5 Different Types of Family Therapy That You Must Know About

Rachael Pace, Author

Rachael Pace

Expertise: Mental health, Parenting

Rachael Pace inspires with motivational articles on loving partnerships. She encourages making room for love and facing challenges together.

Learn about Our Editorial Process

6.8k Reads

Updated: 28 Jun, 2023

Table of Contents

Understanding family dynamics helps couples feel seen and heard, and a skilled therapist can guide you toward shared goals, trust, and a stronger bond.
Choosing the right therapy type supports better communication and healthier patterns, so you can listen with empathy and resolve conflicts with care.
Committing to regular sessions nurtures growth over time, encouraging vulnerability and closeness as you build deeper emotional connection together.

Every individual goes through a certain amount of despair and pain at a certain point in their life. To overcome such issues, they must speak to someone or consult with some expert.

This applies to couples and families as well. They must also seek a family therapist to make things right and look for ways to leave their past behind.

Family therapy is not an alien practice these days. There are counselors who are willing to help a family to abandon their despair and move towards a better future, together.

To reach a successful solution, counselors try to understand the dynamics of the family and look forward to solving the problem. There are various types of family therapy they follow on the basis of the structure and the problem of the family. Since now we understand what is family therapy, let’s have a quick look at why families need therapy and then to its various types.

Why need family therapy?

We all dream of having a lovely and happy family, but not everyone is able to see their dreams into a reality. There are families who go through tough times and instability. The modern times and the stress from society can put the bonding of a family to test.

Furthermore, there is an unsaid pressure to maintain a work-life balance, which most individuals fail to achieve in these competitive days and can further cause discord within the members of a family.

These things do call out for a family therapist, who can try to bring all the members on the same page and can solve their internal issues before they escalate.

Since there are various issues a family can go through over the course of a period, there are different types of family therapy for each problem. Let’s have a look at quick look at them.

What are the different types of family therapy?

1. Structural therapy

Developed by Salvador Minuchin, this therapy focuses on the structure of the family and assesses the power dynamics of the family. Through this therapy, the counselor tries to understand the roles assigned to each member of the family and the amount of power they’ve and how that can be redistributed likewise.

This is one of the types of family therapy that is based on the following five structures:

The counselor focuses on developing an interaction within the members instead of individual analysis
‘Matrix of identity’ is later derived basis personal interaction within the members of the family
How is the structure of the family during social interactions
‘Well-functioning family’ on how the family develops to the family needs
The therapist tries to help the family come out of their constraints and flourish as a stronger unit.

2. Strategic therapy

In this one of the types of family therapy which is far more direct than the other ones. In this, the therapist initiates a session that focuses on how the session transpires to create solution-focused plans that eventually will help the family members to resolve their problems.

They understand the pattern of interaction and conflict within the members and try to create an awareness about these patterns.

To achieve this, the therapist gives an assignment to individuals with an aim to improve their interaction, particularly among those who are facing challenges or are undergoing some mental illness or disorder.

This also works well in the most dominant family members initiating a communication change resulting in positive interaction within the members and the sufferer.

3. Narrative therapy

This is a therapy model where the person is encouraged to be in their own self and use their skill set to address the issues they’re facing. This also let them look at the minute issues they’ve in their daily and handle them smoothly.

The entire point of this therapy is to let people create a story for themselves that will help them identify who they’re and skill set they possess to deal with their routine issues.

The sole purpose of such types of family therapy is to help an individual clarify, create and support the story they have built to guide themselves in their life.

4. Transgenerational therapy

Through this type of therapy, the therapist tries to understand the intergenerational relationship and the conflicts each member is going through. They also aim to break the down problematic or destructive belief that often causes the disruption between two or three generations.

This is extremely beneficial if two generations are living in under the same roof. This is where the conflict of ideas and beliefs appear and create uneasiness amongst the family members.

5. Communication therapy

Communication is one of the strongest pillars of a healthy family relationship. However, with changing times, there is a gap that further leads to various family issues. The change in the communication can start with the difference in belief or cultural background, or in some cases personal experiences. It’s important to address the issue at the earliest save the family from damages.

The therapist’s responsibility is to ensure that the problem between either the two individuals is solved properly within due time. They can come up with their own ways to solve this, depending upon the family structure, the intensity of the problem and the behavioral trait of two individuals involved.

There isn’t any shame to visit a therapist and seek their help. Everyone, at some point in time in their life, would need guidance from someone well read and well aware of these issues. So, if you think there is a problem within you, consult a therapist and they might use one of the aforementioned types of family therapy for you.

Helpful?

Save Your Marriage Course

Continue exploring this topic

Hi, I'm your relationship guide. What's on your mind?

YOU COULD START WITH

Share this article on

Share this article on

Rachael Pace Author

Rachael Pace is a noted relationship writer associated with Marriage.com. She provides inspiration, support, and empowerment in the form of motivational articles and essays. Rachael enjoys studying the evolution of loving partnerships... Read more and is passionate about writing on them. She believes that everyone should make room for love in their lives and encourages couples to work on overcoming their challenges together. Read less