Family Therapy

My personal experience of divorce, remarriage, and the blended family brings great insight and compassion to my work with families. My approach to working with families is to treat them as a system. Often, it may appear that a particular member is “the problem.” This is often one who is acting out in some way and causing other family members great stress and/or embarrassment. From a family systems approach, I view the family as a unit with every member playing a critical role in whatever dynamic is unfolding. The “patient” therefore, is the family and each member will be asked to look at the role he/she plays in the problem and the contribution he/she can make for healthier family functioning. This approach can be very empowering for families because it helps them to see how, together, they can restore balance to the system. The following are the types of situations which arise for clients:

• Conflictual relationships in the family
• Separation/divorce in the family
• Blended families and issues around step parenting
• Death/loss in the family
• Dealing with addiction in the family