Family counseling is a process that provides guidance and information to family members about health issues and interpersonal relationships, addressing matters like marriage and divorce. It is rooted in family systems theory, viewing families as interconnected systems where problems are addressed by altering dynamics rather than focusing on individual members. Various approaches, such as conjoint and concurrent counseling, aim to enhance communication and reduce conflict within families.

1. FAMILY COUNSELING
Dr. Jyoti Sharma

2. CONCEPT OF FAMILY
COUNSELING
• Family counseling is a program of providing
information and professional guidance to
members of a family concerning specific health
matters, such as the care of a severely retarded
child or the risk of transmitting a known genetic
defect
• Family counseling, is a program that consists of
providing information and professional guidance
to members of a family concerning specific health
matters

3. Family counselling is a process in which a family counsellor
helps:
Family counseling is a process in which
a) one or more persons to deal with personal and
interpersonal issues in relation
to marriage; or
b) one or more persons (including children) who are affected,
or likely to be
affected, by separation or divorce to deal with either or both
of the following:
i) Personal and interpersonal issues;
ii) Issues relating to the care of children.

4. Family therapy is based on family systems theory, in
which the family is viewed as a living organism
rather than just the sum of its individual
members.
Family therapy uses systems theory to evaluate
family members in terms of their position or role
within the system as a whole.
Problems are treated by changing the way the
system works rather than trying to fix a specific
member

5. Concepts in Family Therapy
• The identified client - family member with the
symptom that has brought the family into
treatment.
• Homeostasis (Balance)- Homeostasis means that
the family system seeks to maintain its customary
organisation and functioning over time, and it
tends to resist change
• The extended family field- Differentiation refers to
the ability of each family member to maintain his
or her own sense of self, while remaining
emotionally connected to the family

6. • Triangular relationships - Family systems theory
maintains that emotional relationships in families are
usually triangular. Whenever two members in the family
system have problems with each other, they will
“triangle in” a third member as a way of stabilising their
own relationship.
• Preparation- Preparation also usually includes drawing a
genogram, which is a diagram that depicts significant
persons and events in the family’s history. Genograms
include annotations about the medical history and major
personality traits of each member. Genograms help
uncover intergenerational patterns of behaviour,
marriage choices, family alliances and conflicts, the
existence of family secrets, and other information that
sheds light on the family’s present situation.

8. • Precautions: Individual therapy for one or
more family members may be Family
Counselling recommended to avoid volatile
interaction during a family therapy session

9. Not suitable Candidates ???
• families in which one, or both, of the parents is psychotic or has
been diagnosed with antisocial or paranoid personality disorder
• families whose cultural or religious values are opposed to, or
suspicious of, psychotherapy
• families with members who cannot participate in treatment sessions
because of physical illness or similar limitations
• families with members with very rigid personality structures (Here,
members might be at risk for an emotional or psychological crisis.)
• families whose members cannot or will not be able to meet regularly
for treatment.

10. Developments in Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud who specifically focused on intra-
psychic processes during early childhood and
started involving parents in the psychoanalysis of
adolescent cases. Eg. Little Hans Case study
(Phobic problem - Horses)
• Harry Stack Sullivan (1953) was concerned not
only with intra-psychic factors but also
interpersonal relationships within the family and
with significant others

11. Growth of Child Guidance Movement
• evolution of the child guidance clinic in the
1920s and 1930s—— weekly sessions with the
child in conjunction with regular case work
with one or the other parent initiated
• Adlerian theory
• Focus on such parental behaviour as maternal
over protectiveness . Clinicians eventually
began to concentrate on the family as a
whole.

12. ‘FAMILY LIFE CYCLE’ AND
‘COMMUNICATION PATTERN WITHIN
FAMILIES’
• family life cycle is the name given to the stages a
family goes through as it evolves over the years.
Family life and the growth that take place within
it and complement those in an individual’s life as
those suggested by Erikson, 1959.
• Levinson, 1978 in their theories discussing the
stages of development within an individual’s life.

13. Stages of the family life cycle

15. PAC Model by Berne 1950

16. Contaminated Transanctions

17. • Families that are most successful, happy, and
strong, are not only balanced but according to
researchers (Stinnett & DeFrain, 1985), they are:
• 1) committed,
• 2) appreciate each other,
• 3) spend time together,
• 4) have good communication patterns,
• 5) have a high degree of religious orientation, and
6)are able to deal with crisis in a positive manner.

18. Communication Pattern within
Families
• Double bind- a person receives two related but
contradictory messages (‘No Win’ Paradox)
• Marital schism and marital skew: Unusal Patterns. In
marital schism, one parent would undermine the worth
of the other parent by competing for support and
sympathy from children
• In marital skew, one of the parents dominate the family
dynamics and decision making process of the home so
much so that it involves complete neglect of the other
parent’s perspective and wishes

19. Types of Family Counseling
• Conjoint family counseling (Whole Family
seen at once altogether)
• Concurrent family counseling (Individual
sessions)
• Collaborative family counseling (Each family
member sees diff counselor/Psychotherapist)

20. Aims and objectives of family
counseling
• Improved communication,
• Improved autonomy for each member,
• Improved agreement about roles,
• Reduced conflict, and
• Reduced distress in the index client

21. Assessment Process
Structure and History of the Family
Transitional events in family cycle
Nature of relationship/s
Boundaries
Family atmosphere
Roles, Functioning and Pathological Trends in a Family
Role performance
Decision making and power struggle
Pattern of communication and exchange of information
Emotional reactivity
Cohesiveness