Family therapy uses a combination of evidence-based treatments from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and various Family Systems-related Therapies. Family therapy helps the family and individuals understand their behaviors, underlying thoughts, clarify intentions, and focuses on developing and enhancing effective communication and healthy patterns of interaction and support of one another. Family therapy helps to identify and build on individual and family strengths.

Family therapy can be helpful to address healthy relationship communication, conflict resolution, support through life transitions, deciding to/not to have children, through fertility & assisted conception processes, adapting to moves/long-distance (such as returning to school, or changes in career/job placement or location), adjusting to different living situations, adjustment to changes in family structure, changes to members of the family, adjustment to adulthood and independence, processing grief and loss, decisions regarding multigenerational family living or separation and adjustments through either process, caregiving issues in families, changes to health status of family members, or as a means to proactively discuss important family decisions.

**Note that some Family Therapy providers at Wise Mind Centre may integrate additional evidence-based strategies and interventions, where appropriate, and if deemed helpful, will discuss this with you in therapy. Some Family Therapy providers at our centre work with Families with children and youth, while some providers focus solely on the family interactions and relationships among adult-children and adult parent interactions. All therapy providers at Wise Mind Centre offering Family Therapy have experience and can support Families who are diverse in age, gender, sexual orientation (LGBTQ++ communities), culture and sense of spirituality.

The initial session will involve all members of the family to assess the current strengths and challenges in the family. Within the first two sessions Family Therapy Goals are defined collaboratively with the members of the family. Family therapy uses a strengths-based approach and focuses on healthy individuals, healthy relationships, and healthy supportive connections.

Working on activities or exercises that are discussed in session, between sessions, helps to enhance Family Therapy treatment outcomes and is essential to see progress in Family Therapy. As with any form of therapy, the outcomes depend on the individual’s involved and their own commitment, willingness to change, progress, and process.

Initial Family Therapy sessions are 90 minutes in duration. Subsequent couples’ and relationship therapy appointments are typically 50 minutes.