Family therapy is a diverse technique of psychotherapy that developed in the 1960s, with its roots revolving around social work. It has helped expose the generators of emotional disorders among family members. With the proper investigation of families, in the 1970s, therapy became a clinical method in addressing emotional sufferings in household settings. Emerging concerns about families in the US that are under poverty, poor medical services, and diseases became the basis of searching for a solution to help relations. Family therapy opened social work as a profession to help deal with vulnerable members. The marriage psychoanalysis movement, child management program, and charity organizations materialized due to household therapy. Environmental theories, robotics, system and communication theories had a significant impact on practice. Psychiatrists understood that the interaction configurations majorly influence emotional disorders such as schizophrenia. The ecological approach gave a broader understanding that the environment can also impact behaviors in a family.
Family therapy is organized into three parts which act as the basis during treatment. The first part introduces the therapist to the foundations on which treatment is based on. Here counselors also learn the types of settings including nuclear, single, and extended families. Characteristics of a healthy multifunctional family, ethical and legal considerations are also covered in the first part. The second section examines the theoretical approach when working with couples. In families, theories focused on are structural, strategic, behavioral, solution-focused, and experimental. Each course demonstrates the techniques, processes, outcomes, and its unique features. Illustrations on how to provide care in each approach are also given. The last section deals with professional concerns and studies in therapy. The therapist’s research revolves around domestic violence, child abuse, and other arising issues.
With time this treatment has developed, with new concepts incorporated in it. It emphasizes the importance of the general systems of theory, cybernetic, personal, and family development lifecycles, and the prevalent factors that trigger families to look for therapy sessions. It teaches how various household issues should be handled, primarily single-parentage and application techniques similar to any family. Thus, family therapy has easily outlined its concept that any member can understand how the treatment approaches are applied. With time family therapy institutions were introduced, and the practice became a career. Research methods in this profession also developed to mere efficient ones, such as behavioral and systemic research.
During family therapy development, critiques suggested that the procedure vied a family as an emotional unit, which is wrong. The therapy itself brought anxiety among families, especially when dealing with hidden secrets. Some people argued that this treatment is ineffective in dealing with mental cases, especially if a person has no family members such as street children. Tradition was also another factor that hindered the development of family therapy. Most persons would approach elders, religious men rather than therapists when it came to private matters. Originally the psychological theories were majorly behavioral and psychoanalysis, so it was difficult for individuals to begin adapting this practice. In the medical field today, family therapy helps households to cope with serious mental issues, such as schizophrenia. It also supports personalities with long-lasting addiction problems with treatment. Family therapy has assisted individuals know the emotional status of their close relations and how to deal with them.
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