A difficult life situation is a situation that means the experiences of people who find themselves in circumstances that seriously affect their well-being, the safety of life, and from which they are not always able to get out on their own. Children who find themselves in a difficult life situation are especially in need of help. The paper identifies the most significant factors affecting family well-being, as a result of which children may have a difficult life situation: poor financial conditions in the family, loss of connection with the labor market, intra-family conflicts, an unfavorable psychological atmosphere in the family, cruel treatment in the family, etc. The essence of social therapy as a specific technology of social work is that it is based on the idea of «treatment», i.e. achieving the highest possible level of human social health, primarily the normal functioning and adaptation of persons with physical and psychological pathology. Social therapy includes various methods aimed at achieving social well-being by family members, including children. It can be group and individual one. Examples of social therapy methods are bibliotherapy, fairy tale therapy, music therapy, occupational therapy, cinema therapy, sandplay therapy, etc.