Family Based Therapy – Reunification Counselling
What is it?
Reunification therapy, or reunification counselling, is a family-based therapy that works to reunite estranged parents and children; usually a result from separations, divorces, or single-custody parent households. This tends to be the case when a child rejects a parent or for estranged parents and there is conflict that prevents a relationship to build between parent and child.
This is usually a court mandated therapy that follows family law cases where the parents and children must come to therapy and work on their relationship as part of the case outcome.
Who needs it?
Parents who have not seen their children in a long period of time.
Estranged parents who want to re-build the relationship with their child and has not succeeded on their own.
Estranged parents who have been rejected by their children.
High conflict family systems where the children and parents are unable to form healthy relationships due to the intensity of the conflicts at home:
Divorced parents where the child moves from one household to the next and the parents are not on amicable terms;
Divorced parents who use their child as a middleman; and/or
Children who have become numb to the ongoings of their parents’ marriage.
How does it work?
Reunification therapy is a very structured therapeutic process which places emphasis on family therapy. This means that all members of the family should be present for sessions and that the goals are set for the family system and not for individual members.
Some therapists may use cognitive-behavioural therapy in conjunction with family therapy as it is a way to educate the family members on how their thinking patterns impact their behaviour. This can help the members learn to be flexible in their thinking and to recognize negative thoughts and/or behaviours that cause conflicts in the family.
What are the goals?
The goal of reunification therapy is to rebuild the parent-child relationship into a healthy and ongoing positive relationship. However, specific goals are set in therapy, specific to the clients themselves but are made as goals for the family system. Some of these goals can include strengthening their communication, finding quality time together, processing past pain so that it no longer impacts current moods, and much more.
Reunification therapy is not a one-size-fits-all family therapy approach and should be used for specific cases. Svetlana will be a good fit for anyone looking for family therapy.
If you are experiencing familial conflicts impacting your family’s relationship and/or mental health and would like to talk with a therapist, please contact us at (647) 267-9853 so we can help you along your healing journey and see what the right fit is for you.
References
Pollack, D. & Reiter, E. (2021, November 4). Reunification therapy: What's a court and a therapist to do?, Texas Lawyer, Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355913076_Reunification_therapy_What's_a_court_and_a_therapist_to_do
Smith, L. S. (2016). Family‐based therapy for parent–child reunification. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 498-512. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22259