Family Counseling Services in San Fernando, CA.

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.

Let me guess. One partner feels alone and like they don't matter and the other feels they are always being criticized and can't get anything right. The more one asks for the other to show up, the more the partner disappears physically and emotionally. You both bicker and fight and the idea of sitting and just hanging out seems elusive, if not impossible. Something like this? Often we crave connection but are blocked by the pain and the history that gets in the way. Small fights about little things become battles that highlight our struggle to have our basic relational needs met. I can help you get under the bickering to the parts crying out for connection- to an enriching relationship.

Family relationships can be the most beautiful and the most frustration relationships in our lives. My approach to family therapy includes the whole family as a system. We will identify roles in the family, creatively problem solve family issues and build positive communication skills between family members to facilitate honesty, compassion love and togetherness.

When I work with families, a large focus of the work is learning to communicate with each other. It is also learning to hold space for one another and heal attachment wounds. My space is nonblaming and nonjudgemental. I am always aware of the power dynamics in the room. When I work with minors, I like to involve family members. That can be a caregiver or other family members.

One of the ways we know who we are, is in the context of our relationships with other people. Of all the relationships that we have, it is the ones with our families that most impact us. Sometimes family members forget how to communicate in loving and supportive ways. Often times there are subjects that are too hard to talk about. Silence is often in the place of healthy discussions. I believe that the home should be the safest place for everyone to express themselves. Let me help your family learn how to keep each other emotionally safe and to get to know each other on a deeper level. Call for an appt. Jeannette York,818.200.9513 I charge a flat rate of $150.00 per session

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. I often work with parent-adult child pairs or siblings, to clear up old misunderstandings, find ways to share more deeply, and strengthen family connections.

Family therapy sessions aim to strengthen all members of the family so they can work out problems together. Often, if one family member is identified as having an illness, the cause can be traced back to a larger family problem. If the person with the illness is treated while the rest of the family does not change, then the symptoms will persist. Family therapy breaks these cycles by teaching everyone to better interact with one another.

When working with children and youth, the therapist cannot ignore the family system in which the child lives. I work with parents in multiple ways to help support youth in treatment, which may include separate parent sessions, co-parenting sessions, systemic family therapy, or Filial Therapy, a play therapy practice that coaches and guides parents in special play sessions with their child to decrease unwanted behaviors, improve relationships and communication, increase the child's emotional vocabulary, and increase the child's self-esteem.

In working with families, we will collaborate on addressing the couple's need to be in charge. Family rules and boundaries are sometimes unclear to children. We will work together to communicate your expectations. When acting out, underachievement, conduct problems, defiant or oppositional behaviors present in the children, the the parents need to be on the same page. Your family will learn, insession, preferred communicatin styles; empathic listening, group problem solving skills, tolerance, respect and acceptance of each other. Family members will learn to interact without anger, resentment, sarcasm or disrespect. Parents need to be authoritative without being authoritarian.

A family is like a living organism. When one part of the organism is off, the rest of the organism is affected. Sometimes, the relationships among family members need to be addressed, and communication needs to be restored. Stress on families today is hard and too much is put on parents. Having an outside person can help. I will make sure that everyone is heard and restore fun, connectedness and peace with your family.

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.

I use a family systems approach in my therapy, so having family members in the room, in my opinion, is the most efficient route towards healing and growth in individuals. I encourage clients to address relationships that are causing distress in their lives and work towards healthy differentiation of self. This can be done in individual therapy as well, but is more effective when all members of the relationship are present.

Family therapy is helpful in understanding your family unit. Understanding each member of the family as having roll, responsibility and expectation is the beginning of the process of understanding what works and does not work within your family unit. Working with the family from this starting point, will hopefully open the door to improved communication among each family member.