Family Counseling

Family Therapy group

Every family is unique and has strengths that can be called upon while navigating difficulties that arise. It can be helpful to have a professional help identify those strengths while providing guidance and tools. The number of situations associated with parenting and families is endless, but common conflicts can include emotional or behavioral issues in children, extended family disagreements, differences of opinion when it comes to raising children, and even trauma, such as domestic violence, or alcohol and drug abuse. It can be challenging to watch family members struggle, and in most cases, you may not know how to resolve the problem. Seeking support from a mental health professional can help parents and families develop acceptance and skills to repair relationships that may seem unsalvageable.

Other parenting and family issues may include:

  • Being a single parent
  • Divorce
  • Infidelity
  • Problems caused by divorced parents entering new relationships
  • Fewer opportunities for parents and children to spend time together
  • Deployment

Parenting and family issues are oftentimes intertwined. Treatment methods vary and will depend on an individual or family situation. The healing process may focus on improving communication between family members, as well as finding healthy ways of resolving a conflict. Setting clear boundaries and communicating effectively if you are part of  a parental unit can set a good example for your children. If a child has special needs, behavioral problems, or a mental health condition, it can be helpful to work with a professional. Couples counseling is effective at supporting parents in child-rearing.

You don’t have to face parenting and family challenges alone. Seek help from a qualified therapist or a professional support group to gain some much-needed perspective that will allow you to effectively work through the problems at hand.

Counseling can help with communication, assertiveness, and parental effectiveness. Over the past 25 years, I have gained extensive experience, confidence, and cultural competence through my work with multicultural, blended, and divorced families, as well.

Drawing on your inner wisdom, I use a client-centered and mindfulness-based approach to improve relationships. I focus on what is positive and working, while teaching strategies to improve relationships, especially parenting skills. I am relaxed, easy to relate to, and often humorous in my approach. 

Let’s take your family’s problems and make them just a chapter in a bigger story of SUCCESS. Call today to discuss your particular needs.

Note to other providers: I often collaborate with other therapists who work with children individually. I offer a unique, adjunctive approach to working with parents that enhances the success of the individual child therapy therapy. Parents who work with me learn to identify and "notice", rather than act on, their own feelings and impulses in response to "problems" or communication presented by the child. I use my playful, empathic style to develop a therapeutic alliance, while teaching about the pitfalls of "roadblocks to communication". Instead of resorting to these, I foster the use of very simple reflective listening techniques that I model and teach patiently, comment by comment. I have taught many parenting classes, including those that target divorced parents. This experience, as well as 25 years in children's mental health, have allowed me to fine tune my approach to its most simple, and effective, essence. I have had considerable success in building greater capacity for attunement, even when a parent is so wounded that it seems impossible. I am a good collaborator and hope you will consider adding me to your team!

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