What's the best kind of therapy to get for difficult family relationships?

[ConstantIllness]

I come from a dysfunctional family: alcoholism, sexual abuse, emotional neglect etc etc. I'm 48 now and it's absolutely coloured my whole life and affected how I see myself as a mother. What kind of therapy might help best to talk this stuff out? Psychotherapy? Jungian? Has anyone got any advice or experience around this? Tia.

I would focus more on finding a therapist who is experienced working with people who have experienced sexual abuse and are children of alcoholics. And who you connect with and feel comfortable with. That’s much more important than what particular approach they trained in.

But to answer your question, I found working with someone who took an integrative approach was very helpful. Basically, they tailor the therapeutic lens that they use based on your needs rather than, say, only using a Gestalt approach. There is no one right way, so having someone who can pull from different approaches based on your needs can be really beneficial.

Thanks @mindutopia that makes sense. I've started looking at local therapists via the BACP website and have noticed many of them offer an integrative approach. Most also offer a free 20/30 mins initial chat, presumably so we can see if it feels right. I've never had private therapy before so it feels like a bit of a minefield.

My friend has been through similar. I believe her therapist uses a few approaches- but my friend has found EMDR to be very helpful

Hopefully you’ll find someone you gel with and find it useful. It’s been transformative for me (though very hard work — don’t schedule anything taxing for after a session). I thought I was aware of my issues, but turned out I had no insight into how much I thought was unrelated and just down to ‘my personality’ was in fact the ingrained coping mechanism of a small child in an ‘unsafe’ household.