Family Counselling Services in West Point Grey, BC.

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.

Having a cohesive, happy family is what parents strive for. Just having one member of the family acting out of sync or struggling with anxiety, stress or anger can affect the rest of the family. Sometimes addressing issues individually helps. Other times the better approach is through family therapy. Family therapy provides a safe place for family members to air grievances and set goals for improving family life. Learning new ways to communicate and support one another and respect personal boundaries often goes a long way to enhance the way family members relate to one another. That is the goal I try to set with the families I meet.

Families are very intricate systems. Like other systems, families unconsciously like to maintain the status quo and keep the existing patterns. This is the primary reason why many families remain stuck in dysfunctional patterns for years. My goal is to help families recognize the patter they are stuck in, the role each person plays in the pattern, and how they can change that role.

Family therapy can provide each family member with a voice. It gives families an opportunity in a safe environment to be heard and understood. Family therapy guides and supports each family member to understand their role in the family and how their actions impact the other members of the family. Charlene has worked with many families to change negative patterns and bring harmony back into the home. Call to set up an appointment for an initial consultation.

My hope for clients who are experiencing challenges in their family relationships is that they will create greater understanding and acceptance of one another. Clients will build healthy communication skills that will assist them in resolving current issues, as well as preventing future conflicts from occurring. It is my hope that each family member will develop a willingness to accept the uniqueness of the other members in the family, as well as a willingness to listen and understand one another. Through this process of learning how to come together with openness, each person will be affirmed that he/she matters and has a voice in the family.

We all need connection, so why is it that our family relationships are so often painful? Through paying attention to the patterns of communication and power dynamics in your family, a picture can start to develop as to how your family operates. What are the unspoken rules? What's needs to be brought into the room so that you can clear up whatever is between you? I work with families from a win-win perspective. The goal is to find out how everyone can get more of what they want and less of what they don't want, with improved communication as the new norm. Let's find a way that you can let each other be with respect, care, and loving (not intrusive) concern.

The family is a very powerful system. We all learn so much from our family of origin, and we take it with us for the rest of our lives. Many clients come to counselling because there has been some kind of break down in family relationships and communication. Through the process of counselling we work together to increase understanding discover forgiveness and move toward more fulfilling relationships with all.

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.

This type of therapy can help families cope with domestic violence, depression, inter-generational trauma, job loss and chronic illness. Together we take an integrative look at the impact of family dynamics, individual values, marital goals, and the cohesion of the family unit. We examine these factors to create a more productive team within the family unit itself.

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.

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.

Imagine a family as a tree with branches, roots, trunk representing parts of the immediate and extended family. When working with families, all elements are considered. Usually there is a request for family therapy due to one of it's members in crisis, often a child. However, when an analysis of need is done it becomes apparent that more than one member of the family needs help in adjusting, growing and learning new behaviours. Clients contact me for a variety of reasons: to improve communications, solve family problems, support in special situations such as death, divorce, marriage, illness, child or adolescent issues.

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.

Can some one PLEASE give me an example or definition of a DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY? I think it might look like the families we've all grown up in. What does your family of origin look like? How does that affect how you function in your family today? Lets look together at ways of communicating, listening, and loving each other. "But your families different you say?" I welcome the challenge. Let's all put on gloves and high rubber boots and jump into the muck together - shall we? Lets face it, families are WORK, real WORK!! It is better to work smarter not harder. Let me share my tool box with you, and see if you would like to adapt to using some of these tools in your family dynamics.

When there is conflict within our family system it can feel heartbreaking and have major effects on each individual’s health and wellness. Finding harmony as a family ultimately comes down to finding effective ways to communicate and working to understand each other’s unique perspective. During family therapy sessions I seek to make sure each individual feels heard and understood by their family members by giving them the opportunity to express themselves in a safe space. From here we can build the skills necessary to express our needs and desires while maintaining everyone’s stated boundaries.

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.

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.

Working with families using family systems approach and doing assessments facilitated by creative techniques and arts-based activities. Helping families improve their communication by means of Imago dialogue (reflecting back and summarizing what's been heard). Conflict management and mediation; teaching coping strategies such as "I-talk".