How family business therapy works.
A clear, staged process, built so every member feels safe and heard before anyone sits in the same room.
First step
A free 30-minute consultation
Before sessions
A written agreement for every member
Session order
Individual, then key pair, then family-wide
Where
In person in five cities, or online
Five stages, in a deliberate order.
Every engagement follows the same sequence. Each stage prepares the ground for the next, so that by the time your family meets together, everyone has already done their own work.
A free 30-minute consultation
A confidential video conversation with no preparation and no commitment. You tell us what is happening, and together we decide whether everpath is the right fit. Fees are discussed in this consultation.
A written engagement agreement
Before any sessions begin, every participating member receives the same written agreement. It sets out confidentiality, how sessions are structured, and what we do and don't do. Each member reads it and accepts it by email.
Individual sessions
Each participating member starts with two or three individual sessions. This is where your own history, pressures, and goals are heard in private, and where we map the people and patterns that shape how you show up in the family and the business.
Key pair sessions
Next, two members work on the relationship between them: siblings, a parent and adult child, spouses, or co-owners. These sessions run for at least 90 minutes, which gives enough time to move from describing the pattern to practising a new one.
Family-wide sessions
When the groundwork is done, three or more members come together in one setting. Here the family practises new ways of speaking, repairing, and making decisions together, so the change holds back in the business.
What you say stays with you.
What you share in your individual sessions is never passed on to other members of your family. You decide what, if anything, you bring from your own work into joint sessions.
The only exceptions are the ones the law and professional ethics require:
- a serious risk to your safety or someone else's
- mandatory reporting obligations
- an order from a court
If your family receives progress updates, they cover only the formats, frequency, and participants of sessions, never anything said in them. Your engagement agreement sets all of this out in full.
Tom Skotidas
Tom is a masters-qualified psychotherapist, a member of the Australian Counselling Association, and the founder of everpath, Australia's first family business psychotherapy practice. He works with business families across Australia and is a member of a family business himself.
My Shout podcast · Weeks Without Talking
Hear him in conversation
On the My Shout podcast, Tom talks about the clash with his brother that led to weeks of silence, and how the patterns we learn as children replay in the boardroom.
Also interviewed on
Questions families ask before starting
Does the whole family need to take part?
No. Change often begins with one or two members. When one person changes how they respond, the people around them begin to change too.
Will you take sides?
No. We work for each member and for the family as a whole. We don't act for one person against another, and we don't carry messages between members.
Do you give business or legal advice?
No. everpath provides psychotherapy only. Your advisors remain the experts in governance, succession, legal, and financial matters, and we work alongside them.
Where do sessions happen?
Online, or in person at our rooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Hobart. Family-wide sessions usually happen in person.
How long are sessions?
Individual sessions run from 60 to 120 minutes. Key pair sessions run for at least 90 minutes. Family-wide sessions are planned around the size of the group.
What does it cost?
Fees are discussed in your free 30-minute consultation, once we understand who will be taking part and what your family needs.
