Family Counseling Services in Lakewood, IL.

When working with children and adolescents, family therapy is often a part of the treatment plan since a child's or adolescent's behavior impacts a family and vice versa. I use a systems approach to family therapy and often explore the communication patterns, roles, and rules of the family. I help families examine the interactions and/or dynamics of the family that are working and the patterns and/or interactions that are not.

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.

Family therapy is complex nowadays exacerbated by high divorce rates and blended families. There's an necessary built-in awareness and empathy that has to exist in order to help these families. It requires more than knowledge and understanding, but rather an ability to read, interpret and redirect not one individual but an entire group of individuals who are invested in each other and needing insight, guidance and intervention. Not easy. Family Systems theory drives my work in this realm. It's all about the relationship and the impact each person has on the other. I've been trained in Gottman Couples Therapy - a leading expert in this area.

My goal in working with couples and families is to restore hope and a love to battered relationships. I believe in using a mix of practical assessment skills, creativity and humor with a genuine commitment to marriage and families. In addition, I lovingly challenge individuals to look at themselves and identify what is holding them back from fully loving each other. I offer dynamic and powerful trainings and assessments that will propel families and couples forward more quickly. My heart is to help couples and parents once again experience grace to see their loved ones the way God does.

In family therapy, I create a supportive space where each member feels heard and valued, helping families navigate complex dynamics with care and clarity. I have experience working with families facing challenges related to addiction, identity, and communication—especially when supporting trans youth. We’ll work together to strengthen understanding, rebuild trust, and create a more affirming and stable environment. My goal is to help families move forward with empathy, connection, and practical tools for lasting change.

The family is a very important and formative group in society and the magnitude of the effects of family dynamics cannot go ignored. We look at the individual roles that each member plays in the family unit and we strive for every voice to be heard. We set family therapy rules, so that we can provide a respectful place to process family concerns, trauma, and other past situations.

Family life can be very difficult because of the number of personalities at work in one home. Acceptance is one of the many important keys to living in an open and safe home. Learning what roles are in play in the home and adopting new styles of interaction is also important. Power struggles tend to be one of the pitfalls to families who want to live in harmony. Learning to better communicate with openness and calmness allows for problem solving to take place.

In family therapy I treat the dynamic of the relationship between family members. We all have a deep need to belong and feel accepted by others. This starts in our family of origin. If things are preventing us from feeling accepted by our families we seek other places to feel that connection. By helping each person feel heard, understood and accepted by their family members we can create significant change.

Family therapy needs to be engaging for it to be helpful. It can be daunting, with some family members not feeling safe enough to say what they truly feel. Each family member deserves to be understood, and to be a part of something special. The family therapist needs to connect with each member of the family. Encouraging humor, creativity, and stretching comfort levels are all part of the process.

Life is complicated. It is hard to create and maintain healthy relationships with those we love the most. There are many different thoughts and feelings, from the past and present, that exist in all of our interactions with one another. It isn’t always simple, whether we are trying to effectively communicate feelings, establish rules for the household, navigate the waters of intimacy, guide our children toward a successful future or simply attempting to provide a healthy meal while working, studying, and cleaning. The world and our family lives are increasingly more complex. Though we all have the tools within ourselves and within our relationships to create thelives we want. Through our psychotherapy approaches whether parenting coaching, couples or...(view profile to read more)

Kari Hunter is a licensed family therapist with over 25 years of experience. Whether your family has young children, teens, or adult children, Kari has worked with all types of problems. Families can benefit from family therapy when there is school performance problems, sibling rivalry, divorce or re-marriage transitions, or parenting differences. In many cases, insurance covers family therapy.