Family Counselling Services in Lions Bay, BC.

Family therapy provides the opportunity to explore how unfinished business or unhealed loss in your family of origin affects how you cope with life challenges in the present. We will explore family history and major events in your family, sometimes going back generations, to find out how family members were affected by those events, and how you may be affected by them in your life now. We also have the opportunity to find the health, strength and wisdom in the family through the generations.

Working with families is complex, yet an essential part of building a healthy foundation for all family members. Using a Family Systems's approach to therapy helps members of a family understand that all people in the family affect the quality of the relationships within the family unit. Families are like a mobile, as one part moves, all the other parts are affected to some degree. Using the concepts of the Drama Triangle is valuable in helping family members understand the role he/she/they typically plays when interacting with others. Emeshment and triangulation are explored. One person is not viewed as the scapegoat but rather seen as one spoke in the "family wheel" of a larger system.

I specialize in family therapy and have a unique approach that will benefit you and the people you love. Working with me, your family will be able to improve communication, work together and repair damaged relationships with each other. I focus on helping each individual get their needs met, while balancging the health and happiness of the family. Whether you are a single parent, married or co-parenting after divorce, I can help you improve your relationships with each other and your chiIdren. I also have expertise in assisting parents who are dealing with difficult beahviors or mental health diagnoses in their children and am available for consultation as well.

Family Therapy with me provides a supportive space to improve communication, repair tension, and strengthen your relationships. Together, we'll explore patterns, deepen understanding, and build healthier ways of connecting. Each voice matters. Our work creates space for healing, cooperation and a renewed sense of trust and belonging within your family.

Olivia finds great fulfillment in helping families thrive in a variety of contexts, including parents and children of all ages, single-parent households, and step-families. She has worked with parents and young children, offering tailored insights and practical strategies to strengthen their connection and address challenges. Olivia also supports teens and adult children in navigating family dynamics, fostering understanding and communication across generations. Olivia’s holistic approach ensures every family member feels heard and supported, promoting growth, harmony, and resilience.

Real Solutions to Real Challenges. Common Sense Techniques. Martin very much enjoys working with families and children. Families are systems operating in close quaters, therefore upsets and miscommunications are natural and should be expected. They can be a source of extreme disappointment and pain or they can be opportunitiesfor growth. Martin is trained in Adlarian family therapy and uses Gestalt approaches to families. He has facilitaed parenting groups and worked with children as young as three years old and granparents who were in their eighties. It is his experience that families can enjoy, help, and grow together and most of the time it takes far less work than what they expected.

Today family can mean different things to different people. Each family structure is challenged with their own set of difficulties and problems. Whether you are a blended family, single parent family due to divorce or loss, adoptive family, same sex parents, or traditional, we recognize family dynamics can be complicated. Together we will work to develop strong communication skills between each family member, while nurturing and solidifying the family unit. We will work to overcome conflict, heal the wounds of the past, build parenting skills and create a safe environment where all family members can be heard.

During the family therapy sessions , I create a safe space for the members of the family to express difficult emotions and missing needs which have blocked healthy connections. Rather than focusing solely on skills, by applying EFFT I will facilitate new emotional experiences within the families designed to enhance connection, safety, and closeness.

Family dynamics can be a complicated and sensitive balance within a home. This can be made increasingly complicated by divorce, blended families, individual parenting, spiritual values, health issues and much more. Counseling can provide family members a neutral voice and a place to be heard when fighting and arguing is impacting daily functioning and happiness, of one or more family members. We also help develop necessary tools to resolve conflict in a healthy way, bringing peace and harmony back to everyday lives.

Family counselling takes on many forms. The goal is to bring together the family to create understanding and harmony. Each family member is unique with their own values and perspectives. Family counselling gives each member the opportunity to understand their perspective and their role within the family and then the perspective and roles of the other members.

I am a trained family constellations facilitator (as seen on Netflix, “Sex, Love & goop”, episode 5) and also have training through my graduate studies in family systems. As well I have a 210-hour practical Certificate in Interest-based Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of BC. I bring all these and an inherent belief in the power of intention to heal and restore love’s flow in families.

Despite the best intentions of ourselves and our family members, we are often tangled in patterns of invalidation, rejection, frustration and blame. It can feel so messy that we operate in a constant state of fear and a crippling sense of unworthiness. In 2008 I started my counselling career as a family therapist. A combination of individual and joint sessions will take place to allow the space for all voices to be respectfully heard, while helping to identify bigger ‘systems’ patterns that keep you stuck in pain and finger-pointing. I will help to smooth out communication, make room for wants and needs and to heal the old wounds holding you back from having a healthier relationship.

