Is Family Therapy Right For Me?

Family dynamics are complicated. Each of us are likely to experience some level of health and some level of dysfunction in our family constellation throughout our lifetimes. But how do we know whether or not our family could benefit from the support of a family systems therapist?

There are many reasons families seek the support of a therapist to help manage through life’s challenges. The questions below are intended to help you gauge your need for support.

1. You want to improve your relationships with your family. It isn’t necessary to have experienced a traumatic event or be living with severe dysfunction to benefit from family therapy. Some families may simply want to learn better communication to continue to improve an otherwise healthy family system.
2. You experience difficulties functioning normally:  Do routine tasks frequently feel burdensome or achievable in your family?
3. Some members display extreme emotions: Do some family members have outbursts of feeling that are disproportionate to the preceding event?
4. Communication breakdown: Do you find it hard to understand one another or resolve issues meaningfully?
5. Withdrawal from family time: Do some family member seem less interested or disinterested in joint activities, preferring to isolate themselves from others?
6. Threats of violence: Are there incidences or near-incidences of assault, physical harm, sexual harm, or emotional/psychological harm?
7. Hopelessness: Do you feel overwhelmed and unable to see a way out of your family’s challenges?
8. Are there sudden changes in your children’s behavior: Are your children more withdrawn, more fearful, displaying uncharacteristics outbursts of emotion, or are otherwise less like themselves?
9. A recent traumatic experience: Has your recently suffered from a traumatic experience?
10. Substance abuse/addiction: Do members in your family misuse alcohol and/or drugs? Do you suspect a family member is living with an addiction problem?

It isn’t always easy to ask for help. But at Integrative Therapy Center of New York City, we can find the right family therapist to give you and your family the tools needed to build a better way forward.

Every family is different. At Integrative therapy, we help you restore your family’s foundation.