Interview Series: Family and Marriage Therapy with Max Zubatsky, PhD, LMFT
A lot of times, individual challenges can occur from other aspects of a family unit.
When we work with anxiety and anger management with our kids, teens and college students, we sometimes connect families to family therapists even if everything feels like it’s going well. A family therapist can offer their perspective on the entire family dynamic and work on issues together in a way that is different from the work we do individually.
We reached out to family therapists in the St. Louis area to discuss the ins and outs of family therapy to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you. We are so excited that we had the chance to interview Dr. Max Zubatsky. Max has a long history of working as a family and marriage therapist and has trained all over the country. Read more below about his practice and experience!
Why did you choose to become a family therapist in St. Louis?
The road to becoming a family therapist included a few off ramps along the way! After I graduated college, I worked as a clinical research coordinator for a medical center. While it was rewarding work, I often found myself in conversations with patients and family members not having answers to underlying mental health issues. When I sat in on family group sessions with a social worker in the department, I was drawn to this work immediately.
I started to see the value of the family and relationships in helping to heal individual mental and emotional health. After stops in California, Minnesota, and Illinois in my graduate training, I came to St. Louis University when a faculty position opened in Medical Family Therapy. My background prepared me to research, teach and provide clinical services to families in medical and healthcare settings. This was the perfect environment to apply these skills.
What kind of treatment do you provide?
In my private practice, I see individuals, couples, and families with various mental health issues. My approach is more strength based and family-systems focused to address any presenting problems that occur in people’s lives. I see clients with a range of mood issues, emotional problems, family conflict, and couple’s/relationship problems.
What ages do you work with?
I work with adolescents, adults, and seniors in my practice. I also am open to family sessions for adolescents and children in therapy.
What can families expect to leave with after working with you?
My goal is to offer families a sense of direction and purpose, where they all participate in the solutions to the presenting problem. As a family therapist, I always see relational and familial patterns that are connected to individual problems. The family is the unit of treatment, so all members need to take accountability for how they can make changes in their lives, which will hopefully change the outcome of the client(s) that have the presenting issue.
Who are your favorite types of clients to work with?
I do not have a diagnosis, problem or issue that would necessarily be a favorite. There are three things (among many others) that really make therapy effective for clients and make the therapy process rewarding:
The client is open to establishing a therapeutic relationship and wants therapy to be a process.
These are the clients that not only give enough time to make changes but gain a deeper perspective in their lives as a result.
It is great to work with very motivated clients.
When clients are not motivated to make changes or get dragged into therapy by a partner or family member, it is a real challenge to get buy-in from them.
I like clients who are open to feedback and perspectives
They may not necessarily have to agree with me, but to have an open mind about seeing their issue or situation from a different viewpoint.
What happens during a first appointment with you?
I use the first appointment to not just gain a further assessment, but to establish a joining process with the client, couple, or family. I want to know the backstory of not just the problem, but the client’s life. They should feel comfortable with the therapy approach I take to help work them through problems of issues.
I also like to establish goals that are more strength-based and can evolve during therapy. Assessment does not just stop at a first session, but rather several sessions after.
Could you talk a little about your approach and how it plays into work with people recovering from anxiety?
I take a post-modern approach to work with clients, even those suffering with anxiety or anxiety-related issues. My philosophy is that anxiety is an inherent emotion we have and often serves an effective purpose in certain situations. When this emotion becomes too overwhelming or overrides someone’s life, that’s where learning coping strategies and finding the underlying reasons for anxiety is important. I frame to clients that you were not born with being an anxious person, you just need to “put anxiety in it’s place” more often in one’s life.
What do you wish people knew about getting therapy as a family?
That there is more than one person in the family that can improve their health or well-being from family therapy.
What are some of the biggest benefits and/or differences in family therapy vs individual?
Individual therapy can help clients manage their behavioral, emotional, and/or physical needs (e.g. depression, anxiety, OCD, work stress). Treatment goals might only be for the client, but a therapist can add family and others into the goal setting for therapy. Family therapy can consist of not just an individual’s condition or issue, but more family level issues that involved more comprehensive treatment planning (e.g. blended family issues, parent/child relationships, caregiver issues)
How can parents best decide if marriage therapy or family therapy is right for them?
I would recommend going to the Marriage and Family Therapy website to see what an MFT does in practice:
How can people learn more and contact you?
Anyone can contact me at mzubatsky@gmail.com or 314-977-2496
Share one fun fact about you that most people don’t know.
I played Division I college tennis at the University of Connecticut
Curious to learn more about anxiety treatment? Wondering if you need to connect with a family therapist in St. Louis? Contact Compassionate Counseling St. Louis to set up a free 15-minute phone consult. We’ll talk about what’s going on and best next steps - and if we’re not the right fit, we’ll connect you with other wonderful St. Louis-based therapists, like Max!
Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides specialized anger management and anxiety therapy in St. Louis for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serve kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood.