Relationships are hard work and sometimes families go through ups and downs and lets face it - it gets overwhelming. I will work with family members to address your struggles, stressors, breakdown in communication and unhelpful patterns. I take a very direct yet solution-focused approach to family therapy to help you find a more positive way forward together.

As a mother of two, I am constantly witnessing my theoretical background as a counsellor flying out the window. Parenting tests our mettle by the minute, and even the hardiest of us all, get bent. I use an attachment based parenting approach, whereby our bond and connection to our children is primary. Together we work to establish this trust and connection, and all else follows, not necessarily easily, but with conscious choice and understanding of our actions and reactions. I use a collaborative approach for older families, attempting to engage all family members in responsibility and unity.

Every family has it's strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes despite our best intentions we get stuck in cycles that cause wounds that can undermine unity and peace. I use Emotion Focused Family Therapy to help you identify the stuck patterns, build on your strengths as a family, and works on creating new ways of relating so that you can face the challenges together. As a Father and husband I am with you on this journey, knowing I'm far from perfect. Through extensive training I have learned and applied these skills in my own life, and I know they can help bring your family from chaos and conflict to peace and harmony. I'd be honoured to travel with you on your journey.

Our approach involves the utilization of family system therapy techniques to aid families in identifying recurrent interaction patterns and the roles assumed by each family member that influence individual behaviors within the family setting. Our objective is to enhance family members' understanding of dynamics and ineffective communication patterns while offering support in improving communication skills, conflict management, and facilitating mutual understanding.

Troubled relationships with family members can be a source of immense stress. You may be struggling with parenting concerns such as adjusting to the arrival of a baby, coping with the needs of young children, dealing with a rebellious teenager, or launching a young adult. Perhaps you are feeling exhausted from caregiver stress as you look after aging parents. You might be confused and hurt by strained relationships with extended family, including in-laws and adult children. Family counselling can help you gain confidence as a parent as you learn to deal effectively with children, teens, and young adults. I can help you gain insight and learn strategies to enable you to attain mutually satisf....

Family therapy provides a collaborative space for families to address relational challenges, improve communication, and foster understanding and cohesion. Systemic approaches are used to explore family dynamics, roles, and patterns of interaction. Through interventions like genograms, structural techniques, and narrative therapy, families gain insight into their strengths and areas for growth. By promoting empathy, enhancing communication skills, and facilitating conflict resolution, family therapy supports families in navigating transitions, healing wounds, and building stronger, more resilient bonds.

In family therapy everyone has a voice. Going around the circle in the family and hearing everyone's opinion and thoughts about the situation that the family is dealing with is how healing occurs. Families are viewed as a system, what one family member does or does not do impacts the whole family. Understanding this is how family members help heal each other.

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.

Family counselling involves creating a safe environment where each family member is given opportunities to share their thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Once each member is heard, issues are addressed, processed and examined. Barriers and pitfalls such as communication are explored together. Along with the guidance, support and empathy of the Counsellor, family members work on creating solutions to problems. I have over twenty years of experience with working with children and families, I look forward to using my "client-centered" approach to help families move toward increasing their communication skills, valuing the input of each other and living happier and healthier lives.

My approach to family counselling uses a family systems approach to understand complex family dynamics to promote relational competency. I hold the perspective that families are an emotional unit interconnected system comprised of interdependent members who influence one another. Recognizing behaviour patterns that create imbalance and generate dysfunction can be achieved by exploring each member’s role and adjusting to foster a healthy family. I can help the family create specific goals and improve communication. I offer support for family members to resolve conflict, improve parent-child interactions, support family transitions, and help family members deal with mental health conditions.

My approach is centered on fostering open communication, understanding, and cohesion among family members. Recognizing the unique dynamics within familial relationships, I tailor interventions to address the complexities of diverse family structures. By emphasizing effective communication strategies, conflict resolution, and the cultivation of a supportive family environment, my goal is to strengthen the bonds that connect each family member. Through a collaborative process, clients benefit from developing practical tools to navigate challenges, build resilience, and foster a harmonious family life.

I work closely with all family members within an empathetic and confidential environment, to help facilitate more effective communication amongst each individual. My goal in therapy is to ensure that every family member feels valued, respected and listened to, without reservation or fear of judgment. Families and myself will towards what they hope to achieve out of counselling, and I can help provide them with strategies to help them achieve a more cohesive and collaborative family unit.

Family therapy is the cornerstone to how we cope with relationships in our lives. This process focuses on relationships within the family unit. It looks at how the family has helped to form communication styles, relationships and conflict. As a therapist, I help people find connections between their present relationships and the ones within their family of origin. I work with the whole family system to help mediate concerns, and create more peaceful relationships.