Family Counselling Services in Alberton, ON.

In the contemporary world, families manifest in diverse and dynamic forms, often encountering unique challenges. At Atlas Therapy, we empower family units to nurture psychological and emotional connections. Through recognizing imbalances, we guide members in acquiring functional communication skills, fostering an environment where each individual feels heard, supported, and understood. Our goal is to strengthen the bonds of all families, irrespective of their shapes, sizes, or compositions.

Family dynamics are complicated. Each family has established patterns, such as how everyone communicates within the family system, how they deal with stressful situations and conflict, their roles in the family unit and how members seek support from one another. Reach out to schedule a free 15-minute family therapy consultation to see if I am the right fit for your family.

Gestalt therapy is a systems‐oriented, immediate‐experience‐oriented, and affect‐oriented therapy that is highly effective for families. Unlike other therapies, gestalt regards the client system's emergent processes as the central focus, and it emphasizes that growth occurs as the family and its members are helped to greater self‐awareness and responsibility for their own functioning. Dynamic forces within your family may need some the maintenance. How can a sense of peace and equilibrium be brought back into your home? I am not afraid to work with intense emotional outbreaks. I can help support family unity with strength and care! Develop better ways of communicating with each other!

Through a combination of Family Systems techniques, therapeutic art making, and talking therapy, I help families build communication, become aware of their habits and ways of interacting, identify problems, and come up with solutions for the best way to solve or manage these problems. I help families become a more open and cohesive unit by helping them become more aware of the ways that they interact with each other, and helping them resolve conflicts and anxieties. I help families strengthen their relationships through honesty and open communication, so that they can overcome conflicts together.

For over 10 years, my approach is very much client-centred, drawing from both Family Systems and Solution-Focused theories. I also use psychoeducation and Play Therapy in sessions. I have found these approaches widely accepted by previous clients who seem to want to gain understanding as to why things were occurring in their relationships, but also quickly wanted to press on towards practical solutions.

Sherry enjoys helping families understand one another and implement changes that will improve the family dynamics. She meets with the individuals who are part of the family system, listens to their issues and concerns, and then brings everyone together to discuss the issues and, when needed, develop a plan. When the group meeting takes place, she ensures that everyone is emotionally safe by establishing 'guidelines for respectful discussion'.

Family therapy addresses the relationships and dynamics within your home. I work collaboratively with all members—parents, children, and even grandparents—to strengthen communication and understanding. Together we identify patterns causing conflict or stress in daily life. By practicing new strategies for listening and empathy, families learn to solve problems as a team. Each person’s voice is heard during our sessions, building mutual respect. The benefit is a more harmonious home where everyone feels valued and supported.

My overarching goal in family therapy is to help families overcome challenges, improve communication, and build stronger, more supportive relationships. Children and parents alike are heard and validated, in an environment that fosters honesty and safety. The specific approach used is eclectic and will depend on the unique needs and circumstances of each family.

Conflict and other issues often challenge the integrity of the family. Poor communication can be one of the main contributors. Many families give up unnecessarily, leaving minimal or even no contact between family members. Family therapy can help individuals understand the root of the dysfunction and open respectful lines of communication presenting the potential for healthy family relationships. Learning to let go of the past, healthy communication and conflict resolution can often lay the foundation to build a solid future of healthy relationships.

Family relationships are the ones that form us and often have the most meaning in our lives. My approach to family therapy begins with respect for each individual in the family with the realization that each person’s behavior affects the whole. I am an empathetic listener as well as a facilitator of healthy relationships and communication. I enjoy helping families work through conflict and develop the insight and skills needed to improve their relationships and their personal well-being.

Dr. Van Blyderveen, Dr. Saliba, and Dr. Brunet each offer family therapy at New Leaf Psychology Centre. Through family therapy, you and your family will learn to communicate more effectively with one another, better understand each other, and experience more frequent moments of closeness. Attention will be given to balancing the relationship quality with the different roles of parents and children. Dr. Saliba has a special interest in working with blended families, and Dr. Brunet has a special interest in facilitating attachment between young children (ages 0 through 6) and their parents.

Sometimes the difficulties occurring in a family are systemic - which means that there is not really a 'problem person' but a family interaction malfunction. In family counselling, it is understood that everyone in the family impacts and affects everyone else and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It is also understood that the way to 'fix' a family problem is not by simply changing specific behaviours, but by changing the structure of the family. This can be a very important process for the many different types of families that we have in our society.

We all learn differently, express differently, and quite often perceive experiences differently because we bring a different "lens" and that is why your counsellor needs to be CREATIVE and FLEXIBLE. As parents we feel a deep responsibility to be these great parents and raise remarkable kids, but life isn't so easy and we are far from perfect. We need to give ourselves a break sometimes because we are only doing the best we can with what we have. Sometimes we just need a little help along the way. No matter how large your family is, lets find solutions and have FUN while we are doing it!

