Family therapy starts with establishing a clear understanding of the counselling process where the focus is the family as a whole, understanding each of the family members’ experience of the family and creating a mutual goal for therapy while emphasizing the importance of homework. The therapist focuses on helping the family understand how they interact with each other, isolate unhealthy/ unhelpful patterns, understand how each individual’s behaviour influences and is influenced by the family.

Generally, the whole family is required to be present for all the sessions. Sometimes, the counsellor may meet each of the clients separately as well, however, the focus is on the family as a whole. If needed, the counsellor might refer one or more to individual/ couple counselling support as well.

Family members improve their awareness of each other and the ways of the family as a whole, adopt more helpful patterns and develop better communication and conflict management skills.