Family therapy shouldn’t have to be boring. It is an important aspect of family and is instrumental in fixing the fault lines and conflicts that lay in the midst of family bonds. But worry not, as there are family therapy activities that can not only make family therapy interesting but also productive. Let’s begin discussing how you and your family can essentially use these activities for family therapy to maintain the relationships that connect each participant with each other in a therapy session, in the words below:
Why are family therapy activities important?
These are the tools that can essentially be used to eliminate the awkwardness or hesitation that might strike during family therapy sessions. These family therapy activities for relationship building and for treating mental disorders such as bipolar disorder of someone in the family can be beneficial for fulfilling their aforementioned goals. Let’s see some of these family therapy activities in the next section.
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Role-Playing
In this type of family therapy activity, family members who participate in the sessions try to get the perspective of the other members of the family, especially those who are suffering from long-term mental health issues such as psychosis or schizophrenia, both of which are debilitating for the sufferer but for the family involved with the sufferers. By being in the shoes of the other, one can get an idea about the thought process behind the affected individual either due to a conflict in the family or due to fault lines in the family created by their mental health issue. This is capable of producing bonding and empathy towards the interconnected family members.
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The Emotions Ball
One of the most enjoyable family therapy activities for bonding that are in use is this little technique that is frequently used in family therapies, which is called emotions ball. Here an expert in the family therapy field will suggest a family to get a beach ball with different kinds of emotions written on each side of the said ball. These emotions can include any type, with the common ones being happiness, sadness, anger, and loneliness. Once these emotions have been written on each side of the beach ball, the family members take turns and start throwing the ball at each other. When a side with one of the emotions lands on one of them, they describe the last time they experienced the emotion that they are facing on the ball’s surface. How’s that for family therapy activities?
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Positive Affirmation Jar
In this positive affirmation jar as one of the family therapy session activities, family members can put notes that motivate and affirm positive things for other members of the family. Who knew one needed a little push to swim through the negativity they might be stuck in while the other family members had no idea about it? This way hidden fault lines and conflicts can also come to the surface too, improving the interpersonal relationships between the family. It is a sort of sweet yet beneficial family therapy activity.
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Family Therapy Activities for Relationship Building – The Feelings Walk
One of the greatest hits in terms of family therapy activities for relationship building is the feelings walk. This is the type of activity that is used in family therapy but resembles musical chairs. Similar to the emotions ball, the terms related to the common emotions such as anxiety are pasted onto each of the chairs. When the music stops, the participants have to sit on the chair in front of them. Participants sitting on the chairs, have to share something reflective of the terms that are affixed to the chairs making it another one of those fun yet still productive family therapy activities.
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Using a Genogram
One of the brightest family therapy activity ideas is the usage of genograms. These diagrams are very helpful in mapping out the family as a unit, the interconnections, and relationships between the subunits that make up the family, and can even map out the conflicts. It even goes beyond mapping primary bloodlines because it can contain complex emotional relationships for each family member, and between the others who are related to the family. When you are able to map out complex relationships like this, this can give you an overview of where the conflicts (which are perhaps contributing to depression) lie, and how these can be resolved. These can be used in something like psychotherapy!
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The Magic Key
If you want something specific and family therapy session activities that are well-suited to children the magic key should be the answer. Here, each of the family members imagines that they have a key that gives them access to something that would give them happiness. The condition is that this thing has to be something that can’t be bought with money. Afterward, this key can be shared with everyone in the family who is participating in the family counseling activities. Isn’t this one of those fun little communication activities for family therapy that children can also participate in? An example would be if your child is suffering from insomnia but cannot communicate but in this game, you can perhaps find a clue that your child is indeed suffering from it because the child may have just said that their happiness is proper sleep.
Read More: Is Insomnia Genetic? Let’s Finally Answer This Question!
Benefits of Family Therapy Activities
There are great benefits to trying out family therapy activities for communication and fun family therapy activities that are described above. The benefits of the family therapy activities are as follows:
- Play a pivotal role in the journey towards recovery from negative family dynamics
- Helps with identification of and providing resolutions for the root cause of conflicts
- They enhance emotional bonding and intimacy by creating an empathetic environment that promotes emotional healing
- Provide a platform to the participants that serves to abate their fears and resolve conflicts while simultaneously fostering their communication and aspirations, especially in relation to the family
- These family therapy activities also provide a constructive approach to problem-solving during the conflict-resolution phase.
- It can also be used as marriage therapy or couples therapy.
Read More: What is Systemic Family Therapy? Is It Capable Of Helping You?
Wrapping Up!
We hope you enjoyed this much-needed discussion on family therapy activities. For your convenience, we have jotted down everything from the main definition to the benefits of the said activities. If you are looking for it, whether it is family bonding activities therapy or they are family counseling activities, or perhaps, family group therapy activities then do not go beyond Solid Foundation Psychiatry as we have everything related to family therapy. Plus you can also go for something like telehealth psychiatry, which is a more flexible option for the same kind of therapies. Do not forget we are adept at treating other conditions too, such as PTSD, so book an appointment today.