Satir Family Therapy

Satir Family Therapy (SFT) is an approach to counselling that focuses on what happens within a person (“intrapsychic”) as well as between people (“interpersonal”). The primary goal of SFT is for people to experience transformational change within each session by connecting with their deepest longings while also making positive changes in their behaviour, feelings and perceptions. In SFT, emphasis is placed on clients’ ability and responsibility to make positive changes in their life.

In SFT, clients are often asked to explore some of the rules and beliefs they have adopted from their family of origin and to determine if those values are worth keeping. For instance, it is common for families to have certain implicit or explicit rules regarding which emotions are acceptable (happiness, surprise, etc) or inacceptable (anger, sadness, etc). Since healthy functioning includes being able to experience the whole range of emotions, it is often worthwhile to transform that rule.

SFT tends to be brief (~12-20 sessions).