Marriage & Family Therapy

What is family therapy? If your family is struggling, you could benefit from the family therapy programs at HPA/LiveWell.

Marriage and family therapy helps couples and families who are struggling with their personal relationships as well as divorce or separation counseling, child counseling, premarital counseling and other relationship counseling. In fact, marriage and family therapy covers a wide range of therapeutic interventions for both personal and family relationships.

A marriage and family therapist (MFT) is a licensed professional who specializes in interpersonal relationships. Family therapists are specially trained to evaluate, diagnose and treat individuals, couples and families who seek a more communicative, productive and satisfying family or personal relationship.

Here at HPA/LiveWell, our family therapists help individuals and family members understand how they function as a group. We help them focus on the family as a whole rather than isolating an individual. Our therapists also help family members identify and resolve conflicts – and strengthen family bonds – so the family fuses together as a support network.

Can family therapy help you and your family?

Our family therapists are qualified to treat a wide range of disorders including relationship problems, divorce, substance abuse, childhood behavioral and emotional disorders, mental illness, depression, domestic violence and alcoholism.

What can you expect from family therapy?

During family therapy sessions, all family members are encouraged to focus on the strengths of each person in the family and recognize how these positive attributes benefit the family as a whole. Everyone is encouraged to take responsibility for problems within the family, though some members may need to adjust their behavior more than others. In fact, family therapy is dynamic – family members are often given assignments to complete before the next session.

What can you expect from marriage counseling?

The aim of couples counseling is usually to bring partners together for combined therapy sessions. Your HPA/LiveWell therapist will help both of you develop skills that strengthen your relationship. Some of these skills may include:

• Solving problems together
• Communicating openly
• Discussing differences rationally and calmly
• Analyzing the good and bad parts of your relationship
• Understanding the sources of your conflict

If your partner is reluctant to attend joint counseling sessions, you can attend by yourself. While it may be more challenging to repair a relationship when only one partner participates in therapy, you will still reap the benefits of learning more about yourself and your behavior within the relationship.

How long will family therapy or marriage counseling take?

Family therapy – Each family is different. The number of sessions required will vary depending on your family’s needs and how willing family members are to actively participate.

Couples counseling – Couples counseling is often short term. You and your partner may only need a few sessions to resolve your conflict and strengthen your relationship. But in some cases, counseling may take several months. In other cases, you may realize that your differences are irreconcilable and the best thing to do is end the relationship. While it is difficult for many couples to seek help in the form of counseling, it is better than trying to weather the storm alone.

If you’re asking “What is family therapy – and can it help MY family?” please call us. Here are HPA/LiveWell, we use the most current psychological therapies to help your family communicate better, resolve problems together and actively support one another.