Family Counseling Services in Hacienda Heights, CA.

The only type of family therapy I provide is Maudsley Family-Based Treatment or FBT. This is a specific evidence-based treatment for adolescent eating disorders. I am one of only a few therapists in LA County certified in FBT. The treatment empowers parents to be part of the treatment team and requires their active participation. Treatment initially focuses on weight restoration and/or elimination of bingeing and purging behaviors, with the parents given the task of providing adequate nutrition for their adolescent during family meals.

Your family is the most important thing. I am a family man myself and know how devastating it can be when things are not as they should be. I bring a kind ear to the family and help EACH PERSON FEEL UNDERSTOOD. Finding the right person to help you is a lot to do with chemistry. Please call me at (949) 288-3123 if you have any questions at all. I want your therapy journey to be as successful as possible.

Family therapy looks at the entire family system—parents, children, extended family members—to identify strengths and problematic behaviours. I collaborate with families on strategies for utilizing their own capabilities for resolving problems, and on developing effective communication and problem-solving skills for preventing conflicts. I specialize in working with families of teenagers, which is an age that can be challenging for both the teenagers and their parents.

Being part of any size group is challenging because we are called upon to deal with temperaments, personalities, and perspectives that differ from our own. And in families especially, we often wonder “WHY can’t they all be more like ME?!” as we struggle to also deal with different age groups and outside influences, such as peer pressures and various scheduling demands. Good, respectful communication and establishing (and maintaining) proper boundaries are key. We look to the family to provide us with a stable base… a safe haven from the world, and when it fails to do that, we are often heartbroken. Whether you have a child going through a rough transition, a teen that is trying to individuate, the challenge of blending two families, a desire to reunite...(view profile to read more)

Therapy focuses on the patterns of interaction between family members, and emphasizes improved communication and connection as an important factor to create change. Involving various family members in treatment helps to benefit so that everyone has a similar understanding of the issues within the relationships, and expectations of others. The most important factor within those connections is personal accountability so that each member is taking responsibility for any actions they cause to the system, versus being focused on how other members may have hurt them.

Families enter therapy for different reasons. Many families are seeking help for an immediate problem or crisis, while others need support changing long standing negative patterns. Family therapy can be beneficial as, it provides opportunities to identify and build on strengths, improve communication, and better understand roles and dynamics that shape the family system. I have experience working with families in crisis and am skilled at assisting parents and children/adolescents increase positive communication and connectivity.

All family systems have rules and unspoken rules that help regulate and assist families to cope with stress. I like to teach clients the failure of a family or parent and then challenge them to let go of these family rules and to find new rules and boundaries to help them now live. As a result, family therapy is used to help reduce stress and increase acceptace and support.

Problematic behaviors in a child or teen are usually rooted in some disturbance of the emotional connections within the family. I can help your family reconnect with each other using an approach called Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT). EFFT rebuilds connections by helping you to understand and change the repetitive and self-reinforcing negative interactions that create distance and conflict within your family. People are empowered when they feel a secure sense of being loved. They naturally become stronger, more resilient, and more autonomous – not weak or needy. Once your child or teen feels securely connected, he or she will have a foundation on which to build positive behaviors.

I specialize in supporting the healthy growth and development of family relationships. Family therapy provides a secure and nurturing environment for these relationships to blossom. The bond between parent and child is of crucial importance for the secure development of children and their future relationships. The ultimate goal is to help families to create healthy bonds that bring joy to their life and relationships. I have experience working with families with children of all ages from infancy to young adulthood.

When our relationship becomes unhappy, it always affects and impacts the entire family. Working with couples to improve the relationship is important but we cannot overlook the impact to the family. In family therapy we explore problems that have negatively impacted the family from wherever it has come. We will help each member of the family to understand what is happening, how it has impacted them and explore methods of adjustment and remediation. We will identify problems and work to resolve them.

I specialize in working with families through a process of designing the family you've always wanted. When each family member is given the opportunity to describe what they need or like that helps them feel valued in family it becomes the beginning of lasting change. I help families design their system in such a way that produces happiness. I will take your family through a 6 step process of design which gives shape to the kind of family you would like to be in.

I approach family therapy from a perspective that the family is one organic system--each member plays a part in the system. Roles are are defined and reinforced. Every family has an equilibrium. When change happens quickly, the family system gets dysregulated. Seeing interactional patterns and making subtle shifts in ways of relating can make dramatic changes. My role is to help make those shifts slowly and in ways that feel the least disruptive.

Many times families need help to deal with struggles between them, or to get through difficult circumstances. Each relationship within a family is different from all others, and may need specific opportunities to express thoughts and feelings. Supportive and encouraging therapy may be just what is needed to remove blocks between family members so that the love can flow again.