Family life can be rewarding and challenging as different family members can experience diverse issues pertaining to health, communication, and many other problems. The presence of third parties can help simplify complicated issues.
In situations such as the aforementioned, family therapy becomes necessary. It gives family members a chance to be listened to; it also helps them grasp the complexities of the problems and work together to solve them. Family therapy at Cairnmillar Institute is offered to families (Max. 6 members) in Melbourne.
What Is Family Therapy?
Family therapy can also be viewed as a type of counseling that focuses on the relationships of families and family-like groups. Family therapy also addresses the difficulty participants may experience expressing and resolving emotions and issues of family members, including spouses, children, and others.
Family therapy is done by conversation. This means you and the therapist and most of the talking. In this case, the therapist encourages all family members to speak up and makes sure to address all of their comments in the family conversation.
Our focus is to reach a solution that is productive and free from anger so that nobody leaves the conversation. A typical family goal is the ability and confidence to deal with these situations, and this is a family goal.
Who Is Family Therapy Intended For?
Cairnmillar Family therapy is accessible to families with six members, and you do not have to be in a crisis to be in therapy. Help is accessible even for the accumulation of daily frustrations.
Family therapy can be beneficial in the following scenarios:
- Repeated patterns of behavioural conflict
- Intrafamilial clashes
- Work/school-related problems that have an impact on the family unit
- Issues arising from a child’s behaviour
- Family member(s) suffering from a mental illness
- Relational issues, including divorce, separation, and romantic conflict
- Intrafamilial relational issues across the family’s generational divide
- Burnout and parental stress
- Adjustment and childbearing including the anxiety and depression of the post-natal period
- Grieving, loss, and coping posts stressful situations
- If you can relate to these, perhaps it is time to consider family therapy.
The Most Importance of Family Inclusion
When dealing with the formation of a circle the formation involves a single unitary whole family inclusion is something to be responded to. Inclusion of all family members literally leaves a space for the formation to happen, the development of a multi-dimensional unit of communication. Core issues surface, new patterns of relating can be established.
The clear energy of inclusion enables self-empowerment of each family member to solve the problem. It also enables each family member to positively adjust to the problem. Instead, each family member gets an opportunity to be heard, in a situation where the problem is discussed by one person.
What Is a Therapy Session Like?
In Australia, family therapy is conducted only by clinically registered family therapists. At Cairnmillar clinics, family therapists are either registered psychologists or registered psychotherapists, specialized in family therapy.
Family therapists will involve every family member based on their viewpoint, age, requirements and preferences. This process might involve asking each individual what their expectations of therapy are. This includes asking each person what their expectations of therapy are. It may also be the case that the therapist invites the family to define and understand a particular problem and to work toward a solution collaboratively.
The Cairnmillar clinics have developed a system which matches clients to clinicians which takes into account the clinicians interests and experiences, facilitating a greater level of understanding and support of each families circumstances.
What is the Process of Making Appointments?
The family therapy services of Cairnmillar begin with a first appointment that is 90 minutes. Attendance of each family member is highly encouraged as a lot of essential and foundational information is delivered, as well as outlines of the next steps in the process being collaboratively agreed upon.
Each participant is required to complete a short pre- questionnair which is emailed to them with confirmation of the appointment. This information is key to understanding the process and perceptions of each participant before joining the group as a whole.
The duration of each consecutive appointment is 50 minutes and will vary in terms of number and frequency. This will be determined based on a culmination of the goals set by the family, and will evolve with the therapist with time.
What is the location of the appointments?
Cairnmillar Institute currently operates clinics in Dandenong, Hawthorn East and North Melbourne. For a cost, services are provided by elite clinicians within this system.
If private fees are not an option for you, Cairnmillar offers a Community Clinic, which has free counselling with student clinicians, who are supervised by qualified clinicians. This service is offered at all locations of Cairnmillar.
For information regarding fees, rebates for Medicare and private health insurance, and our cancellation policy, please refer to the Fees & Rebates section on the Cairnmillar website.
How to book
You can start the process by submitting an appointment request on the Cairnmillar website at cairnmillar.org.au. A member of the clinical admin team will reach out to you to begin the triage process. This can be done by phone as well, by calling 1800 391 393.