Family Counseling
The relationships with our family are the first bonds with that we create. The health of these relationships can significantly affect us for the rest of our lives. You spend much of your time with your family, up close and personal. Some have fond memories of their childhood and growing up, others have a more difficult time. Our actions and attitudes can have a positive or negative effect on our families, just as theirs can affect you too. Miscommunication can make things messy. Complicated feelings associated with those who are supposed to be closest to us can feel impossible to come back from.
Why would a family need therapy?
There are many reasons why you and your family might be struggling to see eye to eye. Family therapy can be the best approach to building stronger relationships with your relatives. If you are starting to feel burnt out because of an issue you are facing with your family, you and your loved ones can get to a happier, healthier place together.
Here is just a short list of some of the reasons why families come to therapy:
Poor communication
Parenting issues
Sibling rivalry
Addiction and substance abuse
Aggression and stress management
Marital issues
Mental health concerns
Troubling adolescents
Behavioral problems in children
Major life changes
Trouble coping with a physical illness
What to Expect?
Family Therapy is usually centered on relationship patterns and dynamics rather than on analyzing individual thought processes or experiences. The distinctive feature of Family Therapy is its focus on what goes on between individuals rather than within individuals. Typically, families initiate therapy to address a specific problem. As a result of these family therapy sessions, it is common that additional problems in the family dynamics are revealed.
Your therapist will analyze how the family interacts and communicates as a whole and treat problems by changing the way the system works. Your therapist will never take sides or attempt to "fix" a specific family member. There is little value in attempting to blame one or more individual.
The entire family can experience benefits such as:
Identifying sources of conflict and anxiety among family members
Reestablishing communication between family members
Allowing better expression of difficult emotions
Giving family members an understanding of each other’s perspectives through their own experiences
Understanding and respecting the points of view and opinions of other family members
Allowing family members to value each other’s wants and needs
Helping navigate the stresses of difficult circumstances in a less volatile manner
Instilling a deeper sense of empathy towards one another