A common problem that I see when helping families is that parents struggle to get their kids to finish tasks, stay organized, and cannot motivate them to do, well, anything. “Unless it’s YouTube or a video game they’re just not interested and I don’t want them always depend on me for everything.” There are a number of tools and methodologies that can help with these problems. It does take time and commitment; however, with the right support and guidance easier, friction-free, happier days are very possible.

Family Systems Approach. The family systems approach is a theory developed by psychiatrist Murray Bowen in the 1950s. Specifically, Dr. Bowen built family systems theory and its concepts assume that there is an emotional system governing human relationships in families. Based on the roles within the system, people are expected to interact with and respond to one another in a certain way. Patterns develop within the system, and each member's behaviors impact the other members in predictable ways.

Family life is filled with developmental stages and many changes. Navigating through these changes can be challenging at times. Psychotherapy can help families gain greater understanding of each other and discover new ways to communicate. It is my goal to provide a safe place for families to come together to share their experience and work together on their common goal. It would be an honor to work with you.

Family dynamics are complex. Whether it's communication breakdown, recurring conflict, or emotional disconnection, I help couples create a space where difficult conversations can happen safely and where they see how the intricacies of how the interactions with and between themselves must be fully addressed and understood so they can find the relational satisfaction they are looking for. This work supports members in understanding each other and moving toward healthier, more honest relationships.

Family therapy is essential because family is our primary template for love, belonging, and how we form relationships. When these early bonds are strained or disrupted, it can deeply affect our well-being and sense of self. In therapy, we create a space to explore what a secure attachment should feel like, learn to recognize and heal dysfunctional patterns, and practice repair in ways that strengthen connection. Together, we work toward building healthier communication and deeper trust, helping each member feel valued and understood. Come see me to rediscover the potential your family has to feel like home, offering comfort, resilience, and a foundation for growth.

Families are immersed in issues and transformative experiences that give rise to personal stories that shape the identity of each member within it and the group as a whole. Although the issues may be diverse, opportunity exists to construct new narratives capable of not only resolving them, but producing new changes, directions, and purpose in life. As a practitioner of narrative therapy, a therapy often used with families to reauthor dominant stories upheld through an integration of new perspectives, it is my pleasure to be able to collaborate in assisting with the first steps towards this.

It is not uncommon in families for patterns to be set and sometimes these patterns are not healthy or helpful for family relationships, or individual mental health. We often learn to tolerate our family members’ behaviour and have difficulty speaking up or expressing how their behaviour impacts us. In my sessions with families, I encourage open, honest communication and ensure that each individual feels validated and gets equal time to be heard. Often difficult conversations can be more successful when there is a neutral person facilitating and promoting respectful, non-confrontational interaction. If you think your family would benefit from my support and guidance, please book a free consu

Conflict in families is a normal part of our life but situations can arise which make navigating the road of life difficult. Experiencing parent/teen difficulties? Teens have a developmental task of separating from their parents, and life at this stage can produce conflict. This does not take away from the fact that good parents are the key to producing resilient teens. Perhaps conflict is due to different parenting styles in a blended family. There are many factors which go into making a happy stress free home. Seeking help in a safe and caring environment is sometimes needed to achieve this goal.

Sometimes the difficulties occurring in a family are systemic - which means that there is not really a 'problem person' but a family interaction malfunction. In family counselling, it is understood that everyone in the family impacts and affects everyone else and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It is also understood that the way to 'fix' a family problem is not by simply changing specific behaviours, but by changing the structure of the family. This can be a very important process for the many different types of families that we have in our society.

Family dynamics are complicated. Each family has established patterns, such as how everyone communicates within the family system, how they deal with stressful situations and conflict, their roles in the family unit and how members seek support from one another. While I do not offer family therapy sessions, my clinic, Psychotherapy Collective has many child and family therapists availability to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ensure they are the proper fit for your journey. Visit our family therapy page to find a therapist https://www.psychotherapycollective.ca/services/child-and-family-therapy

Every family is different, but every family deserves to feel love. When this is not the case, it is time to change things up. Everyone in the family is important and deserves to be heard, understood and respected. Together, we can make this happen. This is important because this will open the doors to the needed healing and the formation of healthy expectations and boundaries that will help make sharing your love for each other easier.

Family therapy often benefits from a client-centered approach. Throughout our sessions, we will focus on communication and the openness to share one’s feelings honestly. Using exercises, we will work on improving communication, listening skills and emotional honesty. The use of behavior therapy may also be incorporated where we seek to recognize and change destructive behavior patterns. Use of these approaches encourages families to engage in healthy communication styles and break habitual cycles of unhealthy behaviors.