Malaty Therapy offers mental health family counseling services for teens and young adults in Houston, TX. Call 713-628-3966 to learn more or schedule your first appointment.
When a teen or young adult is in crisis, the entire family dynamic is affected. Likewise, when there is trouble in the family, such as job loss or marital discord, it can affect everyone within the family. Therefore, family counseling may be recommended as part of the therapy process.
Family counseling is a specific type of therapy that focuses on family dynamics and the effects of each person’s behaviors on the family unit. It is typically used in tandem with individual therapy, in which each family member focuses specifically on his or her unique problems and concerns.
Family counseling is typically recommended for problems that affect the entire family, such as the loss of a loved one or parent-child strife. However, it is also useful when the issues faced by one family member affect the rest of the family, such as substance abuse or depression. We find that the teen and young adult years, during which children are defining their identity and leaving the nest, can be hard on the entire family, so we recommend family counseling for many of our clients.
Family counseling is brief, typically consisting of no more than 12 sessions, and solution-oriented. After an initial “getting to know you” appointment, you and your therapist will work together to identify the core issues affecting the family and set goals for treatment, along with rules for the therapy sessions such as “listening without interrupting” or “speaking rather shouting.” As your family progresses, you may identify new sources of conflicts and set new goals for managing them.
Because teen and young adult issues tend to be rooted in, and deeply affect the family unit, we often recommend at least a few sessions of family counseling. This helps everyone involved learn to relate to each other in healthier ways. However, family counseling does not work if all members of the family do not buy into the process.
We do not require family counseling as a condition of therapy, and we are happy to focus on other treatment methods that better suit your needs. It is always better to focus on yourself and the things you can control than to spend time fretting over a family that is unsupportive.
Call Malaty Therapy at 713-628-3966 to learn more or schedule your first appointment.
