Family Counseling Services in Paramount, CA.

Family therapy is the treatment of more than one member of a family at the same session, based on the idea that problems going on within the family can best be understood and corrected by observing the interaction of family members and identifying methods for improving their interrelationships. The behaviors of one member of the family affects the emotions, perceptions and behaviors of another member of the family. They are intertwined as something larger than themselves. Together, I will teach you a variety of tools that will help your family's interaction. For example, through reframing, we can often turn a negative experience into a positive one. Call me for a phone consultation to determine when we can meet to discuss your family issues.

In doing family therapy I try to work with all members of the family so that I can understand the dynamics, the rules and roles, the relationships that are not permitting the family to function in a healthy way. Even when it seems to be just one person who has a problem, it may be the whole family that is interacting in ways that can be improved. I work to have the family understand what is really going on and changes they may need to make to function in healthier ways. I focus on the need for respectful communication and cooperation between all family members, including children. My Parenting Classes focus on specific skills to achieve calmer homes with respectful and respected children.

Often times, the patterns of the household and family that you have lived with are not pleasant. Disruptions, hurt feelings, and not being understood or "respected" can cause lingering resentments that can negatively impact our household more often than we want. I will work with you and your family to identify the patterns that work and more importantly, the ones that do not work. We will then commit to an active plan to make changes that will bring about more peace and satisfaction in the home. Even when things are really bad, small tweaks can make a huge difference. Let me help you and your family achieve fulfillment in the home!

Family Therapy is essential when a family is unbalanced and in need of guidance on how to become a family unit with a healthier structure. Working with a therapist you will be able to validate each family members desires, discuss family goals and improve communication skills to continue using even after therapy ends. Family therapy is not only essential to the family unit but for each individual to be able to feel important and included in family decisions.

A family is not just a collection of people. Everyone in the family impacts the family dynamic, how the people relate to each other. And, each person changes that dynamic, in a unique way, even when they may not intend to. If you’re having difficulties in your family, we can address how the family’s rules of relating and the patterns of relationships can help to make things better. We’ll also see how unproductive patterns can be eliminated.

Whether your family is struggling to communicate, fighting to stay together, or figuring out how to manage the pressures of a blended family, life with a newborn or divorced co-parenting, therapy can help. Having a safe, supportive environment where you can express your feelings freely and without judgment, work on developing healthy, compassionate communication skills and establish new relationship patterns can support you in suturing a fruitful and fulfilling reconnection. One of the primary focuses of my work is helping families work together, thrive and flourish.

Families can be very complex and sometimes hard to understand with so many different roles that each family member may play. Family therapy would be very helpful with understanding each member of the family and how each one functions on a daily basis. Therapy would also provide tools to learn how to listen and have more effective communication with each other.

Family therapy improves the family by improving the relationships that each of the family members have with each other. The goal is for all family members to feel understood, respected, appreciated, supported, and loved by the rest of the family. Typically, families seek help when one of the family members has caused problems that have shaken up the whole family, bringing distress to everyone. Family therapy does not just single that person out and "fix" them, but seeks to help the whole family come together as a team and address the problem together. Common problems would include sibling rivalry, recent divorce, severe adolescent rebellion, and struggles with parenting step children.

Each person in a family has a voice and each person in a family has an impact. I am careful to make certain that the family looks at all the members and how they all interact as a family unit. It is important that each member is respected. We look at how the family is not in a state of health due to choices that the family is making. We work together toward connection, understanding, and growth for all memebers. Unhealthy alliances and interactions are acknowledged.

Families are complicated machines. There are many parts, all of which must work in unison and balance with one another. When this balance is disrupted because one or more family members are having an issue or a hard time, the entire machine (family) stops functioning optimally. Like any machine would, your family may need a "tune up" at that time. You must relearn how to function at your best.

Families can benefit from therapy as change is a constant and often may be difficult. Even if only one family member is struggling with a physical or mental health issue/ illness, the entire family is often directly affected. I have a great deal of experience in family therapy and can assist in unpacking the struggles that can lead to one of more members of the family experiencing depression, anxiety, & distancing. Often a family is impacted by significant struggles such as job security, household duties, child/adolescent changes, marital discord, etc., and can create struggles in communication. Life transitions can lead to problem areas; roles often change as well within the family system.

