Family Counselor Family therapy believes that every family is unique social system, has its own structure and patters of communication. Family counselors are the therapists who are trained to assess, diagnose, and treat individuals, couples, families, and groups so that they can have more adequate social adjustment, family adjustment, and successful marriage. Not only this, this therapy also includes premarital counseling, child counseling, divorce or separation counseling and other relationship counseling. It is a psychotherapy that has multiple objectives. It helps in better understanding within a family and relationship. Suppose, one person of the family is an alcoholic or addicted to drugs, the whole family suffers the stress. Same way, a death in a family might lead to severe depression on one or more family members. The family counselor through proper counseling, interviews and other testing and technical methods would help one overcome such stresses or sorrows or depressions. The family counselor also helps a family to communicate more and in a better way among themselves. It helps in replacing the old communication patterns, which might have been negative, and implement a positive better communication patters amongst the members. In a group discussion with the family, the family therapist tries to identify the members who would need individual therapies, because every family is dependent on its individual members, and each member of the family counts for a better family. Someone in the family having stress or depression for personal issues will definitely affect the living of other family members too. In such counseling the biggest benefit is that you are asking for third party interference for the problem of your family, and that person is a trained person. He/she wouldtry to solve the crisis un-biasedly. It takes hardly 5 to 6 sessions to complete family counseling mostly. But sometimes in some critical cases it may need 20-30 sessions. The family counselor has the skills and abilities, such as 1. Providing good and sound treatment based on client needs and treatment plans. 2. They should have understanding of diagnostic evaluation methods, mental status exams, and have the knowledge of the use of DSM-IV.
3. The therapist should have the ability of using different diagnoses and treatment approaches for range of clients. 4. They should have the ability to provide crisis intervention services. 5. They should have the knowledge of latest developments in the field and also have to be in touch with other agencies, psychiatrists, and medical doctors for referring the clients in special cases. 6. Must be very responsible and very ethical to their job. The family therapy successfully treated different types of families in many different situations. Conflicts between parents in their relationship. Behavior or school problem of a child. The siblings do not get along with each other. A family member is mentally or physically ill, or is alcoholic or addicted to drugs or is in severe depression. There are so many problems that might threaten the health and happiness of your family. If there is any such problem, seek immediate help from a family counselor.