Family therapy treats the family, not a designated "problem person". Its systemic insight is that difficulties live between people as much as within them: a teenager's anger, a child's school refusal or a gulf between adult siblings usually makes more sense — and shifts more readily — when the whole web of relationships is in the room.
Sessions bring family members together in different combinations: sometimes everyone, sometimes parents alone, sometimes one generation at a time. The therapist keeps things safe and even-handed, making sure quieter voices are heard, and helps the family notice its own patterns — who protects whom, what never gets said, how conflict travels round the table. Families often come around divorce and blending, illness or bereavement, a child or teen struggling, or long-standing rifts.
Family therapists listed with ABCAP have verified training and insurance; profiles say what ages they work with and whether sessions run online, in person, or both.
ABCAP is not a regulatory body. Listing in the ABCAP directory is not an endorsement of a therapist's competence, fitness to practise, or conduct. We recommend verifying a therapist's qualifications and professional body membership directly before booking a session. If you have a concern about a listed therapist, see our Complaints and Concerns procedure.
No. Therapists work with whoever is willing and relevant — often starting with parents or a subset. Even one person changing how they respond can shift a family pattern; others frequently join later.
Family therapists commonly work with everyone from young children (often through play and drawing) to adult families whose “children” are in their forties. Check each profile for the age ranges the therapist sees.
It's the formal name for family therapy's approach: seeing behaviour as part of a system of relationships rather than one person's fault. Changing the pattern — not blaming a person — is the work. Many practitioners call themselves systemic psychotherapists.
Often fewer than people expect — commonly 5–20 sessions spaced fortnightly or monthly, since families do much of the work between meetings. Reviews are built in as standard.