Adolescents and family therapy - does it work?Author: Kerry Proctor Family therapy has developed in response to the recognition by many therapists that problems experienced by one or more family members are experienced collectively and therefore are the collective responsibility of the whole family, with the aim of empowering the family to find ways of responding to the problems and coping and making changes together. There is also the underlying belief that there is a link between the psychological health of young people and families and the family history. This link can transmit across generations, with the second and third generations being affected by family experiences, beliefs and values that are held dearly, overtly and covertly, by members of previous generations. As I have become more familiar with the strength and importance of family life to the Maltese, and recognise how family loyalty and connectedness remains important to those adolescents that I have come into contact with, it strikes me that perhaps family therapy is something that the Maltese have been practising intuitively for a long time. Again, this whets my curiosity as to why many family therapists feel that many Maltese families do not feel empowered by the process of family conflict resolution that is offered to them in this country. A difficulty facing therapists working with young people and their families is that the pressure to perform miracles quickly is greater now than ever before. Solution-focused, brief and short term therapy are the catch phrases of the nineties. Often, professionals whom Maltese families may turn to can only offer families a limited number of sessions in which the problems are meant to be resolved. Adolescents and their parents are often labelled as 'dependent', failures', 'difficult' or 'resistant' if there is an expectation that therapy continue for longer than the allocated number of sessions. Issues like 'trust' , 'comfort, 'safety', 'leaming to speak the same language' require a longer term relationship with a therapist than is fast becoming the norm. Adolescents will usually end up in a family therapist's room because someone in authority has told them to be there. Family members will be present because they want to help their son or daughter behave more reasonably, lovingly and rationally. Often, family members do not want to attend, to disclose what is normally private family affairs to a stranger, and to someone with whom there is no understandable connection. Family members often feel powerless, anonymous, ashamed, scared, anxious, failures and worried. Connecting family members together can often result in the adolescents hearing that their parents love them, are concerned for them, are confused, angry ... for the first time. And parents have the opportunity to listen to their angry, confused, anxious adolescent who is often tom between two cultures, two linguistic worlds, and spiritually detached from a religious life that sustains their parents and grandparents. Families that have survived the loss and trauma of the migration experience, carved out with courage and persistence a new life in Australia, often find that their hopes and dreams for the future generations are not being translated into respect, honour, loyalty and understanding from the very young people for whom such sacrifices and dislocation from history, home and culture had been made. The unpredictability of a young body racked with hormonal chaos and the search for an identity that translates across generational and cultural barriers can be confusing for young people and adults alike. The pressure to conform to the dominant Anglo-Australian culture can result in adolescents becoming emotional, moody, irrational, demanding, risk-taking and irresponsible, and hence being an alien to their parents. It is often a challenge to parents to remain calm and understanding, contain and keep safe their young adults, and at the same time let go. This often happens without the parents having a template of 'how to do it' from their own adolescence. Many parents who are of both first and second generation Maltese background were struggling with the trauma of war, dislocation and resettlement at the time of their own adolescence, and find the trials and tribulations of those young people in the 'lucky country' hard to empathise with. Source: Maltese Background Youth - Editors Cauchi M, Borland H, Adams R, 1999, [Europe Australia Institute], p 83
    
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