Family Therapy Activities

Activities that improve family relationships typically focus on enhancing positive communication, relationship building, and establishing a consistent structure and routine. This includes regular family meals and quality time free from digital devices, engaging in shared fun activities like games or cooking, creating family traditions, actively listening to one another's perspectives, practicing forgiveness, and expressing appreciation especially in everyday life.

While the terms are often used interchangeably, family therapy is typically a more intensive, long-term process conducted by a licensed therapist (often an LMFT) that aims to address deeper, chronic psychological issues. Family counseling is generally a shorter-term, solution-focused intervention aimed at addressing immediate issues, such as improving communication skills, navigating life transitions (e.g., divorce), and resolving minor conflicts. It often provides practical skills training rather than in-depth psychological exploration.

Functional family therapy (FFT) is an evidence-based, short-term model that works through five distinct phases to address youth behavior problems. The key activities are structured around these phases: engagement (building trust and credibility with the family), motivation (decreasing family negativity/blame and reframing problems), relational assessment (identifying the specific patterns and functions of family interactions), behavior change (implementing practical skills training such as communication, conflict resolution, and parenting techniques), and generalization (extending positive changes to school and community settings and planning for relapse prevention).