5 Reasons to Take the Leap Into Family Therapy

If your family is struggling, you're not alone. Mom might be fighting a lot with her son and her son might be fighting a lot with his sister, and there might be lots of yelling, frustration, and tears. But don't worry; your family isn't broken. In fact, it's normal; life isn't all roses and butterflies, and family dynamics are no exception.

But the good news is that you don't just have to accept it the way it is. Family therapy with doctors like Dr. Ned Hallowell is a great way for your family to come together and talk about the things that are hard. While it might be scary to commit to taking the leap, family therapy is one of the best ways to mend torn relationships and find ways to get along.

1. Improves Communication

Even if you're 45 years old and sure that you know just how to communicate effectively, you're probably wrong. There's always room for improvement, and you might not know how your communication style is affecting your partner or your children. Having a third party present to listen to how your family communicates and point out the things that might not be working can be a huge help, and your therapist can work with you to work out the kinks that you didn't even know were there. Goodbye, passive aggression! Hello, talking about feelings!

2. Invokes Empathy

In an argument, the only thing you're usually focused on is yourself. You're angry and don't see how you couldn't be right in your convictions. But the reality is that this is unproductive, and working with a therapist to see things from your family members' perspectives will allow for a deeper sense of empathy. If you can understand the reasons why your family members act the way that they do, you might have more compassion when responding to things that irk you. Vice versa, as well; if you open up, your family members might see things your way.

3. Builds Conflict Resolution Skills

Never has there ever been a family that doesn't suffer from conflicts. Conflicts are a given, but how you solve them is what's important. Family therapy can help your family learn how to manage their emotions, words, and body language when involved in an argument so that instead of escalating to a heated screaming match, the argument becomes productive and worthwhile. An argument doesn't always have to be an explosion, and family therapy can help show you that.

4. Helps Understand Boundaries

Boundaries can be difficult to master, especially when you're a family who lives under one roof and spending lots of time together (this is especially true during the pandemic-induced work-from-home culture). But everyone needs their privacy and personal space in order to maintain their sanity, especially for pre-teens transitioning into teenagers or teenagers transitioning to adults. A family therapist can help show you how to put effective boundaries in place that work for everyone.

5. Helps Your Family Feel Whole

Oftentimes, families can feel fractured. Your son and your daughter might not get along, but you might get along with your son better while your partner gets along with your daughter. Any way you slice it, closer relationships within your family are inevitable but can cause your family to feel broken. It's not. While those close connections between individuals won't go away, family therapy will help your family feel like a unit again instead of broken up into smaller teams. It will help remind you that no matter what happens, you're a family, and you'll love each other through thick and thin.

Family therapy is not something to be ashamed of. Taking the initiative to work on the things that aren't perfect is admirable, courageous, and important. The work will be hard, but with a good therapist and a lot of motivation, it will all be worth it — because there is nothing more worth fighting for than your family.