Common Challenges Families Face and How Therapy Helps

To say families aren’t perfect would be an understatement. As a society, many people have fallen into this idea that you have to stick together as a family, even when things are going wrong.

Unfortunately, that leads to a lot of issues getting swept under the rug or not fully dealt with. That can create tension within your family unit, and cause broken relationships. Thankfully, family therapy is becoming more popular and more prominent. But it’s important to know some of the common challenges that therapy can help with.

If you’re struggling as an individual because of your familial environment, or you think your whole family is dealing with specific issues, therapy might be the solution.

With that in mind, let’s look at some common challenges families face. If you’re going through any of them, therapy can help.

Dealing With Extra Stress

One of the biggest challenges families face is going through stressful situations. This past year is a perfect example of that, as so many things changed for families across the country. Maybe someone lost their job or started working from home. Maybe your kids had to learn remotely instead of going to school. Or maybe someone you know got sick.

Whether the world is going through a pandemic or not, stress is inevitable. In families, it can take its toll very quickly if it isn’t managed or addressed properly.

Unfortunately, many families don’t often know how to deal with extra stress as a unit. Even if one person is feeling overwhelmed, it can cause everyone else to be “thrown off” and create tension.

Therapy can help by addressing some of the root issues causing stress. It can help the person/people directly experiencing it, and those affected by it. It gives you the opportunity to open up and look at different perspectives from different family members, so you can all learn how to manage stressful situations more fluidly together.

Feuding Family Members

Another common problem in families is feuding. It might be that you’re at odds with someone in your own house. Or, you might be in a constant argument with an extended family member. Whatever the case, feuding familial relationships impact everyone.

It’s difficult for family members to come together and resolve differences on their own. Often, people end up taking sides and causing even more contention. However, if everyone agrees to use therapy as a resource, they can get to the underlying cause of the issue and find effective ways to heal.

Behavioral Issues

Parenting is difficult, and sometimes it can feel as though you’ve lost control when it comes to your children’s behavior. Certain behavioral “snags” can be expected as a child grows up and tests their boundaries.

But, when those behaviors put the child in danger or cause problems within the family, you can take comfort in knowing you don’t have to handle them alone. Therapy can help.

As with most other issues, family therapy can uncover the reasons your child might act out with unacceptable behavior. From there, you can all work on ways to work through those reasons and help your child learn more acceptable ways of expressing themselves and their feelings.

There are many more challenges families face on a regular basis, and no two are exactly alike. The problem? Too many families believe they have to handle those challenges on their own. Unless someone is willing to step forward and “moderate”, however, it’s very difficult for family issues to get resolved. That’s why therapy can be such an invaluable tool for families that are struggling.

If you’re interested in learning more about how therapy can help your family or other challenges it can help you work through, feel free to contact me.

Click here for more information on family therapy.