Families come in all shapes and sizes. Like individuals, a family has unique characteristics that separate it from other families. When individuals present as part of a family system, movement in the individual affects movement in all. In Family therapy, pathology is not viewed in individual terms.

Pathology is considered in the relational patterns that adapt and change within a family’s unique experiences and challenges. Many families come into therapy for issues that they believe they should be able to manage without assistance. But the dynamics within the family system have “gone off the rails” to the point that they are experiencing very real individual discomfort. Family therapy can assist with these struggles by providing the opportunity to look at the pathological patterns within the system, rather than trying to identify the problem as an individual family member. It “takes the blame and shame” out of the the therapy process and focuses on ways to enact change, insight and growth on a systemic level, ultimately allowing individual growth and healing as well.