Family therapy with single, young adults

Family therapy with the single, young adult can be successfully carried out using the Bowen family systems theory when the process is staged over time. The therapist who has gone back into his or her own family of origin can be of greatest help as a "coach" to the client in this ongoing process. The therapist assists the client in a process of orderly differentiation that enables the client to develop a more solid sense of self. Reactive distance and emotional cut-offs are modified as solutions to anxiety. More personal, flexible family, peer, and work relationships are promoted. The client's initial presenting problems diminish as he/she comes to terms with his/her ultimate aloneness and self-responsibility, and begins to accept family members as they are and relationships with them for what they can be.