Systemic Family Therapy

When someone experiences a mental health problem, it can affect everyone in a family or group and is often hard for them too.

People often see the problem in different ways and may not know what to do for the best.

Family therapy can help people see things differently and do things which make everyone feel happier and get on better.

What is Systemic Family Therapy?

Systemic Family Therapy is a ‘talking therapy’. It is called “Family Therapy” because it is often for people in families.

It is called “Systemic Therapy” because it is also for people in other kinds of group, relationship or ‘systems’.

Who is the therapy for?

Systemic Family Therapy helps people of all ages, from very young children to older adults who:

feel very anxious
get mood swings or get very low
have difficulties with obsessive thoughts and compulsions
have problems with food or eating
harm or hurt themselves
sometimes lose contact with everyday reality
have drug or alcohol problems
have experienced something very frightening
are very afraid of something

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends the therapy for moderate to severe depression and for eating disorders or anorexia nervosa.

The therapy team

Systemic family therapists may be nurses, psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and occupational therapists with experience and training in this therapy.

A team of therapists will work with you and your family at the same time. This helps produce more ideas and suggestions about what might be helpful for everyone. Two heads – or more - are often better than one!

Systemic family therapists do not take sides.

They look at people’s strengths and how these could be used to overcome difficulties.

What happens first?

The first meeting is a chance to be clear about what the difficulties are and whether the therapy might be helpful.

We usually ask you to invite family members or other people supporting you to the first meeting.

How it works

The therapists will offer support and guidance to help families look at their problems differently and to work together on changes that might be useful.

At each session, you will meet the whole team but will only talk with one or two therapists while the other(s) listen.

Whilst talking, the family and therapists sometimes share ideas by drawing or writing things down.

The therapists who are listening, think carefully about the conversation and sit quietly, so they will not distract the family.

Sometimes they sit to the side or behind a one-way screen. At times, they may make comments or suggestions if they think it will be useful.

Towards the end of the meeting, the therapist/s who has been talking with the family will usually ask to hear the views and feelings of the therapists who have been listening.

They may they leave the room to do this, so the family has a few minutes to talk on their own. Or the ‘listeners’ may be invited to share their thoughts and suggestions
with everyone.