Category: Family Therapy

The Good Therapy Blog

HELP! Our Family is Addicted to Yelling

May 17th, 2013 . 4 Comments

Shouting, yelling, screaming. Nearly all parents have done it; nearly all children age 10 and under have heard it. In small doses, such as in emergencies, yelling is not believed to be harmful. Yet, as common as this interaction is within families, if it happens too often it can break down positive... Read More

Reaching Out to Broken Families Can Make a World of Difference

May 2nd, 2013 . 6 Comments

One-third of high school students have heard somebody say he or she will kill someone. One-seventh of high school students seriously considered committing suicide. Eighty percent of teen pregnancies are unintended. Forty-three percent of teens have been ... Read More

Dividing Family Loyalties When You Marry

April 23rd, 2013 . 8 Comments

There is nothing like bringing home a close friend or partner to shine a spotlight on the unspoken rules by which every family, your family, lived and lives. Every family that lives with one another for some time develops a set of patterns for emotional engagement that soon feels like the “family rules.” These expectations for behavior may start within a marriage and strengthen their grip as ... Read More

Meet the GoodTherapy.org Topic Experts: Erika Myers

March 14th, 2013 . 3 Comments

A GoodTherapy.org member since August 2012, Erika Myers has been a steady contributor to The Good Therapy Blog in recent months, sharing her wisdom about parenting amid divorce, for example, and advocating for a “benign ... Read More

Family Therapy Success Depends Mostly on Therapist-Parent Communication

March 6th, 2013 . 8 Comments

Family therapy is a fantastic way to get parents and children to communicate better with each other. For families struggling with teenaged children, therapy offers unique insight into what causes disruption and behavior problems. However, many families who enter therapy either drop out early or during the middle of therapy. It has been suggested that in order to be considered a full course... Read More

Psychoeducation Enhances Quality of Life in People with Schizophrenia

February 25th, 2013 . 9 Comments

There are a number of factors that influence quality of life (QOL) for individuals living with schizophrenia. Included among those are family environment, support, symptom severity, medication, and treatment adherence sense of coherence (SOC) describes the comprehension an individual has of their own illness. When a person with schizophrenia understands the nuances of their mental health condition they can... Read More

Rules of Engagement with Foster and Adoptive Children

February 21st, 2013 . 23 Comments

Most children and teens in the foster care system have experienced significant rejection, whether their biological parents ignored their most fundamental needs or acted violently against them in some way to bring a false semblance of control to the chaos of their own lives. Then, of course, there are even greater evils: ... Read More

Project Hope Targets Parental Depression and Adolescent Drug Use

January 17th, 2013 . 2 Comments

The negative effects of parental depression cannot be understated. When parents are depressed, they are less able to parent effectively, are less engaged with their children, and are unavailable to provide emotional and physical support. This increases the risk of psychological problems for the children. Family interventions have been developed to address this urgent need, but many focus on either the parental depression or the child/adolescent behavior and do not... Read More

Challenges of Family Therapy for Clinicians Working with Caregivers

January 13th, 2013 . 2 Comments

Palliative care helps patients cope with the difficulties of living with a chronic illness. For terminal patients, palliative care often addresses the needs of the caregivers as well as the patient. Caregivers are increasingly represented by family members. This unique role has benefits and drawbacks. Parents, children, spouses, and siblings can provide intimate and loving... Read More

Parental Diversity Considered during Parenting Interventions

January 12th, 2013 . 1 Comment

Parenting interventions are designed to strengthen positive parenting strategies, improve parenting skills, and increase knowledge about child-parent interactions. They also focus on decreasing dysfunction within the family unit and providing parents with resources for mental and physical health challenges. For families dealing with anxiety, depression, abuse, or other psychological difficulties, family and parent interventions are a valuable service. The ultimate... Read More

As the New Year Unfolds, Accentuate the Positive

January 3rd, 2013 . 9 Comments

’Tis the season when many of us make resolutions for the New Year. We set goals, renew our commitment to making changes in our lives, and set forth with renewed hope and energy. Sometime in the following six weeks, most of us find that we’ve fallen back into old patterns, slid back into those habits we were so hoping we would be breaking this time around, and—more often than not—feel guilt and disappointment about once again failing to live up to the expectations... Read More

Identifying African-Americans’ Barriers to Family Therapy

November 16th, 2012 . 3 Comments

Family therapy can help families and couples overcome challenges with interpersonal relationships. Many issues that families and couples face become volatile and hostile without the help of learning how to constructively communicate and problem-solve. Relationship issues do not discriminate, and people of all cultures and races are vulnerable to family conflicts. This does not mean that people of every ethnicity embrace family therapy equally. In fact, African-Americans are far less likely... Read More

Therapist-Adolescent Conflict and Communication Styles

June 25th, 2012 . 5 Comments

Adolescents rarely seek psychological help on their own. More often than not, they are encouraged to seek a psychologist or therapist by family members, friends, or teachers. When teenagers commit illegal offenses, law enforcement may require that they attend therapy. Regardless of how they get there, the goal of therapy is usually the same, to improve behavior and emotional well-being. Family therapy interventions for teens are designed to provide an environment that can address not... Read More

The High Family Costs of Traveling for Work

May 17th, 2012 . 10 Comments

With the advent of easy plane travel, many larger businesses have grown to include regional, national, and even international customers or work sites. While our national economy now counts on the companies that make cars, bank, drill, grow, or publish around the world, the people who work at the higher levels of these industries find their jobs are not done just at their desks, no matter how amazingly connected they are electronically. Business relationships, decisions, and inspections can’t be built or done without physically being on-site, and... Read More