Family Counseling Services in Woodland, CA.

Family therapists are trained to look at family dynamics and to work on relationships, treating the family as a whole instead of each individual separately. We know that a family can be a wonderful source of healing, but it can also be a tremendous source of pain. Healthy relationships take a lot of work. It’s not always easy to share our lives, so family therapy aims to help build strong and satisfying relationships. Family plays a role in who we individually are and it can adapt and build resiliency by showing support, understanding, connecting, and finding new ways of relating. Family therapy allows the family to connect in moments of pain and explore new family roles and behavior.

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.

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.

Feeling more loved, heard, appreciated and supported often happens in families that I work with. Family members may be either or both parents, grandparents, and children of any age, including grown children. Clients often benefit immensely from learning communication skills like how to let others know what they are feeling, thinking and needing in a way that others can hear them. They learn how to resolve disagreements without arguments. They lean how to connect with one another in loving and appreciative ways.

I love working with families! I know that it is important for each family member to feel seen, heard, and included. I can help families create healthy boundaries with each other and work through parent-child and sibling problems. I also help families improve their communication and work through divorce, the loss of a fmaily member, and changes or transitions that occur and through family members off-balannce.

Families are living systems: ever-changing, often messy, and deeply important. When things feel tense, disconnected, or reactive at home, it can impact everyone’s well-being. Family therapy offers a space to come together, slow down, and understand what’s happening beneath the surface. I help families repair communication, navigate stuck patterns, and learn new ways of supporting one another through change. Whether you're facing conflict, parenting struggles, life transitions, or emotional distance, our work will focus on building empathy, strengthening connection, and restoring a sense of trust and ease in the family dynamic. Healing is possible, and it often starts with simply being heard

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.

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.

Involving the family members in therapy can be extremely helpful in dealing with issues such as anger, co-parenting, and addiction. I also work with adolescents and their parents by bringing them together into sessions so that everyone can be heard in a supportive setting. Family members who have different communication styles can benefit from being in a therapeutic setting so that all voices can be heard and understood.

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 deregulated (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 dysfunction. Kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

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.