Family therapy

• Aim of family therapy

  To improve the quality of communication within the family and reduce expressed emotions
• What does family therapy teach family members

  • to be constructive, undemanding and empathetic with each other and schizophrenic relatives
  • encouraged to not have high expectations of the schizophrenic member and reduce stress for them
• Stages of family therapy

  1. Preliminary analysis
  2. Prompting Anti-psychotic medication
  3. Psych education
  4. Reducing expressed anger
  5. Communication skills
  6. Problem solving
• Preliminary analysis stage

  Through interviews and observation the therapist identifies strengths and weaknesses of family members and identifies problem behaviours
• Prompting Anti-psychotic medication stage

  Those with schizophrenia will likely be taking medication so family member can help organise and remind patients when and how to take medication
• Psych education stage

  teaching the patient and family the actual facts about the illness, its causes, the influence of alcohol drug abuse and the effect of stress and guilt
• Reducing expressed anger stage

  • “compromise and negotiation“ and “requesting a time out” are taught
  • helps to reduce feelings of guilt and prevent deterioration of family environment due to poor communication or expectations that lead to anger
• Communication skills stage

  • Teaching family to listen to expressed emotions and to discuss things
  • Patient is encouraged to develop their communication skills
• Problem solving stage

  • Family members are taught to be constructive and how to communicate effectively
  • This is then used to help the family anticipate and solve problems
• Strengths of family therapy

  • Focuses on the whole family
  • Prevents relapse
• Limitations of family therapy

  • Dependent on family dynamics
  • Time consuming
  • Potential for blame
• Overall effectiveness of family therapy

  Family therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing relapse rates and improving the overall well-being of individuals with schizophrenia by enhancing family support and communication. However, its effectiveness can be limited if family members are not fully engaged or if the individual experiences severe cognitive impairments that make therapy less accessible.