Families can experience difficulties related to conflict, lack of communication, major life changes or losses, and a family member with acute or chronic mental illness. There is a need to learn effective parenting strategies based on a child’s level of development and specific needs if the child has an emotional or behavioral disturbance. Within blended families, the children of divorce often experience a confusing mixture of emotions as well as difficulty in adjusting to the many changes and stepparents often experience confusion in their roles within the new family system. In cases where any family member is addressing mental illness, as they grow, it is important that the family members know how to support continued growth and cope with the effects of the changes experienced within the family system. There are times when a professional, mediating presence is needed to enable each member of the family to clarify their thoughts, feelings, and needs as well as hear others’. Counseling can be beneficial in helping the family deal effectively with the stressors preventing harmony and cohesion. 

Hopefully, these few words will provide some ideas as to how relationship therapy might work. However, it is the experience of engaging in actual counseling sessions gives the most reliable information regarding whether this process might really help to reestablish that deeper and more intimate connection one longs for.