Family Therapy

Family Treatment at Grace & Emerge

Every young woman in our care is someone’s loved one: a child, sibling, stepchild, or beloved friend. Each one of those relationships is impacted by substance use and mental health disorders, and our family program can help heal them all. From the day each young woman arrives, her clinical team will work collaboratively to ensure that the family work proceeds with the same depth and dedication as the client’s individual work.

First, our treatment team collaboratively creates an aftercare map with each client and family. Then, our concierge wrap-around services are triaged based on the nature of the client's strengths, goals and presenting challenges. The support resources are assessed weekly for efficacy, and the family is included in all applied changes.

Our loved ones are an important part of our identities. These relationships can play into our culture, beliefs, and values. Going beyond our genetics, our family is the group of people we look to for guidance and support as we navigate through life. When strain is placed on the family unit due to the stressors of both substance use disorder and co-occurring disorders, emotional rifts can occur in these foundational relationships. Family therapy is focused on healing past ruptures and preventing the creation of new ones. At Grace & Emerge we do this through an attachment-based model with a powerful focused approach that helps families heal from substance use and mental health disorders.

Research over time has found that family therapy can lead to better outcomes for those struggling with substance use and mental health disorders. Despite this potential, substance use disorder has historically been viewed and treated as an individual’s problem to be dealt with in isolation. However, more recent studies continue to identify the significance that family relationships play in the recovery process. Through building new skills and coping strategies, and fostering healthy communication, family therapy can help the person in treatment and their family find support and healing together.

Family therapy can help you and your loved ones build communication skills, create healthier behavior patterns, and learn to support each other in long-term recovery for the whole family. At Grace & Emerge, you can reconnect with your family and friends as you build a life you are excited to live and share with them.

Structural Therapy

Focuses on establishing roles within the family unit and creating strong boundaries

Systemic Therapy

Helps clients work on recognizing and changing unhealthy recurring patterns in communication and interactions

Strategic Therapy

Utilizes out-of-session homework to help clients see repeated patterns and build problem-solving skills

Narrative Therapy

Supports clients in addressing and challenging traditions and belief systems on what is normal within the family

Family Behavior Therapy (FBT)

Helps clients learn to identify and manage triggers for unhealthy behaviors through communication

Intergenerational / Transgenerational Therapy

Acknowledges the impact generational pain has on family dynamics through conflict patterns spanning multiple generations

What to Expect From Family Work

Young women at Grace & Emerge receive individualized treatment plans that may include family therapy. Family members of all kinds can learn the tools they need to heal from their own trauma and create space for their loved one in recovery moving forward. In short, we help families put the pieces back together, while also challenging them to envision and build a new and better future together.

In family therapy, clinicians use several different types of group activities to support the client and their family. Many of the activities used in family therapy support relationship-building, engagement, and conversation starters that make the process of dealing with complex topics less overwhelming.

Some examples of activities in family therapy include:

The Miracle Question

Helps clients understand each other’s hopes and dreams to better support each other

Emotions Ball

Engages clients in active listening and emotional expression

Genogram

Supports clients in recognizing patterns of behaviors in their family across multiple generations

Mirroring Activities

Help clients recognize and understand each other’s gestures and emotional expressions

Colored Candy

Icebreaker to help clients become more comfortable with discussing complex topics

Magic Key

Helps clients understand what is important to their loved ones

Family Gift

Prompts teamwork and shows clients how they can overcome conflict and challenges together

Feelings Hot Potato

A fun way for clients to share thoughts, memories, or ideas with each other

Charades

Helps clinicians see the ways in which clients express emotions

Healing Animals

Support self-awareness as clients reflect on the positive changes they have made over time in therapy

Benefits of Family Therapy

Family therapy can be a fundamental part of healing and recovery for both the client and their family. The benefits of family therapy are intersectional, as the collaborative work done together can help with family conflicts, loss, mental health disorders, substance use disorder, and co-occurring disorders. Outside of supporting clients and their families dealing with mental health disorders and substance use disorder, family therapy can make positive connections that improve family dynamics for long-term healing.

Some of the ways family therapy can support individuals and their loved ones include:

Strengthen overall relationships
Set healthy boundaries
Improve the way family members treat each other
Build skills to work through challenges together
Learn to cope with typical day-to-day stressors
Improve interpersonal communication skills
Learn to recognize and acknowledge each other’s emotions
Deepen understanding of one another
Learn how to support each other’s goals

For Young Adult Women & Their Loved Ones