Understanding family Problems of Couples and Families Basic principles of family and couple counselling Indian Perspectives

1. Family and Couple
Counselling
Introduction, Importance and some points to consider

2. family
a family (from Latin: familia) is a group of people affiliated either by consanguinity (by
recognized birth), affinity (by marriage or other relationship), or co-residence or some
combination of these.
Members of the immediate family may include spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, sons,
and daughters. Members of the extended family may include grandparents, aunts, uncles,
cousins, nephews, nieces, and siblings-in-law.
Types- Nuclear family, single parent family, blended family or extended family, step
family.

3. Starting of the family-You Must Discuss Before Getting Married
• Meaning of Your Marriage Commitment
• Your Life Long Goals
• Your Mutual Expectations
• Your Living Arrangements
• Will you have children and if so how many?
• Money
• Parents and In-laws
• Gender Role Expectations
• How will you resolve heated conflicts?
• Spiritual Life

4. The Indian Society Needs To Understand About Marriages
• First things first, it’s perfectly okay to never get married.
• In India, you don’t just marry your partner, you marry their whole family.
• marriages break- Domestic violence, abuse, just not right for each other, people
fall out of love.
• Marriage is not the ultimate solution to every problem.
• cross cultural marriages.
• There’s no ‘perfect time’ to get married.
• Divorce.
• Two people don’t need the married tag to stay together.
• Everybody likes elaborate weddings, but is it really necessary?

5. Family and Couple
Counselling-Introduction
• The family counsellors believe that, the identified patient is
only the symptom of a sick family and the entire family
system which is really a natural social system is
dysfunctional.
• The concept of dysfunctional family is based on a system
approach to mental health diagnosis and treatment, where the
individual’s symptoms are seen in the context of relationships
with other individuals and groups, rather than the problem
unique to the client.
• The dysfunctional family is the family where the relationships
among family members are not conducive to psychological,
spiritual and physical health and for the proper growth of its
members.

6. Family Therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, marriage and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family
counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and
development.

7. Importance of
Family & Couple
Counselling
A healthy functional family
system becomes dysfunctional
when a stressor overloads the
family’s adaptive and coping
mechanism

8. Scope of Family Counselling
• Wife Seeking Counselling for domestic
Violence
• Understand the problem in a great detail
• Refer if necessary (i.e. refer to an
advocate) The Domestic Violence Act of
2005
• list out the possible options
• Assess the client for each option
• Show the results and let her choose the
option
• Domestic Violence (domestic violence
shelter, pecialized drug abuse treatment, o
anger management etc.)
• Dowry
• Marital adjustment problems
• extramarital relationships
• parenting issues
• work stress
• chronic health problems
• Problems in step family life
• Before Marriage Issues (Money, Look,
status, in laws etc.)

9. Problems of family and
Couple Counselling
• Both or all members are not willing for counselling
• “Blame game“
• Lack of ideal thinking

10. five basic principles of effective
couples therapy
(according to Benson and
colleagues)
1. Changes the views of the relationship (stop the "blame game“)
2. Modifies dysfunctional behavior
3. Decreases emotional avoidance
4. Improves communication
5. Promotes strengths