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Everyone knows family relationships are complicated. Sometimes these complications become too much to address inside the family, and outside perspective and facilitation can help. This is why Union Square Practice has therapists with the credentials and specialized skill sets to work with families on a wide range of issues. We offer expert counseling to families of all shapes and sizes, helping them cope with transition or loss, improve interpersonal communication, and grow in mutual respect and support.
Families meet with a USP therapist at our offices in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan or join us through telehealth anywhere in New York State. Wherever you’re starting out and whatever your goals, we’re standing by to connect and help you build healthier family relationships.
Find out more about family therapy and our qualifications and approach to counseling families.
There are lots of reasons families attend therapy together. Here are some common ones we encounter:
Some families seek therapy to help as they grieve the death of a member of the immediate or extended family. Grief is a complex process that often carries associated feelings of anger, guilt, confusion, or fear. Whether the death was expected or unexpected, tragically early or at the end of a long life, each individual who is left behind grieves a little differently. People who have suffered a mutual loss don’t always know how to help each other through the grieving process. A family therapist creates an ongoing safe space for the family members to check in regularly and share how they’re feeling as they move through different stages of grief.
Family therapy can be helpful for families facing big transitions, including:
Whether they are invited or uninvited, major life transitions offer challenges as different family members adjust to the change in their own ways. Starting family therapy early in the transition helps address concerns before they escalate and allows family members to better support each other’s needs through the course of the transition.
Divorce, remarriage, and new family arrangements can pose a range of challenges. Family therapy can help blended families address issues such as:
It’s common for family relationships to get caught in unproductive cycles, with the same arguments playing out over and over in slightly different ways. Family therapists help family members investigate their recurring sources of conflict from new angles. By understanding what circumstances and feelings cause tension, the therapist can begin to suggest mutually beneficial solutions.
Family therapy is not a silver bullet, but it can help family members who are ready to do the work. The family therapy process at Union Square Practice has a series of incremental goals:
Your therapist starts by listening to each family member’s main concerns. This might be straightforward, or it might take a little digging. If it seems helpful, the therapist might ask to meet with family members individually to better understand each person’s priorities. Once the common issues are identified, the therapist can establish an approach that makes sense.
Each family has its own family personality and set of relational patterns. Sometimes unhealthy family dynamics are hard to identify from inside, where they feel like just a part of everyday life. Family therapists can take a more objective look at how family members interact with each other, and investigate the reasons behind this.
Once the therapist has a good understanding of family dynamics they suggest ways to bridge key communication gaps. This might include learning to use different language when addressing tensions, confronting problems at more opportune times, or momentarily stepping away from an argument to cool off. Improved communication skills begin to help prevent or de-escalate conflict.
Ongoing therapy carves out regular space for each family member to share their subjective experience of the family situation. Listening to each other in turn helps each person face the effects of their actions on others as well as better understand others’ intentions. More empathy and grace, together with loving accountability, leads to closer and healthier relationships.
Too often conflict results from a lack of understanding and appreciating what others are experiencing. By going to therapy together, family members become jointly accountable to the process and to a set of approaches discussed with the therapist. Instead of following ingrained patterns, they practice new ways of relating and begin to break unproductive and harmful cycles.
Often, by the time we ask this question, the answer is yes. If your family is struggling and the current approaches aren’t working, consider a therapist. Likewise, if your family is facing a major transition, it can help to start family therapy ahead of the change to be better equipped going into it.
It depends on the situation. Some families go to therapy for several years, while others may only go for a few months. Families looking for help to cope with a major transition, death, or other loss might find therapy valuable to get through the initial change or the most acute phase of grief. Families hoping to unlearn problematic relating patterns or address long-term stressors might go for considerably longer. As with individual therapy, a family might go weekly in the beginning and then cut back the frequency of sessions after substantial progress has been made.
All USP therapists are licensed mental health professionals with exceptional practice track records. Our family therapists are compassionate, accessible experts who draw on a range of therapeutic practices to create a personalized approach that’s appropriate for your family. We select therapists based on their training and expertise, but additionally on their shared commitment to our vision: providing active, practical mental health services with genuine warmth and a sense of humor.
Not only have we assembled NYC’s most diverse and effective mental health practice, we continue to learn from each other. USP practitioners meet regularly, exchange ideas and expertise, and stay current on best practices in evidence-based therapies. By supporting each other’s professional growth and development, we’re better able to support you and your family.
Yes, family therapy is not limited to parents and minor children. Adult children and their parents also benefit from the therapy process. This can include addressing long-term or historical conflict cycles and/or newer challenges in the relationship.
We develop a therapy arrangement that makes sense for our clients. Let us know your situation and priorities and we’ll work to accommodate those.
Therapy works best if everyone is invested in the process, but families can often make progress either way. If your child rejects the idea of family therapy, try gently to find out their concerns. They may not know what to expect or may not understand how therapy can help. Introduce the topic when there’s time to talk and things are calm (versus during a conflict). Make sure they understand the therapy is because you can all use help, and not because any one person is a “problem.” Assure them that the therapist isn’t on anyone’s side and is there to listen to everyone and suggest new ideas to help you all get along better, or get through a difficult situation.
Yes, the process of family therapy often involves the therapist meeting with family members individually. Individual sessions allow a family member to voice their concerns more openly to the therapist, and can give the therapist insight into additional help a particular individual might need. In some cases, the family therapist meets regularly one-on-one with individuals in the family. Other times they refer certain individuals to a therapist with expertise in a relevant issue.
Union Square Practice has 30+ highly qualified counseling professionals serving families, couples, adults, children, and teens in a range of speciality areas. We work as a provider community, not as solo practitioners, so we coordinate care seamlessly to fit your family’s unique needs. This includes individual and family sessions, medication management, and targeted help for nearly any type of mental health concern, from ADHD to depression to bipolar disorder to OCD.
Union Square Practice is a group of psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists who empower individuals to be the best versions of themselves using the latest science has to offer.
We’re excited to work with you and your family to help you improve communication and build healthier family bonds. USP practitioners see families in person at our offices in Manhattan, and we offer therapy via telehealth to families throughout New York State. Wherever your family is starting out, we’re excited to talk with you and find the right therapist to meet you there. Reach out today to discuss options with one of our expert clinical coordinators.
Reach out to us using any of the contacts below or our general contact form.
