From the first appointment, family therapy aims to instill the skills necessary for participants to achieve lasting relational growth. We learn to reflect on our roles in others’ lives, defend healthy boundaries, and communicate effectively and non-violently without manipulation. Family counselors challenge our vision of others as people who play roles in our lives, showing them instead as people who play roles in their own.
Family therapy provides:
A platform for collaboration between the person with addiction and the entire family unit
A threat- and judgment-free safe space to verbalize issues
Improvements to personal relationships to non-relatives
Lasting communication changes
Individual family member self-knowledge
Third-party guidance, facilitation, and conflict negotiation
Individual therapy may or may not involve family relationships as a topic, but family therapy puts it at the forefront - and invites family members to the table. Family counseling also places a unique focus on roles and relationships, while individual therapy may focus more on cognition, emotion, and behavior.
It depends - a typically scheduled family counseling session will last about one hour, but a family may be booked for many sessions throughout treatment. Many factors, including family size, progress, and commitment, can influence this.
The techniques used in family therapy and counseling work for household constellations of all shapes and sizes.
Children absolutely stand to benefit from sessions, but the tools can be adapted to single parents, adult children, blended families, and even chosen families - family relationships don’t need to follow any preset tropes.
We at Vita Recovery are proud to work with most major health insurance providers - we're happy to help translate the jargon if you have questions about what is covered in your specific plan. Call us at (786) 551-4944 to discuss your options.
There is a professional truism that addiction is a “family disease.” Households’ relationships of support are very important in a person's recovery journey. Healing family bonds supports everyone and promotes long-lasting recovery.
Organizing family members can be difficult, and our typical family clients involve more than one busy professional. Our scheduling is flexible, but we aim to keep sessions with a family therapist regular and sustainable - ideally targeting at least one private meeting per week for best outcomes.
We maintain that the whole household stands to benefit from counseling, but this doesn’t mean everyone needs to be in attendance. A family member rejecting treatment is a common challenge, and family therapeutic tools are designed to bring about positive changes in dynamics with or without full participation.
Children and adolescents are extremely sensitive to challenges facing the family dynamic, even when parents work to contain them. Feelings of familial insecurity can create extreme states of disruptive stress in children, but when we identify and work through the underlying challenges, behavioral issues have space to resolve.
First, check credentials and history. Note their behavior with your family and see if their communication style works for you. Consider your specific challenges - our team works with private, personalized, addiction and trauma-informed approaches to family health, but each family is different, and a family therapist should specialize to match that.
If one family member is visibly struggling with addiction or related mental health concerns, patterns of enabling, manipulation, or lack of boundaries do not help. Family therapists may not provide legal or financial support and advice, but counseling is a cornerstone of radical personal transformation.
Poor communication, trauma, addiction, and mental health issues - are concerns found within, inherited by, and recreated through families, but a single generation can decide it's time to change.
At Vita Recovery, we understand the importance of that choice. Our exemplary team will provide the best family therapy in Miami, FL, and make it their responsibility to help you and your family.
