Overview of the family therapy process

Enquiries are sent to Katherine's administration staff who can provide you with answers to any questions you may have and information about the registration process should you be willing to proceed and book an appointment. 

Katherine's administration staff will send you the forms to complete prior to your first appointment. Katherine reviews these forms, along with any relevant material sent through as part of the referral process prior to meeting with you and will send you an email prior to the first appointment with some questions and areas for further thinking. The purpose of the pre assessment form and email is to assist Katherine in tailoring the assessment process to your unique circumstances in an efficient way. The pre assessment process also provides an opportunity for adult members to share any concerns they have about risk and safety along with information about what is important to you as a parent and the challenges within the co-parenting relationship. Family therapy is an investment of time and money, the pre assessment process is designed to gather, in an efficient way, the information Katherine requires to start to think about the patterns and challenges your family is experiencing. 

The goal of the assessment process is for Katherine to hear from each person that is part of the family therapy process about their experience and view of the separation process, definition of the struggles and stuck points and their views of what co-parenting looks like and what their responsibilities are as a parent to their children and co-parent with their ex-partner. Katherine takes all the different perspectives and draws on these to formulate the intervention plan targeting the relationship patterns (fuelled often by high levels of stress and emotion) that require changes. 

At the end of the assessment phase, Katherine shares the therapy plan/proposal with all members involved in the process. A written summary of the assessment process and intervention plan is developed and provided to parents. Katherine provides the opportunity for family members to discuss their willingness to proceed, suggested adjustments to ensure relevance to their situation and consider what it will take for each member to be able to engage in the intervention plan. 

This is the process that provides the opportunity to make changes. Each individual member is invited to consider their responsibilities and goals for self, and how they want to navigate the complex system they are in. Bowen family systems theory assumes each individual in the family contributes to the symptom/problem experienced. However no family member is to be held responsible for the actions of another. The work with adults/parents in the internvention period is focused on parental responsibilities and the co-parenting relationship, work with children is often focused on understanding the unique experiences and needs of the child and improving communication within the family around this. 

Any communication requests outside of the planned appointment are to be arranged and booked via Katherine's administration staff. Requests for written updates on the progress of therapy are also to be provided as best as possible ahead of time and requested via Katherine's administration staff to ensure appropriate time is allocated to the completion of the reports.