Arthur Maslow, who was a member of the faculty at the Ackerman Institute for many years, and is a former chair of the Board of Directors, once said: “Family therapy works because it's reality. The greatest support a child can get is from the family.”

Family therapy is about learning how to listen and how to speak. Sometimes the communication that takes place is between parents and children; sometimes it is between siblings; sometimes it is between couples. Sometimes the issue that brings a family to therapy is a problem a child is having in school; sometimes it is the serious physical illness of a family member; sometimes it is depression in an adolescent or dissatisfaction in a marriage. Sometimes a family seeks help for a variety of problems and concerns.

Some of the families that come to the Ackerman Institute are traditional nuclear families. Some are single parent families. Some are families headed by gay couples. Sometimes the parents are straight and the children are gay. Some are intergenerational families. Some are families with mixed ethnic or religious backgrounds. At the Ackerman Institute, we are committed to recognizing diversity in all of its forms and working with all kinds of families in ways that are sensitive to their specific needs.

Family is a powerful concept. The word family can be highly charged because sometimes many of our problems stem directly from our family relationships, but just as often, the solution to our problems lies within our family relationships.

This is because the one thing all families have in common is that fact that each family is the single most powerful resource available to all of its members as they try to cope with all kinds of concerns and issues at all stages of life. And that is why family therapy works – because family therapy harnesses that power and ties it to communication techniques that enable each member of the family to speak clearly and to be heard. Family therapy works because no matter who you are, no matter where you come from and no matter where you want to go … it all starts here with the family.