Family therapy is one of the most powerful and transformative experiences—both for therapists and for the families we serve. At Peterson Family Therapy in Salt Lake City, family counseling is a cornerstone of our practice, and I’m excited to share why this work is so meaningful and how it can help families move from crisis to connection.

What Makes Family Therapy So Powerful?

Families that come to therapy are often caught in painful cycles. There’s conflict, misunderstanding, and hurt. But here’s what I’ve learned after 20+ years of practice: beneath all the chaos and reactivity, there are people who genuinely care about each other. That care is precisely what makes the conflict so painful—and what makes healing possible.

At Peterson Family Therapy, we specialize in helping families break free from these negative cycles. While there are many aspects to effective family counseling, I want to focus on three crucial areas we always address: communication patterns, trust and connection, and the impact of addiction.

The Communication Crisis: When Families Stop Hearing Each Other

Families in trouble always have unhealthy, unclear communication. This is one of the most consistent patterns we see in family therapy.

What does unhealthy family communication look like?

Parents delivering lectures that children tune out completely
Explosive anger and raging that shuts down real conversation
Children acting out rather than expressing their needs in words
Family members talking at each other instead of to each other
Defensiveness that prevents anyone from truly being heard

As Sue Johnson, the founder of Emotionally Focused Therapy, wisely noted: “Wherever there’s reactivity or conflict, there’s usually unclear communication.” This insight drives our approach to family counseling.

How We Help Families Communicate Better

The first step in family therapy is helping family members actually hear each other—often for the first time in years. We do this through structured exercises that might seem simple but are incredibly powerful:

Going around the circle: Each person gets to speak without interruption. This sounds basic, but for many families, it’s revolutionary. Children who’ve never been truly listened to suddenly have a voice. Parents who’ve been dismissed get to express their concerns fully.

Deep listening practice: We teach family members to listen not just to respond or defend, but to genuinely understand. When someone feels truly heard—not just acknowledged, but deeply understood—something shifts. Defensiveness drops. Walls come down. Real conversation becomes possible.

Trust and Connection: The Foundation of Family Health

Behind every communication problem lies a deeper issue: trust.

From attachment theory, we know that healthy family relationships require a foundation of trust and secure connection. When family members don’t feel safe with each other—when they doubt whether others truly care or will be there for them—communication breaks down and negative cycles intensify.

In family counseling, we work to rebuild this foundation by:

Helping family members understand the fears and needs driving their behaviors
Creating safe opportunities for vulnerability and authentic expression
Identifying and challenging the negative cycles that erode trust
Building new patterns of interaction that reinforce connection

The beauty of family therapy is that once trust begins to rebuild, everything else becomes easier. Communication improves. Conflicts decrease. The family system begins to heal itself.

The Addiction Question: An Essential Assessment

One of the most important things we do in the first one or two sessions of family therapy is assess whether addiction is present in the family system. This isn’t about judgment—it’s about providing appropriate care.

Why This Matters

From our training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, we know that you cannot effectively conduct family therapy, couples therapy, or even individual therapy when someone is in active addiction. The addiction hijacks the therapeutic process and prevents the emotional vulnerability necessary for healing.

What We Look For

We assess for various types of addiction that can impact family dynamics:

Alcohol or drug addiction
Sexual addiction
Pornography addiction
Gambling addiction
Other compulsive behaviors that harm the family system

During our initial assessment, we’re listening to everyone’s perspective to understand if addiction is playing a role in the family’s struggles.

An Important Distinction

Here’s what many people don’t realize: we can absolutely work with families where someone is in recovery. If a family member has a substance use problem but they’re actively participating in a program—attending 12-step meetings, working with a sponsor, engaged in treatment—we can effectively provide family therapy alongside their recovery work.

What we cannot do is provide meaningful family therapy when someone is in active, untreated addiction. In these cases, we help the family understand that addiction treatment must come first, and we can support them in taking those steps.

The Honor of Family Therapy

After more than 20 years of conducting family counseling in Salt Lake City, I can honestly say this work is a profound honor. There’s nothing quite like witnessing a family that’s been trapped in conflict and pain begin to heal and reconnect.

We see parents who’ve felt like failures start to reclaim their confidence and authority. We watch children who’ve been acting out begin to express their needs in healthier ways. We observe family members who couldn’t stand to be in the same room learn to support and care for each other again.

This is the power of family therapy—not just managing symptoms, but addressing the core issues of communication, trust, and connection that allow families to thrive.

Ready to Begin Healing Your Family?

If your family is struggling with conflict, communication breakdown, or other challenges, know that help is available. At Peterson Family Therapy, we’ve spent decades helping families in Salt Lake City move from crisis to connection.

Family therapy isn’t about assigning blame or identifying who’s “wrong.” It’s about understanding the patterns that keep everyone stuck and creating new ways of relating that work better for everyone.

We’d be honored to walk alongside your family on this healing journey. Contact Peterson Family Therapy today to schedule a consultation and learn how family counseling can help your family find its way back to connection and peace.

About Peterson Family Therapy

Peterson Family Therapy is a family-owned counseling practice in Salt Lake City, Utah, operated by Ed and Candace Peterson. We specialize in family therapy, couples therapy, and individual therapy, with particular expertise in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). With over 20 years of combined experience, we’re committed to helping families, couples, and individuals heal and thrive. Contact us today to learn more about our family counseling services in Salt Lake City.

Healing Family Dynamics: How Family Counseling Helps Resolve Conflicts