Family Counselling Services in Gloucester, ON.

Family dynamics are often complex minefields of well practiced relations with roles that are well defined through years of pattern behaviour. To change any part is to change the system and the system isn't easy to change. Families can benefit from having a third party help identify these patterns and sort out the positive from the negative with the ultimate goal of finding new ways of interacting and being that can hopefully expose the greatest opportunity for the family system to work for all its members. Let's work on being better.

Families are complicated. This is why we work from a family systems approach as we do not believe that one person is the problem, but rather we look at ways to improve the overall family system so that things can flow more smoothly for all. Our family therapy can involve some, or all, family members. The focus of family therapy is to allow for everyone to feel heard, identify family strengths, and make adjustments for areas of improvement.

Our relationships with our family are some of the most complex relationships of our lives. Being able to communicate our needs and feelings with our loved ones is crucial to our well-being and is an essential part of a successful parent/child relationship. Over time, families co-create a language and ways of interacting and being. However, as we enter times of stress and change, and our children grow, we start to develop independent languages that cause us to feel unheard, and invalidated. Sessions will allow you to be intentional about sharing with each other and provide a safe place to open up, repair hurts, and relearn each other's language.

Families are a natural system under which the members of the family relate and interact. It is important to learn which are this interactions that create the specific system in which the family lives. As well the patterns of their attachment show how they communicate with each other and how the different events of the family's life will be experienced and dealt with.

Familial units can oftentimes become caught in cycles of miscommunication and misinterpretation that builds up and solidifies through the years. My approach to working with families is identifying such cycles and unearthing and understanding each member’s intentions. I believe that more often than not, family members have good intentions, and when this is brought to light, defenses can soften, and the healing process can ensue. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ensure we are a good fit.

Family dynamics can be challenging to navigate even during the best of times, and family therapy can help each member of the family unit find new ways to relate, connect, and communicate with each other. Giving each family member the chance to feel heard and valued while also navigating external stressors like work and school can be a struggle, so I work collaboratively with clients to identify and explore patterns of interaction that they want to strengthen or change, while highlighting each member’s contributions, and celebrating the family’s successes. Book a free consultation to learn more about my approach and explore if we are a good fit.

Most family therapists inadvertently create more chaos through their well-intentioned efforts to assist a family move through a change process. Why? Brains are inherently deregulated (all of us, may I add) and most talking and dialoguing misses brain-centric problems that need more intensive help. Many times the emotional trauma created by years of solving problems ineffectively can wreak havoc on the brain's parasympathetic nervous system, not ever giving the family a break from flight or fight thinking. Contact us for an innovative neuroscience solution to family dysfunction. Kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.