RESPONDING TO FAMILY CRISIS

In the past,
in response to crisis, therapists and counsellors have responded and supported
individuals, rather than focussing on the needs of the entire family. Family therapy evolved as a response to this. To support families through crisis, they
will need good quality counselling and therapy to encourage the family to
develop and remain as a family unit.

However, many
counsellors may find the task of supporting a family daunting. Interventions are difficult. There is little hard research evidence
showing the value of the family approach.
There are often too many variables that need to be taken into
account.

There are
issues that the counsellor has to consider such as – confidentiality, who is
the client, how do they assess the family’s level of functioning, etc. Traditional counselling will tend to focus on
the individual and how many problems may originate in family functioning.

Salvador Minuchin is one of the…