the parts of the body can work together to help if a bone gets broken – or if there’s an infection. Systemic therapy helps family members work together when something is hurting or just feeling out of sorts.

 

Systemic therapy works in partnership with people. It enables people to talk together in ways that respect differences in belief, culture, and life experiences.

 

It views relationships as a resource that can be drawn upon in times of stress to help all members of the family system cope more effectively. It enables family members to express and explore thoughts and feelings in a safe environment. And it invites people to better understand each other’s experiences and to appreciate their needs. It focuses on peoples’ strengths and abilities, and seeks to utilise these to make meaningful changes in their lives.

 

Systemic therapy is also helpful to people seeking individual therapy, as it enables the person to reflect on strengths and difficulties from a relational point of view.

Group

What happens in systemic therapy?

Your therapist may:
  • Talk about each person’s hopes
  • Encourage everyone to talk about their experiences and ideas and also to listen to everyone else in the group
  • Draw a kind of family tree, called a genogram, to help people think about relationship patterns in the family
  • Ask lots of questions to encourage reflection on each person’s beliefs, values, needs, hopes and assumptions to help facilitate understanding and new ways of thinking
  • Help people to move beyond blame and to begin exploring how everyone can work together towards a shared goal
  • Help people to reflect on patterns of interaction between members of the family system

Frequently asked questions

In family therapy, all difficulties are seen through the lens of an individual being part of a system. There are many different presentations that can benefit from family therapy intervention. As part of our initial assessment, we will always mention whether we believe family therapy would be the most appropriate form of treatment for you.
Ideally, most members will be involved in the therapy process. However, there is some flexibility on this. There may be sessions which involve select family members either due to practical constraints or perhaps when there is a lack of willingness of certain members to participate.
Family therapists are specifically trained in understanding family systems and engage in rigorous self-reflection following sessions. In some cases, two family therapists may work with a family over the course of their therapy. This is to ensure that all the different perspectives of family members are being valued and to decrease the likelihood of divisions or an experience of the therapist “taking sides”.

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Marina Hilleary

December 9, 2024 No Comments

Dr Marina Hilleary is a Clinical Psychologist working in the NHS and private practice. She completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Exeter, graduating with first-class honours and was subsequently awarded an MSc in Mental Health Studies and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.

Dr Hilleary has 9 years of clinical experience in various NHS mental health settings, her current position being on a Specialist Adolescent Team at a Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). She has a specialist interest in working with children, young people and their families and has worked with young people presenting with a wide range of difficulties including depression, low self-esteem, anxiety (specific phobias, GAD, social anxiety, separation anxiety, panic and OCD), PTSD, behaviours that challenge and additional neurodevelopmental needs.

Dr Hilleary is experienced in carrying out comprehensive psychological assessments (including cognitive assessments) and recognises the importance of working towards a shared understanding of the presenting difficulties to enable a positive therapeutic outcome. She draws on a range of evidence-based psychological therapies and models, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-Based approaches. In addition, Dr Hilleary utilises systemic family approaches when working with young people and their families.

Dr Hilleary adopts an integrative, compassionate and person-centred approach to engage young people, building their motivation to participate in decisions around their care plan and achieve their therapeutic goals. She works creatively with her clients and, where appropriate, alongside any of their important support systems.