When families commit to changing together, they often position themselves for the deepest and most sustainable outcomes therapy can provide.

Everything that makes us who we are – our values, hopes, dreams, convictions, emotions, quirks, and difficulties – have the most meaning in the context of our relationships. Relationships give our life purpose and can be our greatest source of fulfillment. They serve as a foundation for resiliency, and can encourage personal growth. Healthy flourishing relationships take work, and it is common to get stuck in patterns that restrict our ability to give and receive all we want and need, even in the relationships that are most important to us. When these patterns persist, all sorts of individual and relational difficulties may emerge. Many times over, mental health research has found family therapy to be highly effective in treating a wide range of issues. When families commit to changing together, they often position themselves for the deepest and most sustainable outcomes therapy can provide.

We use a Family Systems approach to working with families, drawing upon Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, Attachment Based Family Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Intergenerational Approaches, Expressive Experiential Approaches, Family Play Therapy, and Feminist / Multicultural Approaches.

Family therapy can be effective for a wide variety of issues including, but not limited to:

• Family Conflict

• Improving Effective Communication

• Emotional / Behaviors Issues in Children or Adolescents

• Struggles with School and/or Work

• Complications with Adult Children Living with Parents

• Estrangement Between Family Members

• Increasing Resilience in Challenging Phases of Life

• Difficulty Bonding

• Loss & Bereavement

• Trauma Experienced By One Or More Family Members

• Life Transitions Such As Divorce Or Remarriage

• Adjusting To Immigration / A Move To A New Location

• Cultural Differences Within Families (e.g., Between Immigrant Parents and Americanized Children)

• Adjusting to a Family Member Coming Out

• Nurturing Empowerment in the Face of Social Discrimination and Oppression

• Navigating Substance Use and Addiction

• Healing From Relational Injuries and Betrayals

• Mental Health Issues Experienced by One or More Family Members (e.g., ADHD, Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, PTSD, OCD, etc.)

• Suicidal ideation

What will Family Therapy be like?

This is a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of different kinds of families and a lot of different issues brought into therapy. However, regardless of the family or the need, it is always our goal be collaborative and constructive. Sessions are not always easy, but they ought to feel productive.

We prioritize ensuring each family member is heard and validated, as we collaboratively seek to understand how things have become stuck, and develop more effective and satisfying ways of relating. Family therapy does not necessarily mean that every session includes the whole family. We work collaboratively with you to determine who participates. Treatment commonly includes individual meetings with children / adolescents, and meetings with parents as well as meetings with the whole family.