Family counseling is meant to open lines of communication and soothe hurt feelings. But if you don’t know what to expect from your first session, you may worry about getting the opposite effect.

At Neal Psychological Specialties, we want you to experience hope every step of the way. To ensure you feel confident and prepared for your first family session, we’ve outlined everything you can expect from our time together.

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The Goals of Family Counseling

Some families choose counseling because they’ve been struggling for a long time. Others turn to therapy because they are facing sudden and unexpected challenges. Whatever the reason, meeting with a therapist can help you and your loved ones overcome painful or uncomfortable issues.

In fact, according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, most families who attend counseling report positive results. But if you’ve never been, you may wonder what exactly happens during a family counseling session. At NPS, we work with families to reach the following goals.

Discuss Concerns

Above all else, family counseling allows family members to address their concerns. The primary goal is for you and your loved ones to achieve happier and more functional relationships. That can’t happen if there are unaddressed issues lurking around every corner.

It may be infidelity, financial difficulties, or political differences at the heart of your family conflict. Whatever the case, we will show you how to find common ground and better understand where each person is coming from.

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

Part of working through family challenges is understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each individual. While a loved one may succeed in showing physical affection, they may struggle to put their feelings into words–or vice versa. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your loved ones can help you set realistic expectations and improve communication.

Learn Coping Skills

One goal of family therapy is to equip your family with actionable skills that can be implemented in your daily lives. With this in mind, we will help you build healthy conflict-resolution techniques and stress-management tactics.

Life is unpredictable and most challenges arise when you are not face-to-face with a counselor. That’s why we strive to teach our clients how to adapt to challenges and overcome adversity, no matter when, where, or how they arise.

Open Pathways of Communication

Every strong family relationship is built upon healthy communication. But opening pathways that have long been closed does not happen overnight. Through counseling, you and your loved ones can develop the skills needed to speak openly. Those skills include active listening, collaborative problem solving, conflict resolution, and healthy compromise.

When you and your loved ones fully commit to family counseling, you will be surprised at how quickly you’ll see results. Discussing concerns, understanding each others’ strengths and weaknesses, learning coping skills, and opening the pathways of communication will help your family get started on a better path.

Types of Family Counseling

Family counseling looks different for every family. Some groups need short-term therapy while others thrive in a long-term setting. After we’ve gotten to know you and your loved ones, we can make more accurate recommendations based on your needs and growth. Until then, it can help to have a general idea of the types of family counseling available.

Marriage/Couples Counseling

Some couples find that marriage counseling, rather than counseling for the whole family, is actually what’s needed. Resolving issues between the heads of the household can often have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the family.

If there are communication challenges standing between you and your partner, give us a call today. We’d love to talk more about what’s going on and help you work towards a better future for you, your significant other, and the rest of your family.

Strategic Family Counseling

Strategic family therapy (SFT) addresses behavioral issues in children and adolescents. With SFT, the overriding premise is that families play an important role in the development and growth of children. By guiding struggling families through their interactions and behaviors, SFT helps the whole family function in a healthier way.

If you have a child, or children, struggling with aggressive behavior, substance use, delinquency, or other challenges, SFT can improve relationships and enforce healthier boundaries. NPS has helped many families like yours strengthen their communication and cohesiveness.

Systemic Family Counseling

Systemic counseling can take place in individual, group, or family settings. The premise of this type of counseling is that a person’s relationships, behaviors, and choices affect their quality of life. That's why we believe it lends itself especially well to family settings.

If you believe unhealthy patterns and behaviors are at the root of your family’s challenges, this form of counseling can help you see the potential for change. With our help, you and your loved ones can explore issues from different angles and identify the larger patterns at play.

How to Know if Family Therapy is Right for You

Whether the issues facing your family are big or small, therapy can be a safe and effective place to find opportunities for growth. We each process and understand events differently. So it’s not uncommon for miscommunications or misunderstandings to take root in a family. Don’t let those issues keep your loved ones apart any longer. Turn to NPS for counseling and we will help you reestablish functional and cohesive relationships once more.

You may find family counseling effective if you and/or a loved one has recently experienced:

Grief or loss
Depression, anxiety, or another mental health diagnosis
Substance use or addiction
Trauma
Divorce or separation
Infidelity or loss of trust

No matter what the conflicts, misunderstandings, or events at the heart of your family issue may look like, our team is here for you. Even if you are unsure what the problem is, we can help you find the tools and language needed to give and get the support your family needs.

To get the process started, we recommend a 15-minute meet & greet with a member of our team. This will give us a chance to get to know each other better and ensure a good client-therapist matchup. Schedule your appointment now by calling us at (815) 477-4727.