Other important treatment goals of family therapy may include:
- Restructuring maladaptive relationships and interactional family styles
- Strengthening and/or changing family problem-solving behaviors
- Changing dysfunctional transactional patterns between members
- Preventing and/or undoing triangulation
- Establishing appropriate family roles, rules and boundaries
- Helping the children understand and appreciate the value and importance of maintaining positive and compassionate relationships with both parents
- Assisting parents in learning how to practice presenting positive and healthy images of the other parent to the children
- Teaching the children how to develop critical thinking skills and the benefits of staying out of the middle of parental conflict.[23]
Children who engage in family therapy that teach these skills often develop positive / healthy relationships with both parents while learning how to stay out of the middle of their parent’s conflicts.[24] Parents who engage in family therapy that helps them learn how to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the children and the other parent often develop stronger and healthier relationships with their children.[25]
