Family Counseling Services in Santa Cruz, CA.

As a family therapist, trained in the modality of family systems, I work with the entire family and sometimes will see individual members, couples, the children, the teens and then bring all family members back together for joint sessions, depending on what will serve all the most at any given times. Often times families need to regain the trust and remember their love for one another which can be achieved through family sessions in which every one has a chance to speak honestly, respectfully and to be truly heard in a safe and comfortable environment with the help of a skilled therapist.

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

Counseling for children and teens, is primarily accomplished within the context of family therapy, where mom, dad, siblings or others may be involved in various sessions. Families today find themselves facing issues that in past generations were nearly non-existent. With the divorce rate still raging at 50% for first marriages, and 70-80% for subsequent marriages, the American family unit is struggling. Divorce Recovery, Blending Families with step-parents and step-siblings of all sorts, Parenting Issues, and School Issues for the children, are just a few Family Therapy concerns. The goal here is to strengthen the family unit with bonding and security. See my webpage on Therapy/Family

Family therapy is often the treatment of choice for families who are confronted with specific crisis situations, (such as death, divorce, illness, or child/adolescent issues). When the family is the client, I assess the way members interact and work to improve communication and problem-solving skills, as well as resolve the current life stressors. Each family member plays a role in the way the family interacts and is seen as a vital participant in both the healthy and dysfunctional styles of interaction. Therefore, in family counseling the goal is to assist each member to work together more effectively to create a more functional family unit.

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.