Family Therapy Worksheets

An intuitive family therapy worksheet designed to foster open communication and motivate patients toward achieving their goals in a transparent, meaningful, and long-lasting way.

By Ashleigh Knowles on Jul 17, 2024.

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Fact Checked by Nate Lacson.

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Family Therapy Worksheets PDF Example
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What is a Family Therapy Worksheet?

A family therapy worksheet is a resource sometimes used by therapists who specialize in treating families. There are a wide range of different reasons why family members may be receiving therapeutic treatment and often the goal of this treatment is to improve the relationships between the family members. In order to achieve this goal, it is important that each individual patient is open and honest about both what they are looking to achieve, and how they themselves can contribute to more positive relationships.

One of the best ways to enable honesty is through asking each of your patients to complete a . We have designed a worksheet template that asks patients to record their own goals and objectives, and reflect on how their attitudes and behaviors impact familial relationships. The worksheet aims to give each family member an equal opportunity to present certain issues they may be having, facilitating an honest and open therapeutic experience. It is often the case that the responses given on these worksheets are used during future sessions, to help keep patients accountable and also to develop the treatment plan.

How to Use This Worksheet for Family Therapy

Implementing this family therapy worksheet into your healthcare practice is easy. The process is reasonably self-explanatory, but we’ve nonetheless devised a step-by-step guide to help ensure you don’t miss any important steps:

Step One: Access the worksheet

Naturally, the first thing you need to do is access the worksheet. We’ve included a link to the template a little further down on this page, along with a completed family therapy worksheet example. Clicking on this link will open the template in your device’s PDF reader, where it can be downloaded and saved. The template can be edited simply by clicking within the different sections, which means the process of distributing and completing the worksheet can be done entirely online.

Step Two: Give the worksheet to your patients

When you are treating patients who you think will benefit from using the worksheet, then you should distribute one template to each of the patients. Ask them to complete it at home in their own time and away from their family members.

Step Three: Discuss the worksheets during your sessions

After the patients have completed the worksheets, you should request that they bring the worksheets into their next session. Using the responses as a starting point for a discussion, you should lead a conversation between the family members. It’s important that you are careful to manage this discussion in a calm and appropriate way, using your professional judgment about what topics should and shouldn’t be raised.

Who Can Use this Printable Family Therapy Worksheet (PDF)?

This specific worksheet has been designed to be used by therapists who specialize in treating families. Families may decide to receive therapeutic treatment for a number of different reasons, and from a number of different specialists. Some of these variations include:

  1. Grief Counseling and Therapy
  2. Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling
  3. Substance Abuse Therapy
  4. Eating Disorders
  5. Couples Counseling

Other reasons why individuals may be seeking family therapy include for financial problems, coping with high stress, anger management difficulties, or mental illness impacts. Regardless of the specific reason why a family is receiving therapy treatment, they will likely benefit from implementing this worksheet, as it enables a more comprehensive understanding of each individual’s needs.

Why is This Form Useful for Therapists?

This worksheet has been designed to have a range of different uses when implemented into a healthcare practice, including the following:

  • Saves time: With our pre-designed family therapy worksheet, you will be able to save a lot of time. Instead of having to organize and structure the layout of the form yourself, you can simply access, save, and share the worksheet that we have already created.
  • Go paperless: Because our worksheet can be completed entirely online, it provides a fantastic way for you to go paperless. As well as being environmentally friendly, going paperless will significantly improve the organization at your practice, ensuring administrative processes are as seamless as possible.
  • Focus on your communication: Using worksheets is a good way for therapists to focus on their own communication skills. No matter how much experience you might have, there are always areas where therapists can improve. The family therapy worksheet requires you to communicate effectively with your patients and facilitate positive meaningful conversations during your sessions.
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Benefits of Family Therapy Worksheet

The family therapy worksheet additionally has a range of different advantages for those who choose to implement it. Some of these benefits include:

Establish a trusting environment

One of the most important goals when delivering therapeutic treatment to multiple patients is developing a trusting environment. You want to ensure that when you are having a session, your patients feel comfortable voicing their opinions and concerns, and a healthy environment is necessary for this. The worksheet demonstrates to all of your patients that you genuinely care about their needs and are willing to prioritize these during your treatment.

Encourage honesty

Family therapy doesn’t work if the patients aren’t honest with each other. By requesting that they complete the worksheet in their own time (and away from each other), it is much more likely that they will give honest answers to the questions. You can then use these responses to guide conversation during sessions, leading to a more honest, and hopefully, more fruitful discussion.

Improve communication

Family therapy is largely centered around communication. If the individual patients aren’t comfortable telling each other what they want out of the relationship, then it will be very difficult for them to progress. This worksheet is a fantastic starting point to begin encouraging honest communication between each of your patients.

Alter treatment plan where necessary

Not only will the responses that patients leave on the worksheets provide you with insight into their relationships, but they will also allow you to effectively assess any progress made. Conversely, they will also highlight areas that may require improvement, allowing you to adapt the treatment plan where necessary.

Motivate patients to achieve therapy goals

Essentially, the primary purpose of the family therapy worksheet is to encourage patients to develop an awareness of their own goals, and then motivate them to achieve these. In addition to being helpful to patients, this process informs therapists of the areas that they need to target their interventions, leading to better overall clinical outcomes.

The family therapy worksheet fosters a trusting environment by prioritizing patient needs and encouraging open communication. It helps facilitate honesty among family members, leading to more fruitful therapy sessions. For tools that enhance communication and support therapeutic progress, explore our therapy worksheet template and resources.

When to use a Family Therapy Worksheet?
When to use a Family Therapy Worksheet?

Commonly asked questions

When to use a Family Therapy Worksheet?

When you use the family therapy worksheet is up to you and your professional experience. Although most families receiving therapy treatment are likely to benefit from the worksheet, you may find an alternative intervention more suitable. Either way, you should use your informed opinion to decide whether or not the family you are treating will benefit from the worksheet, and go from there.

Who completes the Family Therapy Worksheet?

This specific worksheet has been designed to be completed by each patient that you are treating. It is important that they complete the worksheets by themselves, so they can be as honest and transparent as possible. After they have finished responding to the questions, you can use these answers as a starting point for discussions during your sessions.

How should I store the completed Family Therapy Worksheets?

These worksheets contain confidential information, including the patient’s personal details and current health condition. As such, they need to be stored in adherence to HIPAA guidelines. We suggest using a secure online EHR system that employs effective safeguards.

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