Family Counseling Services in Fairview, CA.

I help families work through their struggles, differences, and patterns by getting each member to focus on how the struggles, fights, and cycles happen. I help families tune into their patterns while exploring the collective and individual meaning behind those patterns. I start by getting a general feel for the dynamic by observing how you function. Then I try to guide discussion in very simple and concrete ways so that each member can see how they are interacting with the larger dynamic. This allows opportunity for a new perspective while creating the space for change and growth. I will work with you in discovering how you and your family affect each other so that you can grow together.

Family counseling is designed to strengthen the bonds within the relationship. Many times families will be struggling with day-to-day living (small problems will start to add up to larger problems). We tend to fall into ruts of the way we do things and sometimes that creates resentments and conflict that are not communicated in a way that helps others within the family to understand your concerns. By bringing everyone together. we can work on communication, division of labor, finances, and other issues that may be making home life not the sanctuary that we all want our homes to be.

Family life if complicated. Not only do we bring our own baggage to the relationship but all of the other family members bring theirs too. Many of the issues that come up are communications issues and many are due to our nervous systems being either on hyper alert or shut down from past traumas and an overaccumulation of daily strresses. Working as a team we build on the strengths of the couple/family and we also tease apart the less functional areas to understand them more fully. Then we devise a plan for working with the issues. That might involve working as a couple/family or it might involve individual session to resolve whatever issues we each bring into our relationships.

One of my main specialities is family counseling. I work with families of all varieties; sisters, fathers, daughters sons, mothers, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or your "family of choice" etc. I also work with business associates. Straight as well as members of the LBGTQ community. I enjoy this work immensely and have helped many families find more closeness, safety, compassion, ease and care for each other. No matter how old and deep the problems are in your relationship, I can help you finally move past these issues for good.

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.

Dysfunctional family interactions can sapped the life energy out of every family member. While all relationships have conflicts from time to time, sometimes relationships can get stuck in repetitive patterns of arguments and disagreements that result in partners or family members feel unheard, dismissed, unappreciated, or worse. These negative patterns can lead to intense negative emotional reactions and dissatisfaction within the couple or family, that challenge the core of the relationship, cause personal internal turmoil, and can derail other important aspects of our lives. Family therapy can help in first recognizing and then changing those negative dysfunctional patterns.

Families come to therapy feeling stuck in repetitive patterns of negative interaction. Oftentimes one or more families members feel like they have become the "scapegoat" for the family's problems and are fearful of entering therapy, concerned that doing so will only further cement that role for them. My approach to family therapy helps avoid that dynamic by not taking sides, but rather giving all members an equal voice, and helping each person feel respected and heard. At the same time, I understand that a parent's role is different than a child's, and I work to empower parents to have more "healthy authority" with their children. I am trained in Multi-dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT).

Conflicts in a family can become so routine that it may be difficult for you to determine which issues are important and which have become automatic battles. I can provide your family a safe place to work through this with an objective and neutral perspective that allows everyone to hear and everyone to be heard. Frequent arguing, nagging, complaining - all intensify the stress of daily life. Your family can learn to live harmoniously - not perfectly without ever having conflict - but without the need for "winners" and "losers" in constant tug of wars. It is exhausting and unhealthy to live with tension in your home. Call me today and let's begin easing that tension and regaining calm.

Our family lives can be tremendously gratifying and enriching and a source of invaluable support and belonging. They can also become tense and chaotic at times, especially when under the influences of acute or chronic stress. Such responses are understandable, but you may need the support and guidance of a skilled therapist from time to time, especially if you are experiencing persistent conflicts that you cannot resolve or mediate on your own. Psychotherapy can help you relate to your family with more ease or resolve even long-standing problems. If you wish to explore how I could help with your particular situation, please call me at 415-533-9724. I would be happy to talk with you.

If your family is facing a significant issue or major transition like separation or divorce, family counseling can help you to ensure that no one is overlooked. Every member of the family will be given a voice and I will work with your family in a professional, balanced and non-judgemental way. I will also help you to communicate more effectively with one another.

Family therapy can be highly effective for conflict resolution, healing relationships, and making clear agreements that work for everyone. Many families feel more connected during, as well as after, effective counseling. Family therapy is a safe place for each family member to express their views and experience without judgement. It is important to discuss the issues that "nobody talks about" and this enables each family member to be more authentic within their family as well as in other relationships (i.e., work, school, etc.).

Matt Lindgren offers family therapy in Oakland to help adults & children adjust to deaths, births, child behavioral problems, & attachment problems, & childhood trauma. Why not use therapy to build & strengthen your relationships with family and friends? Have someone help you move past stumbling blocks & old resentments and pain toward healthy relationship of love and respect. Can you think of a better way to invest your time & money than to grow closer to the people you love? I practice systems theory, a scientific theory that describes how complex systems, like ecosystems function. Systems theory focuses on how families find balance between resisting change and adapting to new information.

Family therapy is usually called for when families are in transition such as the addition of new family member, launching of a child, or when there is grief & loss or crisis. It is during this times when the family needs to be adaptable, but problems arise when the family fails to adapt to the changes. I will assess the family relational dynamics, challenge them to learn new ways of relating to each other and adapt to the changes. I give each member in therapy a voice to speak and share their needs, wants, and desires. They learn how to communicate and problem solve effectively. I do provide a free consultation, if clients ask me.