You know family relationships are complicated.
You know family therapy involves navigating unhealed wounds among multiple personalities and communication styles.
With what you know, do you find yourself searching for session structure to begin resolving decades-old conflict?
The Family Trauma Institute approach includes techniques and tools for mental health professionals to use in structuring family sessions. These tools include:
- Setting the stage for strength-based, positive talk.
- Trust-building before the first session.
- Clarity of roles for each family member.
- Family activities in between sessions.
One tool I’ve found to be effective as part of an overall session structure strategy is “rules of engagement.”
You can help your families set healthy boundaries before each session. How? By establishing expectations and rules for dealing with:
- Interruptions
- Going off track
- Personal attacks on one another
- Clear roles for the participants and the therapist.
Listen to this short clip where Dr. Sells describes how he sets the rules of engagement and gets agreement from all participants before the session begins.
If you’d like a free template of the FTI Rules of Engagement, request to join our private Facebook group here.
