Conjoint Family Therapy

Therapy can be done with individuals, couples, and/or families. When a clinician sees one family in therapy it is called conjoint family therapy. Including families as a part of therapy is a core part of most family therapy approaches. Family therapy is based on systems theory, which is the idea that one must look at parts of a system (in this case a family) in relation to the whole. Therefore, an individual behavior, perceptions, and feelings are inseparable from the interactions of functioning of the family system. If one holds the idea that an individual is inseparable from his or her family, then it makes sense to see the whole family in session. In this entry, a brief review of conjoint family therapy and how ...