June 15, 2013:


Often time’s counselors will specialize in an area of practice. One of those areas is in family counseling. A family therapist has taken specific courses and focused their practice to engage with families on a therapeutic level. This is not to say that a general counselor cannot work with families, only that a family therapist has specifically directed their practice and only work with families.

When attempting to find a good family therapist, you must take certain things into consideration. Most importantly, which family members will be participating in counseling and does the therapist have expertise working within each age range. There are vast therapeutic differences when engaging an adolescent and with a pre-teen. The family therapist must have experience and knowledge to appropriately engage each of these age groups, along with the dynamics of the family.

A family therapist or family counselor is specifically looking at the family as one client. Each member’s functioning and engagement is important to color the flavor of the family and clearly identify the best and most effective interventions for the family to begin working well together. Often times, Chicago counselor will take on a family as a client. It is the client’s responsibility to take the time and interview the counselor well to make sure they have the expertise and qualifications to assist the family in therapy.


Go to our Chicago therapy home page