ABANDONING NEGATIVE PATTERNS
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina.
But—happy, or sad, or a mix of both—every family is different, and so every family has different struggles, and different needs. This is why family therapy can be so invaluable to any family willing to put the work in together—into genuine listening, genuine problem-solving, a genuine willingness to recognize and change old patterns.
The demands of life can lead to certain routines, and sometimes behavioral patterns will emerge that can make everyone in the family’s lives worse.
With structural family therapy, we address such patterns. Using proven family therapy techniques and activities, we talk with every member of the family, individually and collectively, and we explore what family therapy techniques and activities to use to put the parents in charge while still granting every family member some autonomy and choice.
MURRAY BOWEN’S FAMILY SYSTEM’S THEORY
The ideas and approach of Murray Bowen, one of the founders of Family Systems, are based on studying how individuals communicate and connect with one another, as well as how they differentiate from each other to become their own person and connect in emotionally healthy ways.
Some of Bowen’s concepts include:- The differentiation of self, or the ability to have an intellectual and emotional functioning separate from that of one’s family.
- Family systems theory, “triangulation,” and how two people may respond to anxiety by shifting the focus to a third person. And,
- Emotional cutoff, in which an individual reduces their anxiety by simply severing contact with others.
Attachment disorder is a broad term covering many attachment issues in children as well as many relationship attachment issues. Attachment issues in children come from a child’s inability to bond with a caregiver during early life, and may manifest in the child’s mood, social relationships, and behavior.
DISCOVERING HEALTHIER PATTERNS AND DYNAMICS
Using methods pioneered by highly regarded family therapists such as Virginia Satir and Salvador Minuchin, family therapy can help families identify power dynamics and dysfunctional relationships within the family.
Once these dynamics are properly identified, they can be altered and improved. And once these dysfunctional relationships are properly identified, they can be restructured and re-imagined around healthier patterns, using proven family therapy techniques and activities.
Families that have become locked in harmful patterns can set those patterns aside.
CONTACT US TODAY ABOUT FAMILY THERAPY TECHNIQUES
If you and your family live in or near Albuquerque and think you might benefit from family therapy, contact us at the Attachment Healing Center today.
If You Are In Albuquerque
And Are Interested In Family Therapy,
Call The Attachment Healing Center Today,
At 505-237-0061.
Proudly serving Bernalillo County, Sandoval County, Valencia County, and the East Mountains. Our HeadStart program is offered in Valencia County. We train and support the Jicarilla Apache Nation in Dulce.