Pergola
For the family you were in, or the one you're in now

Family Therapy

Family therapy covers a wider territory than most people realize. It's not only parents with a struggling teenager. It's also adult siblings trying to make decisions about an aging parent. It's blended families finding their footing. It's adult children of immigrants navigating loyalty and difference. It's the long, slow work of recognizing a pattern that's been running in your family for generations and deciding what to do about it.

The therapists on this page are trained in systemic approaches — they don't locate the problem in one person but in the patterns between people. Depending on what you need, they might meet with the whole family together, or with different subsystems (parents alone, adult siblings, one-on-one), or some combination.

Good family therapy isn't about assigning blame. It's about making the invisible patterns visible, so the people in them have more choices. Often that's enough to break a years-long loop.

1 therapist offering family therapy
Priya Raman, PsyD, therapist in Seattle
Priya Raman, PsyD
Capitol Hill, Seattle

Trauma-focused care for first and second-generation adults

Trauma / PTSDFamilyAnxiety
Accepting new clients$275/session

Common questions

Who should be in the room for family therapy?+
It depends on the concern. A family therapist will often ask you to map out who's involved, then make a recommendation about who should come to which sessions. Sometimes the most useful first meeting is with the two parents alone; sometimes it's with everyone at once; sometimes it's individual sessions with each member followed by a joint one. There's no single right format.
Is family therapy just for families with kids?+
No. Adult family therapy is one of the most common reasons people come in — conflict with siblings, caring for an aging parent, working through what you inherited from your family of origin, or trying to be the parent you didn't have. You don't need to be a minor or have minors to benefit.
What if not everyone in my family is willing to come?+
That's common, and it's not a dealbreaker. Many family therapists will work with whoever is willing — sometimes just one person doing individual work focused on family dynamics. When one member of a family system changes, the whole system tends to shift. You don't need full participation to make real progress.
How is family therapy different from individual therapy?+
Individual therapy focuses on your inner experience and the patterns you carry. Family therapy focuses on the patterns between people — who speaks, who goes quiet, who gets blamed, who gets protected. Both are valuable; many people do both in parallel or in sequence. Your therapist can help you decide what makes sense.
Can we do family therapy over video?+
Often yes, and sometimes it's the only way to get everyone together — especially when family members live in different cities. Video works well for adult family therapy. For families with younger kids, in-person is often preferred but not required.

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