Systemic approaches are commonly used in family and couples therapy, as treatment for a wide range of problems. These approaches focus on understanding how the thoughts, feelings, behaviours, relationships and difficulties of different people in the family or social network, might influence and be influenced by, aspects of their environment and social and cultural context.
Systemic therapy can help you to:
- explore the different factors that might influence your patterns of behaviour or difficulties, or contribute to a sense of feeling stuck
- talk more openly about the concerns and needs you and people close to you have
- manage the challenges, life transitions or big changes happening to you or people around you, more effectively
- improve communication and relationships with people who are important to you
- increase your range of coping strategies, individually and together with others
What happens in sessions?
In systemic therapy sessions, we would work together to explore different past and current influences for difficulties you (or your family / partner / friends) might be experiencing, and identify how you, and potentially others around you, would like the situation to change.
We make sure that everyone who comes to sessions has the opportunity to speak if they would like to. This sometimes involves helping people to first develop the confidence to do so.
The number of sessions people have depends on what they would like to discuss. Some people find 4 – 6 sessions helpful. Others might have more than this.
Can I invite someone else to the sessions?
Some people prefer to talk about family issues on their own; others choose to talk about these jointly, inviting partners or family members. If you are finding it difficult to decide whether to invite other people to your sessions, or you are unsure how to ask them or you are worried about how they might respond, this is something we can talk about and plan for during sessions.