Family Counseling Services in Torrance, CA.

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.

When working with families, I create a safe and supportive space where each member feels heard and understood. Together, we’ll explore the patterns, roles, and unspoken dynamics that may be causing conflict or distance. I help families improve communication, repair trust, and navigate challenges such as generational trauma, parenting struggles, or life transitions. My goal is to support your family in building stronger connections, fostering empathy, and creating a healthier, more balanced home environment.

Many of our struggles are not just individually focused; they are shaped by and affect the family system around us. I have a passion for helping family relationships heal in places where they are broken, and thrive in places that are stagnant. I especially love journeying with parents and their children, strengthening bonds and decreasing family conflict. My training has predominantly been in family psychology, and I love to watch families transform together -- as individuals and as whole units.

Most family therapists inadvertently create more chaos through their well-intentioned efforts to assist a family move through a change process. Why? Brains are inherently dysregulated (all of us, may I add) and most talking and dialoguing misses brain-centric problems that need more intensive help. Many times the emotional trauma created by years of solving problems ineffectively can wreak havoc on the brain's parasympathetic nervous system, not ever giving the family a break from flight or fight thinking. Contact us for an innovative neuroscience solution to family dystunction. Kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Looking for Family Therapy? Are you wanting to improve your relationships in your family? Family therapy is often a great support to someone who is being seen in individual therapy. I help families become emotionally connected. I am passionate about empowering family members understand each other, feel heard and respected, improve communication, work through conflicts, and learn new, positive coping skills. My goal in family therapy is to help family members to create a shared vision and great relationships. Call, click or text (949)791-7127 or (310)729-7971 for a free 20 minute phone consultation.

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!

Families engaging in therapy with me will find a compassionate and strong leader who understands the profound stress that family conflicts and perpetual problems can create. My approach is centered on guiding families through their tensions and difficulties, providing a structured and supportive environment where each member feels heard and valued. By focusing on your family's unique dynamics and challenges, I facilitate open communication and collaboration, leading to practical and lasting solutions. Clients will leave with a renewed sense of connection and the tools to foster a more harmonious family life, turning seemingly insurmountable problems into opportunities for growth.

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.

Abby offers family therapy to support healthier communication, stronger relationships, and greater understanding among family members. Using a collaborative, trauma-informed approach, she helps families navigate conflict, life transitions, and emotional challenges in a safe, structured environment. Her work focuses on repairing connection, enhancing empathy, and building practical tools for managing stress and improving dynamics. Whether addressing parenting struggles, sibling conflict, or intergenerational patterns, Abby guides families toward more cohesive and supportive relationships.

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.

In these challenging times, the support of a group can be a powerful tool in preventing and coping with many of the symptoms you or your child may be experiencing. Groups are offered via tele-therapy and facilitated by a therapist on a weekly or monthly schedule. Get the accountability you need to reach your goals and not slip into negative coping patterns.

Every family has some sort of dysfunction since individuals are not perfect. I have worked for over ten years with youth and their families. I believe family therapy is essential when working with youth since children and adolescents have limited insight and need structure, guidance, and discipline from parents/caregivers. I begin the initial session meeting with the parents/caregivers to identify and discuss problems and confidentiality. I then meet with the youth/children with the parents to work on agreed treatment goals. The ultimate goal of family therapy is to increase open and respectful communication and improve parent/child relationships.

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

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.

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.

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.

I believe that as we grow up we are shaped by our relationships; this starts from the time we are little and continues for the rest of our lives. Through these relationships we are also shaped by society. In being shaped we create various meaning from our experiences as well as receiving and giving instructions on how to live. When we form new relationships of any kind, this gets challenged; coming together and finding a path forward that celebrates all involved is the key to success.

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.

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.

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.