Parenting Pointers: Online Counseling, Part 3

This is the third article in a four-part series.

In the last two posts, I have focused primarily on couples counseling. However, many families would also benefit from family therapy. Family counselors are a little different than couples counselors in that they look at issues as they relate to the whole family. In a way, this means that not only will individual relationships within the family get strengthened, but the family unit as a whole will be able to be more cohesive.
Often when we think about family counseling, we might think about it only being for "dysfunctional" families or families with severe issues. But honestly, in a way, we all benefit from family counseling. How many times do we talk about challenging kid issues with a fellow parent for a listening ear or to get some input and advice? How often do kids talk about their parents with other kids, to commiserate about unfair rules? Even in healthy families, there's going to be a certain level of tension and stress or disagreement with certain conditions in the family.
Family counselors are able to work with families everywhere on the spectrum from a generally happy family with only a few "normal" arguments to a truly dysfunctional family with serious breakdowns in communication. They can help families improve the way they communicate with each other, focus on positive trust-building exercises, and improve everybody's mental health by reducing the amount of stress that my come from family relationships.
In a way, a family counselor seems a little bit like a jack-of-all-trades. They are trained to deal with a wide range of issues, and because families naturally involve several different people, they're able to work with a variety of relationships and things that may come up. Families are, by their very nature, constantly in transition, and family counselors can help make those transitions less scary and tense for everyone involved. They can help reassure parents when things are fine, just different; and they can help families make changes when things are outside the bounds of normal.
They can also often help with referrals to more specific counseling needs. For example, one member of the family may need more intense individual counseling, and the family counselor would be able to recommend someone who is a good match, by the nature of their relationship with the family and what they know about it. They can also be another trained professional that can spot other issues that may need a different level of intervention that a parent might miss or not realize that it was outside the scope of expected or normal behavior.

Family counselors can serve an important role - especially now, as people are together with their families on a more constant basis than they were before. Family counselors can help work out strong communication patterns and provide suggestions for easing the tension that comes with constant presence. Even a few sessions can make a big difference in creating strong, positive patterns for families and improve communication and trust.