The family is a unit, a system of sorts. When one member of the system is struggling, the whole system is impacted. While it is always helpful to enlist counseling support for the member of the family that is in crisis, it is also important to bring the entire family together to help heal and strengthen the system.

Consider these examples:

• A teenage son is angry and acting out. His parents are stressed and overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do. As a result, they don’t have the energy to give as much attention to their younger children. The younger siblings may feel resentful of the older brother, disconnected from their parents, may act out themselves or may try and overcompensate by being extra compliant. Whatever the case may be, it is clear to see how the crisis for one becomes a crisis for all.
• A couple is struggling with a high degree of conflict in their marriage. While they try and hide this from their kids, by nature kids are highly in tune with their parent’s moods. As a result the children may experience anxiety about their stability of their parent’s marriage. This may cause them to withdraw, or to act out in order to bring their parents together. While the parents may seek counseling for the marriage, it is also important to involve the children to some extent to help restore feelings of security to the family.

These are just a couple of possibilities, but it is easy to see how the whole system may be impacted without even realizing it. Family counseling helps to improve communication and conflict resolution skills in the family unit. This helps to increase feelings of intimacy and connectedness among members of the family.

Family counseling is also helpful for families navigating transitions in their life i.e. a move, death of a grandparent, child leaving home etc.. We also provide support and direction for families going through divorce. This is a critical time in the family and learning to work together while re-defining the family unit is crucial.

Family counseling may just be one session together, or an ongoing process depending on your family’s needs. Please let us know how we can be of help to your family at this time.