A family is a unit composed of several individuals, that form its dynamic, communication style, interaction, needs and desires, and sometimes these ‘clash’ or do not go hand in hand or in great harmony, to say the least! When working with families it is important to know that each person and each family is unique and has its own style, challenges and differences in character and personality. Our primary aim will be to explore, with each of you, as well as together, the concerns and challenges and guide you to create a more harmonious and balanced family relationships.

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.

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.

What future do you want for your family? Stressors can affect families in many ways. Family therapy provides the opportunity to change your family’s relationship to its problems and the effects those problems have on each person in your family. Families come to therapy for a variety of reasons: single parenthood; underperformance at school; birth of a new sibling; unemployment; relocation; substance abuse; mental illness; divorce; blending families; grief and loss. If your family is experiencing difficulty, family therapy is a way to increase communication and understanding, while discovering sources of strength and support within your family.

Families are complex and dynamic entities. Often, different family members get pigeonholed into one specific identity which is pathologizing & limiting, and does not serve them. Family systems teach us how to behave in the world. Dysfunction in families can be very harmful and can set people up to feel doomed. Luckily, there is help. In family therapy sessions we will create an atmosphere of openness and non judgment. Through identifying, and actively working through issues, balance and harmony can emerge.

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.

I offer family therapy for families who have young children and/or adolescents. This is a speciality! I have three therapists who have different specialtes with family therapy! One is a teen and teen parenting specialists, another specializes in families with young children and another specializes in difficult families, families and trauma and another still with single parent families or blended families (families coming together with other families). I specifically work with families and parents of teens and alterative families (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families - either parents are GLBT or families who have a GLBT child). Call me and one of us will be the perfect match!

My approach in family therapy is to focus on the problem or set of problems, not to assign blame to a person or the family as a whole. In family therapy, we will hear how problems affect everyone. There is not always a "solution," but more often than not there are untapped resources that a family can call upon to help reduce a problem's influence on each person's life.

The goal of family therapy is to improve the relationships and functioning of the members of a family unit.Common issues addressed include premarital and marriage therapy; establishing family rules, roles, and expectations; problems with communication; dealing with family grief, loss, and transition; working in a family-owned business; managing conflict, parenting issues, and blended families; and problems in the emotional connection between family members.

I specialize in online parent coaching with the goal of helping you and your family have a closer more intimate relationship. After 11 years of working with children and families, I have concluded that this is the most effective way I can support families because you parents are the leaders of your home. If I can empower you through my knowledge and experience to implement some strategies at home, you can achieve your goals for your family. The support I provide will be sufficient for many families, but there are some situations that could benefit from the in-vivo coaching and direction that in person family therapy provides. Call me for a free 15 minute consultation about your nee

I use a family systems approach when working with families. I work with families in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It is suggested that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. By working with families we can see patterns that are sometimes dysfunctional. Families who are able to see their dysfunction are able to make the changes that bring about healthy relationships within their unit.

Families are the places where we should find the love and support to face the world and all its challenges. However, sometimes families loose their way due to poor communication and misunderstandings , anger, acting out behaviors, hurt feelings and lack of knowledge. Maya Angelou has said: "People do what they know; when they know better, they do better." My plan for families is to help them know better so they can do better. Where there is loving-kindness and a will to make change the future seems brighter.

Family counseling is a most valuable opportunity for helping families in crisis as well as families who may be going through a life transition. Families can become socially, emotionally and psychologically dangerous, confusing, and even internally devastating. Families that are experiencing dysfunctional changes including addictions, emotional and mental illness, abandonment, fierce arguments, new family members, departing family members, new family rules, power relationships and family power changes that happen in an unprepared manner can create emotional traumas of significant proportions. Family counseling serves to restructure a families operation and aims to transform family dysfunction to family function.

Family Therapy or Family Counseling is a therapeutic tool to help a family to resolve the many problems that are causing the family to hurt. Sometimes this is just an adjustment to a big life change, such as, a career change, a new baby, a move, a death in the family, launching young adults, or the sad event of the loss of a loved one. This can also involve unhealthy patterns of behavior, addictions, or abuse. With each of these family challenges I utilize a Christian model of counseling to help your family be restored to the healthy loving one you envisioned.