Psychology

Family systems therapy is a form of psychotherapy where all members of the nuclear or extended family are involved. It can be carried out by a pair or a team of psychotherapists. In most cases, the therapists can consists of a man and a woman to handle gender related issues. However, some forms of family therapy are based on behavioral or psychodynamic principles the most commonly applied form is based on family systems theory (Kazak, 1996). In this approach, the whole family is regarded as a single unit of treatment and places more emphasis on factors such as relationships and communications as opposed to characters or symptoms in individual members.

Family systems approach is a new field in psychology. It was started after the World War II. The doctors who were treating schizophrenic patients realized that it was necessary for the families of the sick also to be counseled since the patients condition changed according to the level of tension between their parents. After these observations were made, the family was treated as a single unit with its own unique internal rules, patterns of functioning, and ability to resist change (Rogers, 2000).

The approach is increasingly becoming popular because changes in the society are reflected in family structures. Because of this two further developments have been found couples therapy which handles relationships between married couples and the extension of the family therapy to religious communities or other groups that are similar to a family (Besharat, 2003).

Individual therapy on the other hand refers to therapy sessions involving one client and one therapist. The session can take up to one hour long. As opposed to group therapy, individual therapy is offered in various branches of psychology (Murdock, 2009). In cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapist examines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and the connections and patterns between them. In this branch the therapists involve the client to set goals for coping with problems which the client is facing (Rogers, 2000).

Similarities and differences
While in group therapy the therapists listens to other peoples issues and resolutions, individual therapy is focused on an individuals problems. Both types of therapies may be very helpful to patients based on their problems and treatment preferences. Personal growth can result from both therapies (Murdock, 2009).

In some cases of group therapies, getting information from other people with the same problem can provide helpful insight that can enable a client to perceive his problem in another perspective (Kazak, 1996). Individual therapy can be very useful for a client who is likely to be distracted from concentrating on changing his or her own behavior to develop a healthier and more peaceful situation in life. The decision to settle for either individual or group therapy should be made carefully (Rogers, 2000).

Although both approaches may be very necessary for a therapy client, there is need for a client to consider that group therapies are quite flexible as compared to individual therapies. Since group therapies involve more people, schedules of other people must be taken into consideration when booking for appointments (Murdock, 2009).

Conclusion
While individual therapy involves individual session with one therapist, group therapy involves more than one client as well as the therapists. Family systems approach is used in situations where an individuals condition is likely to be affected by the relationship with other family members (Rogers, 2000). Branches of individual therapy include cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic therapies. Family systems approach applies systems theory to assess family in terms of their roles within the system. In this approach, problems are fixed by changing the operations of the family systems instead of trying to fix a particular problem affecting a family member.