Family Counselling Services in Vaughan, ON.

A family is defined as a group of people who care about each other and call themselves a family. This could include parents and children, partners, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, caregivers and other professionals that are close to the group. The goal of family therapy is to help everyone in the family understand and support each other. This type of therapy can help when families are feeling overwhelmed, sad and angry; when they're unsure how to move forward; or when they feel that they are repeating the same harmful behaviours over and over.

Navigating the complexities of parent-child relationships and the dynamics of being parents or siblings can be challenging, especially during transitions or conflicts. I specialize in online dyadic family therapy work, where I work with parents, parent-child pairs, or sibling dyads to enhance understanding, communication, and harmony within your family unit. Let's embark on a journey to build stronger connections and create a nurturing environment together. Reach out for a free consultation, and let's take the first step towards a happier, more harmonious family life.

My family therapy approach involves seeing the whole family initially to understand each person's unique perspective, provide safety for each person to express themselves and to give each person the opportunity to determine their comfort level with me as therapist. I will then work with parts of the family (eg, siblings, parents, dyads such as Mother/Child, Father/Child, Sib/Sib) to support recognition of the unique cycle each group/dyad experiences as problematic in having the closeness and safety they desire within the family. I use Emotion Focused Family Therapy which is based on attachment research and which acknowledges our need to be known and loved by family members.

Family members improve communication and resolve conflicts. Individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another but rather as an emotional unit, as part of family. Family therapy is most often used to help treat an individual's problem that is affecting the entire family. This type of counselling can also be useful for addressing family-wide problems such as conflicts between siblings, spouses, or parents and children.

In order to gain a better understanding of a person's situation, their behaviour is explored in the context of Family Systems Therapy (FST). FST looks at the family as an emotional unit and identifies the patterns of interactions that are maintaining the challenges, including the patterns of communication & language used to discuss the challenges. This helps to better understand the impact of family dynamics, family values, beliefs about gender roles, status or power of family members, and cultural & ethnicity on a person's self-perception. I also use strengths-based practices with families in order to transfer strengths of individuals & family systems into therapeutic awareness.

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.

Each family has its own unique personality that impacts the functioning of its members. I am trained in a variety of therapeutic models and the approach I take will be catered to your family dynamics and the special challenges that brought you here today. When working with the family, I help improve their ability communicate openly to challenging issues and work through ups and downs in their relationships.

Family counseling is a unique form of counseling that focuses on improving the relationships and communication within a family unit. I believe that this approach can be particularly effective in helping clients to resolve conflicts, build stronger relationships, and develop more effective coping mechanisms. One of the key benefits of family counseling is that it can provide clients with a safe and supportive environment to communicate and address their concerns. Family members can learn to express themselves more effectively, listen to one another with empathy, and work collaboratively towards a common goal.

Family relationships are complex and are oftentimes impacted by various events, life transitions, and societal shifts. I believe that every family is unique and that your efforts to navigate challenges are valid and purposeful. As a family therapist, my aim is to help you strengthen your relationships with one another and to support you in finding a balance between your individual and family needs. I also help you to identify possible areas of stuckness and conflict as well as strengths and resources, so that together, we can create hoped-for solutions. Contact me or book a free consultation if you wish to learn more.

Our families and those around us shape who we will become and our thought patterns. We learn our language, habits and how to view the world through the influence of our families. When we have healthy family relationships it is easier to maintain healthy relationships within and outside of our family. Family therapy helps families develop and maintain healthy and functional units. I employ aspects of Bowenian and Structural therapy to work with families to help deal with domestic violence, depression, anxiety, grief, child/adolescent behavioral issues to name a few.

When working with families I aim to focus on common ground and shared hopes and goals. This sets the stage for collaboratively working through conflicts so that common goals can be achieved. Focusing on positive family experiences and strengths of the family are also helpful in reconnecting family members. Understanding relationship patterns and encouraging new ways of communicating and interacting often allows families to practice different ways of being with and understanding one another and can often alleviate tension for more pleasurable family experiences.

I often find that dealing with mental health and addiction issues is not possible unless we deal with the structural issues of the family. I use a family systems approach where relationships are seen as two-way and reciprocal. It's not about who did what, it's about our relationship skills and ability to manage having a family. It's about being healthy rather than being right. Sometimes you need to make a strong move in order to get the whole family system to shift. Let's figure what to do together as it is often too difficult to handle alone.

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.

It can be hard to adjust and interact with the person growing from the baby you once knew, particularly if you are motivated to help them avoid all the mistakes that you experienced in your life. For your child, it can feel impossible to be understood by you, especially when you find it hard to be understood by them. I can help you build a stronger bond through mutual respect and shared understanding by leveling the playing field that may be dominating your parent-child relationship. You might be surprised just how quickly things can change when you can engage in a well facilitated discussion that seeks to improve things, rather than trying to mold things to fit your expectations.