10 Examples of Family Therapy Telehealth Activities

Family therapy strengthens and builds positive relationships within families and alleviates issues or concerns that may be affecting family dynamics. It is a psychotherapy form involving specific family members or the whole unit. Family therapy can facilitate healthier communication and mental health outcomes for the entire family and reduce conflicts in a shorter amount of time.

Clients often enroll in family therapy to create better home environments and work towards developing positive support systems that are based on a foundation of trust and respect. Because family therapy is covered by insurance and can be delivered through telehealth services, it also makes for a highly affordable option. Family therapy can involve a variety of behavioral and psychotherapy techniques and is effective for treating a range of issues such as substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.

What is the ultimate goal of family therapy?

While family therapy can achieve many goals, it is commonly used to enhance communication skills and help family members interact positively and healthily. Family therapy activities play an important role in providing family members with the necessary skills to be able to understand each other from different perspectives, as well as the capabilities to promote patience and understanding. Family therapy aims to resolve conflicts and find ways to alleviate negative behavioral issues, thoughts, feelings, and patterns through the specific use of family therapy techniques. Families can increase their overall well-being and find ways to overcome difficult mental health challenges. A family therapist will guide families through their specific situations to create an accepting and safe home environment.

Family therapy can help achieve goals related to grief, relationship concerns, depression, anxiety, and more. Regardless of the size of the family or whether it consists of primarily children or adults, all families can benefit from the long-term support that family therapy can provide. There are also no limits to the issues that family therapy can treat. It can be as simple as a change in a family dynamic or an unresolved argument.

10 Examples of Family Therapy Telehealth Activities

Telehealth is becoming a popular method of communication when it comes to family therapy. However, we acknowledge that it can sometimes be difficult to think of engaging activities that continue to be effective within virtual delivery. As a result, we've compiled 10 helpful family therapy telehealth activities that you can implement within the family therapy sessions. These family therapy activities can be used alongside teletherapy worksheets to work through any underlying issues:

1. Emotions ball

If the family struggles to express emotions, then consider this activity. All they need is a ball (a beach ball may be the best option for this activity), and using a marker, they will write specific emotions on the ball. This may include happiness, sadness, anger, anxiety, and whatever other emotion they may wish to explore within the family. They will then toss the ball to one another and then share a time when they felt the emotion that their index finger was pointing to once the ball was caught. If they are pointing to multiple emotions, they should pick one.

2. Using colored candy

For this exercise, the family will need colored candy such as M&Ms. Separate the candy into their different colors and associate each color with a specific prompt. Give each family member seven pieces, and encourage them to share their answers with the group. Prompts may include the following:

• Green - what are some positive memories you have with your family?
• Red - what do you find difficult in your family dynamic?
• Orange - what could be improved in your family?

This is a great family therapy activity that can support young children in understanding their emotions and family dynamics.

3. Family gift

Each group member is given a gift bag and some art supplies with the family gift. Each member must come up with one or more gift ideas that other members would like to receive. This activity evaluates each other's emotions and actions while creating the gifts. Members can better understand the needs and preferences of others and work out ways to overcome conflict.

4. Mirroring activity

This activity allows each family member to act as a mirror for one another. When getting into pairs, family members will copy each other's gestures without touching in an effort to become more in tune with members' body language, responses, and reactions. This activity is a great way to develop greater understanding as well as patience.

5. Genogram

Genograms represent family trees, through a schematic perspective. These are used to show emotional ties and relationships and consider how major family disruptors such as divorce and abuse can affect the overall family tree and dynamic. It is an intergenerational examinable tool that can help family members understand how they came to be and where they fit into the family structure and the greater picture. With this activity, work with your clients to produce a family tree that depicts the current situation of the families.

6. Tracking

Tracking is a great way to evaluate life events in a family system with a high level of detail. In this exercise, family members are encouraged to share their perspectives on life events and note any important information or behaviors that are necessary and important to discuss within appointments. It can track changes over time and allows for widespread evaluation of a variety of factors that can contribute to family dysfunction.

7. Circular questioning

Circular questioning is a great way to identify and establish connections between family members across different perspectives. As opposed to standardized questions and how one person affects another, circular questions highlight interactions across multiple family members. For example, circular questions may be formatted like, “Who has provided the greatest support for Lucy?”. This allows each family member to share their thoughts and feelings and how their point of view can shape family interactions and dynamics.

8. Knowing your stones, knowing your playdough

This activity highlights the situations and factors in everyday life that cannot be controlled versus the scenarios that can be controlled. Sometimes, the root of family dysfunction and relationship communication issues focuses on external influences we need not concern ourselves with. This activity is a great way to help clients decipher what is worth their time and what is not. Simply gather rocks and Play-Doh and place each one in each of the family members' hands.

Ask each family member to describe the physical sensation of both the rock and the Play-Doh and connect both perspectives. Ascertain that in life, there are many times when we have situations that are like rocks and cannot be changed or controlled. Other situations are like Play-Doh in that they are soft and can be molded into different shapes or outcomes.

9. Pick a miniature

Before the subsequent family meetings, instruct the members to collect miniatures from home that best describe their family members. During the next session, allow each family member to share the object, how it is in line with the other's perspectives, the characteristics of the family member it represents, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of both the object and the respective person. Family members may collect hard objects or soft objects and may embody interesting and unique perspectives to creatively discuss how they see other family members.

10. Strategic alliances

Strategic alliances allow therapists to meet with one family member to foster and catalyze a small change that will affect other family members positively. Sometimes, many family members come to therapy sessions feeling as if they are ignored or have little influence in their families, with strategic alliances used for the exact purpose of helping clients realize their potential and how they can impact others at home.

Final thoughts

Family therapy is a great way to strengthen family relationships and build support systems to maintain healthy and positive behaviors. Family therapy can enhance communication to solve problems more efficiently and can help address the root of family problems such as substance abuse, addiction, divorce, death, and other mental health challenges. Paired with the potential therapy limitations of telehealth, a challenging part of providing therapy for clients can be deciding which therapy option suits the overall needs of families. This guide has offered 10 applicable therapy options for telehealth and with family therapy telehealth appointments becoming an increasingly common and available service for clients, are a surefire way to boost the quality of your services without compromise.