Family Therapy in Salisbury and Bethesda, Maryland
Family therapy brings the people in a household into the same session to work on how they get along. It focuses on helping the family function in more positive and constructive ways. Families use it for parenting struggles, stepfamily adjustment, repeated conflict, or when one member's mental health condition is affecting everyone at home.
Who it helps
Parents who disagree about rules and consequences, and children who know it
A stepfamily where the new household has not settled
Arguments between a parent and child that end in slammed doors most weeks
A family adjusting to a member's depression, anxiety or other condition
Brothers and sisters whose fighting has gone past ordinary squabbling
Relatives who love each other and have stopped being able to talk
How family therapy differs from one person going to counseling
In individual counseling, one person talks about their own thoughts and feelings. In family therapy, the focus moves to what happens between people. A child's outbursts, a parent's short temper and a teenager's silence are looked at together, as parts of one pattern.
That shift takes pressure off any single person. Nobody is labeled the problem. The question becomes what each person can do a little differently so that home feels calmer.
Families come in many forms: two parents, one parent, grandparents raising grandchildren, foster, adoptive and stepfamilies. Conflict is part of life in all of them. Listening to each other and working to resolve conflicts is part of what strengthens a family, and those are skills a therapist can help you practice.
Situations families bring to us
New stepfamilies face many challenges, and building good relationships in them takes work and time. If you are in that position, our article on blended family and co-parenting stress may be a useful place to start.
Parenting difficulties: tantrums, defiance, bedtime and homework battles, or two adults with very different styles
Blended families: new stepparents and stepsiblings, two sets of house rules, and loyalty pulls between homes
Conflict that has become the family's normal way of talking
A family member's mental health condition, and questions about how to support them without wearing yourselves out
Big changes such as separation, a move, illness, job loss or a death in the family
School problems that are causing strain at home
Who comes to sessions
There is no single rule. Family therapy sessions can include a child or adolescent along with parents, siblings and grandparents. Your therapist will talk with you about who should be there at the start and whether that should change over time.
Sometimes everyone attends every visit. Sometimes the therapist meets with the parents alone for part of the time, or with one parent and one child. Adult families use it too, for example grown siblings working out the care of a parent.
Not everyone has to be eager. It is common for at least one person, often a teenager, to come reluctantly. Therapists expect this and can work with it.
What a family session looks like, step by step
Hearing from each person. The therapist invites everyone to share what has been going on from their point of view, including the youngest people in the room. Different versions of the same event are expected.
Naming the pattern. The therapist helps the family notice what tends to happen: who raises their voice, who withdraws, what sets things off and how it usually ends.
Choosing shared goals. The family agrees on a few concrete things to change, such as how rules are set or how disagreements are handled. Goals are set together, not handed down.
Trying something new. You practice in the session, then at home. You may get homework between visits, like a weekly family meeting or a new routine for mornings.
Checking progress. You and your therapist decide how often to meet. Weekly sessions are typically recommended at the beginning, and the plan is adjusted as things change.
When one family member is living with a mental health condition
A parent's depression, a child's anxiety or a relative's trauma affects the whole household. Family members often are unsure what helps and what makes things worse. Family sessions give you a place to ask those questions and to agree on how to respond.
Family therapy can work alongside other care. A child may also have their own child counseling, a teenager their own teen counseling, and partners may add couples counseling if the strain is mostly between the two adults.
If anyone in your family is in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 or call 911. Our office does not provide emergency services.
A note on privacy in family sessions
Sessions are confidential, with exceptions required by law.
Clinicians must act when there is a risk of harm to self or others, and must report suspected abuse of a child or vulnerable adult.
Ask your therapist how they handle something one family member shares in a separate meeting.
Scheduling, telehealth, insurance and fees
We see families at our Salisbury and Bethesda offices, in person and by telehealth. Video sessions can make it easier to get busy people together. Whether telehealth is an option depends on where you are located during the session, so ask when you call.
The self-pay fee for a family therapy session is $130, and an initial assessment is $150. We accept a number of insurance plans, but coverage for family sessions depends on your plan, so please verify your benefits before the first visit. A Sliding Fee Program based on household income and family size is also available. Details are on our insurance and fees page.
Please give 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel, or a missed appointment fee may apply. To set up a first visit, contact our office.
Frequently asked questions
How much does family therapy cost?
Our self-pay fee for family therapy is $130 per session, and the initial assessment is $150. If you plan to use insurance, call your plan first and ask whether family sessions are covered and what your copay will be, because benefits differ. We also offer a Sliding Fee Program based on household income and family size, which may lower what you pay.
Does every family member have to attend?
No. Who attends is decided with your therapist and can change from visit to visit. Sessions may include a child or teen with parents, siblings and grandparents, or a smaller group. If one person refuses to come, the rest of the family can still begin. Changes made by some members often affect how the whole household runs.
Is family therapy only for families with young children?
No. Families with teenagers, adult children and aging parents use it as well. Grown siblings sometimes come to sort out old conflicts or to plan care for a parent. Couples without children may be better served by couples counseling. If you are not sure which service fits, describe your situation when you call and we will point you in the right direction.
Will the therapist blame us as parents?
That is not the purpose of family therapy. The therapist looks at how the family functions as a group and how it could function in more constructive ways, not at who is at fault. Parents are usually the people with the most power to change routines at home, so you may be asked to try new approaches. That is a sign of your influence, not a judgment.
Can family therapy be done by telehealth?
Yes, telehealth appointments are available through both offices. It depends on where you are located during the session, so please ask when you call. For a family video session, it helps if everyone can be seen on camera and if the room is private. Some families find a mix of office and video visits works for them.
How is family therapy different from parenting advice?
Advice tells you what to do. Family therapy looks at why the same situation keeps happening in your particular household, with everyone's view in the room. You may still leave with practical ideas to try, but they come from what your family says and does in session, and they are adjusted based on what happens at home afterward.
Ready to talk with someone?
Call 443-978-8688 or request an appointment. We see clients in person in Salisbury and Bethesda and by telehealth across Maryland.
Sources
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Stepfamily Problems
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Treating Children's Mental Health with Therapy
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988. In an emergency, call 911.
