While individual therapy can be immensely helpful, family therapy takes into consideration the important role our family plays in who we are and even the struggles we have. Our guest today, Christie Farris, is a dual-licensed LPC (licensed professional counselor) and LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist) who advocates for a systems approach to individual and family problems. Our parents and family are meant to function as our secure base from which we get our primary source of support, so when these relationships are strained, people can suffer trauma and experience a range of attachment and trust issues. Therefore, working with the family as a whole can shed valuable light on the patterns and coping mechanisms that perpetuate dysfunctional dynamics and prevent members from enjoying healthy relationships. In this episode, Christie shares when (and when not) family counseling is likely to be beneficial, what a typical session looks like, how to deal with a family member’s refusal to participate, and why parents should never feel as though therapy means that they have somehow failed. In fact, most families can probably benefit from therapy, so tune in for this episode to learn more about it!
Key Points From This Episode:
Tweetables:
“Your first secure base is your family. It is your parents or lack of parents. It is your whole family interaction. And if our families cannot acknowledge us and love us and support us, then sometimes we get that idea that no one will.” — Christie Farris [0:08:53]
“When you look at a family, I might have them in a circle because I believe in facial contact and eye contact and seeing each other to where they are not just staring at me but seeing each other and having those reactions and understandings.” — Christie Farris [0:18:36]
“We have our personality, we are born with that. But our family constructed us and it is how we are built. And to deny that is like cutting off your own arm.” — Christie Farris [0:37:00]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
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