Today is International Day of Families

Every year, the international community celebrates the International Day of Families. Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, this annual observance on 15 May aims to keep celebrating the important role of the family nucleus within wider society.

The observance provides a focus on varied family themes, such as the promotion of education in 2017, family migration in 2010, family challenges and opportunities in 2006, poverty and homelessness in 1996. This year the UN is drawing attention to the issue of Families and Urbanisation. This, according to the UN is “one of the most important megatrends shaping our world and the life and wellbeing of families worldwide”. Sustainable urbanisation has been an ongoing concern especially in view of increased migration all over the world, an all-encompassing theme that includes the eradication of poverty, good health and well-being and the reduction of inequality.

Meanwhile in Malta, this special date is annually celebrated by a very unique institution, set up over a decade ago, specifically to help improve the quality of family life. The Institute of Family Therapy Malta has witnessed a notable change in the way families on Malta and Gozo live on the islands and the challenges they face. The professional family therapists at IFT-Malta are not just involved in the training of professionals, but also engaged in therapeutic services to families and their members facing difficulties or simply seeking to improve their quality of life.

Dr Charlie Azzopardi, a Systemic Family therapist and Founding chairperson of IFTMalta has worked with families both locally and abroad, but what attracted him to train in family therapy and proceed to teach it?

“I first encountered Family Therapy as a practice in 1988 in Rome during my training as an addictions counsellor. I immediately understood the benefits this modality of psychotherapy provides to individuals and families. What attracted me mostly was the shift in the theory of change I had to make from seeing problems belonging to individuals to seeing problems as belonging to relationships and systems. There are no individual problems but only relational problems. This is because our brains are programmed to be relational and cannot exist on their own, but exist only in relationships. This edge made me fall in love with systemic theory and I see myself as having evolved together with the way systemic theory evolved. The need for the systemic approach was immediately evident to me. As I opened San Blas in 1989 it was evidently clear that unless we address the systems, individuals will continue to relapse. Upon setting up Sedqa’s family therapy service I ensured that FT becomes integrated in the treatment of addictions. It was when I worked and taught in the UK that I noticed the great need for the dissemination of Systemic Therapy in Malta. This experience led to a series of courses I offered in Malta, which continued to demonstrate the need for specialist training. In 2008, upon graduating Doctor in Systemic Psychotherapy I started the process of setting up the first Masters. And IFT-Malta was born. The drive to do so came from meeting local professionals in various fields telling me ‘It’s nice but I can’t go to the UK to study, can’t leave, I have children/ I don’t have the money’. It was a purely feminist gesture I suppose. I wanted to provide a local opportunity. And I did.”

Co-director Karen Bishop sheds light on the kind of work being done with local families: “I have been a systemic practitioner for 15 years now, director, tutor and supervisor at IFT-Malta for over 10 years. The common denominator between all these different experiences is definitely ‘relationships’. Learning itself requires a solid relationship that allows space for uncertainty and exploration of new ideas. We support families, couples and individuals who seek our therapeutic help to nurture better relationships with their loved ones. The key to better relationships is the ability to look outwards. People often get caught up in their unmet needs and make demands of those around them. The most useful idea I’ve possibly ever learnt is asking the simple question: ‘What does the other person (partner, child, friend, colleague, etc.) need from me to feel loved and valued?’ The silence I often get as a reply tells me that we do not ask this often enough.”

Maria Jones, a Systemic Family therapist who trained with IFTMalta is presently engaged in Locked Out, a project established by IFT-Malta in conjunction with Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl, offering inmates the possibility to work on their relationships with loved ones. “As the project coordinator, I have the privilege of meeting various families of inmates. Every case is unique. Some inmates have only their children present in their lives, others only their romantic partners, one or both parents or just a sibling. Thus, family sessions always bring different challenges – communication difficulties, mistrust issues, the longing for connection, everyday challenges, financial problems, and so on. Ultimately the aim is to enhance relationships so that once inmates end their prison sentence, they find a family environment that is supportive and helps keep them away from illegalities.”

Audrey Ann Falzon, a Family therapist & Systemic practitioner is also involved in this project. She explains further, “These families have a valuable opportunity to hold important conversations with their loved ones serving time. Our role is to create and facilitate the space needed so that the family therapy process can take place. We work closely with the prison system and representatives in charge of the inmates’ rehabilitation. We facilitate therapeutic conversations so that those locked in have the chance to address difficulties within their family relationships as part of their rehabilitation. Those ‘locked out’, that is family members, often feel un-supported during the process of incarceration whereby they experience issues of change, helplessness and loss. The family therapy service may continue after the prison sentence is finished, thus offering a holistic continuation of professional support and rehabilitation.”

All members of the IFT-Malta team become strongly influenced by the staple work done to make a difference in the wellbeing of so many families stemming from so many different local scenarios. Marouska Camilleri is one of the newest inclusions on the administrative team and talks about her own perspective on family therapy, “Family therapy helps improve people’s lives by improving communication patterns between them, enabling them to hear each other’s needs, helping them become more secure with themselves. People who experience family therapy learn how to deal with other situations and how to evolve themselves. Family therapy can only make good!”