Thanks to the skills of our team, we can provide family counseling for a wide variety of issues.
Family counseling
Family counseling or family therapy as it is sometimes known, can be a very useful way to settle family disputes and other issues. It can sometimes be hardest to communicate with the people we are closest to - our family. But a trained marriage and family therapist (or counselor, psychologist or social worker experienced in helping families) can advise you on communication methods and other skills that are necessary to maintain harmony at home.
What sort of issues can be helped by family counseling / therapy?
- Family conflicts
- School issues
- Rivalries between siblings
- Behavior issues
- Caring for family members that have special needs or that are suffering from long term illnesses
- Living with family members that are suffering from a mental illness
- Living with family members that have addiction or substance abuse issues
- Disagreements about financial issues
- Infidelities and how they affect the whole family
- Separation, divorce and custody issues
Parenting guidance
Parenting is handled differently by each parent. But a trained marriage and family therapist (or counselor, psychologist or social worker experienced in helping families) can provide you with some tips to make your parenting more effective and less stressful.
What are some good parenting tips your counselor can explain:
- How to identify and strengthen your child's strengths
- Why anger, ridicule and sarcasm should be avoided
- Why encouragement is better than punishment
- Why comparing one child with another is a bad idea
- Why there is no shame to getting help when you need it
- How to destress the roller-coaster ride that is parenting
- Why your child needs your positive attention and how best to give that attention
- Why it's important to monitor your child or adolescent's internet use
- How to parent by example
- Why you should never give up on your child.
Counseling for adolescents
It can be very difficult to be a parent when your children reaches their teenage years. Your child can feel like they have become a totally different person. Emotions often run high both for parents and teens during this transformational period of your child's life. But a trained marriage and family therapist (or counselor, psychologist or social worker experienced in counseling teenagers) can provide you with some tips to make parenting adolescents more effective and less stressful.
Your counselor can explain:
- How the adolescent mind works and why you may need to adjust your parenting style while they are finding their independence and finding their identity
- Why being suspicious, protective, and overly strict can be counter productive
- What to think and do about your child's increased risk taking
- How to recognize when apathy is bred by depression rather than just changing interests
- Why teens sometimes find it easier to talk about their self-criticism and self-doubt with another adult like a therapist than with their parents
- What to do about your child's increased obsession with their appearance
- Is social media causing depression or are they flocking to social media because they are depressed
- Why do teens want more time alone
- Why are adolescents more rebellious
- Why sometimes child / parent clashes can be a sign of other things
- How to foster honest dialog rather than be manipulated by your teen.