There are many reasons why couples go to marital therapy. Some of the common problems are communication problems, money issues, intimacy issues, differences in values or beliefs, problems with in-laws, and affairs. Couples often get stuck in destructive patterns around dealing with these types of problems. Marital therapy is designed to help couples resolve differences that are solvable, and learn to accept differences that may not have an actual solution. Therapy should provide a safe place for you and your spouse to experience each other in a new way and become unstuck from you normal negative patterns of interacting.

Family Therapy usually involves the parents and children or siblings participating in therapy together. Problems that involve children or teens acting out, individual family member’s depression or anxiety, eating disorders, ADD, and grief may be best addressed in the context of the family. The family system is made up of boundaries, hierarchies, power struggles, and alliances. In addition, the family system has spoken and unspoken rules around showing emotion, taboo topics, and behaviors which all impact the functioning of the family unit and the individual members of the family. When the family’s structure is too loose or too rigid, family functioning is impacted. Family therapy addresses the structure of the family and the relationships between individual family members and groups of family members.

When an individual enters therapy with a reported problem, it is still viewed through a systems lens. We do not live in a bubble. We are constantly influencing our environment and others around us as well as being constantly influenced by them. How an individual interprets and makes meaning from his environment and relationship has a significant relationship that may be influencing you in an unwanted way. Therapy also focuses on shifting perspectives to find new meanings and interpretations that ultimately affect your emotional experience and behaviors. It is a model of therapy that attempts to increase an individual's power and influence over their environment.