Family Counseling Services in South Pasadena, CA.

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.

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.

I work closely with families throughout my treatment to focus on understanding the family as a system and each member as having a unique role. Working together we can often uncover unmet needs and ways in which we can support one another towards our mutual goals. Further, by working with the family as a whole, we are able to acknowledge each of our role in the identified barrier and take ownership in our plan towards a solution.

In a society that has become extremely technological, many sensitive young adults have disconnected from nourishing relationships in favor of virtual ones. Connecting with parents, siblings, friends and neighbors, has been replaced by less emotionally fulfilling forms of interaction. My specialty is improving relationships. I can help you build better communication with your child. I can also assist your family in resolving issues from the past for a fresh start. I will support you in creating a more peaceful home environment. So, as difficult as things may seem right now, in working with me your can rest assured that better times ahead.

As a licensed marriage and family therapist, my education, training, and experience has had an emphasis on the family system. When working with families, a focus on the structure of the family, roles, rules, boundaries, and communication are areas included in our work together. Families of origin, extended families, and blended families can participate in family therapy and I find it beneficial when we can include all involved so everyone has a voice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Everyone has a family, even if no two families are identical. Family may mean different things to different people, but there is no denying that the relationships we have shape us as individuals. Some families have healthy traits and some have more toxic traits. In my family work, I aim to help to uncover systems both that are working, and systems that are not working. I also aim to help each member of the family feel heard in asking for their own needs and boundaries to be met, appropriate within the family and cultural context.

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.

I am an expert in Family Therapy based in the Satir model. Working with the whole family can have a dramatic positive impact on everyone involved. The problem is often not the problem. It is how you cope the problem that is the real issue. I can help your family work together to change the how you cope, as a family, with difficult situations and problems and bring peace to the household.

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.