Intergenerational trauma is now taking the nerves of the young generation and leading to bad relationships. Parents’ unhealthy habits pass down to their offspring, and the cycle continues.
With some helpful family therapy activities, treating this disorder and unlocking the wisdom of healthy relationships is now possible.
In this blog, we will share how to improve family relationships with therapy and free activities that can be performed at home.
Additionally, Positive Realist has a team of experts trained to give the best counseling. Book us online today and mend your relationships with your parents and siblings.
Why are Family Therapy Activities Helpful?
Family therapy activities, such as resolving conflicts, enhancing communication, and strengthening the bond, are crucial for building relationships.
With engaging family activities and practical worksheets, it is now possible to foster better communication.
Moreover, family counseling trainers and professionals design such activities to create a positive, safe, and non-judgmental environment where all family members can easily express their feelings.
Through family activities, parents, kids, and adults take an equal chance to gain deeper insights about other family members, which leads to identifying and resolving unhealthy patterns.
In addition, it helps in paving the path for developing effective communication and coping strategies.
Furthermore, family therapy and activities help build a positive environment for kids’ learning and growth.
Communication is the key to healthy relationships and is one of the primary family therapy practices in the form of questions, games, and worksheet activities.
Lastly, these activities are a powerful tool in addressing several family challenges, enhancing overall family well-being, and identifying the boundaries within relationships 1.
How Does Family Therapy Work?
In family therapy, family is defined as the unit playing a nurturing role in your life.
Family therapy works out as it gives the family members an equal opportunity to discuss all the matters in detail.
If a family carries some trauma or psychological issues from their grandparents.
Family therapy sessions help in unwinding those events and resolving those particular pain points.
It typically involves 12 detailed sessions in which a therapist asks questions, learns more about your family dynamics, and then advises you on performing better.
In addition, it is complemented with therapy activities, from printables to physical activities that allow all the members to open their hearts out loud and raise concerns.
Further, it allows the members to connect with other family members and leads to bonding, which they miss out on.
5 Family Therapy Activities for Building Relationships
Family activities are therapeutic activities that are necessary to maintain and build relationships.
Also, they improve communication and encourage positive behavior within a family unit.
Here, we will share a few healthy activities that can significantly strengthen family bonds:
1: Communication worksheets
Everyone has a different way of communicating and expressing their thoughts and feelings.
In a family, communication works in knowing more about other relations and making a better understanding among family members.
Communication worksheets are printable activities with some patterns and designs that help other members learn about a family member’s mindset and thinking patterns.
Further, it helps in fostering healthier relationships and decreases communication gaps.
2: Miracle Questions
Another healthy family activity is miracle questioning, in which each family member pretends a miracle has happened.
It allows each member to change their life and their relationships in a better way.
This allows each member to describe and share what they want to change and what they look forward to.
Additionally, with this activity, everyone learns more about each other, their hopes, expectations, and aspirations.
Undoubtedly, it is a fantastic activity to identify family issues and future goals while fostering healthy relationships.
3: Family Questioning
One of the most common and engaging family therapeutic activities is family questioning, which allows all the family members to ask and answer each other’s questions.
You will allow your parents and siblings to learn more about yourself with the questions they want to ask for a long time. This activity is helpful as it:
- Develops family understanding.
- Identify family values.
- Encourage communication.
- Remove conflicts and concerns.
4: Emotions Ball Game
Another famous family activity is the emotional ball game, a physical and mental exercise. It enables the family members to connect with their emotions and interact differently.
By this activity, therapists can better understand the family dynamics and can work on primary mental health issues such as depression and stress running in the genes.
Moreover, emotions game ball also allows the therapist to ask critical questions from family members about what they feel and how they feel about certain things going on.
This game is fun and allows families to promote active listening, balancing family dynamics, and engaging in healthy and positive conversations 2.
5: Build Relationships with Colored Candy Go Around
The activity is designed to enhance and work on communications in a family. For ice-breaking activities, it is a must. Furthermore, in this game, serve every person with seven colored candies and let them sort by color.
Instruct them about the number of candies, and everyone has to respond to the following prompts:
- Green – Describe family.
- Orange – Improvements needed in the family setup
- Red – What worries them
- Yellow – Share favorite memories
- Purple – More family activities.
Key takeaways:
Each family has to struggle to connect to improve their relationships. It is possible to evacuate genetic stress and interfamily trauma with therapy.
In addition, virtual and physical family activities from therapy can help connect with other family members.
So, one must get help from therapy in building solid relationships. It is much needed in healing past wounds to look forward to a brighter future.
