Family Therapy

Restorative Justice

Some family traumas are so deep that they implicate almost every aspect of family dynamics. Examples of such traumas involve incest, rape, physical and emotional abuse, betrayals and abandonment. In these cases, we will ask family members to take ownership of their involvement in the abuse or trauma. This can be a very difficult task, but family members may find that the release of the guilt as well as the radical nature of the ownership sets the family free in ways that previously never seemed possible.

Bowen Family Systems

Bowen Family Systems was developed in the late 60s and early 70s by a researcher studying the interplay of family and psychotic symptoms in certain family members. Bowen hospitalized 7 families, including siblings, parents, and the psychotic family member, in order to study the effects of family dynamics on psychotic symptoms. Bowen found that, while family members largely meant well, patterns of emotional over involvement, criticality and hostility all contributed to worsening symptoms in patients. Bowen was ground breaking in helping the therapy world to understand that mental illness is a product of family dynamics, not individual dysfunction. Bowen found that with supportive intervention, aimed at establishing proper boundaries, families could learn to empower their family members thus altering the course of the family, as well as the individual. Bowen’s work focused on psychotic patients, but has come to be understood more generally as having an impact on families with many different issues.

Structural Family Therapy

Structural family therapy helps clarify roles and boundaries for family members. Sometimes this may mean moving children out of parenting roles, other times it may involve family members taking accountability for the role they play in their family system. At each step of the process, family members will be supported and validated, even as difficult family lines are changed.