Family Counselling Services in Clarington, ON.

We provide mental health services to families of different types – Mixed, multiracial, bi-racial, blended, and interracial families. We understand a family is a system with competing dynamics. Every family is different and behaves differently. Every family member could see things and make choices differently. The outcome is dysfunctional. The result is emotional distance, poor boundaries, selfishness, poor communication, conflicts, extramarital affairs, substance abuse, poor parenting, and failure to take responsibilities. These factors could lead to serious mental health problems such as stress, uncontrolled emotions, fighting, poor communication, and family PTSD. You do not have to struggle with family problems alone.

Family therapy at Neurodiversity Aware Therapy supports families in understanding differences, improving communication, and reducing conflict in ways that feel respectful and sustainable. Our approach recognizes that family challenges often arise from mismatched expectations, stress, or unmet needs rather than individual fault. Therapy focuses on clarity, collaboration, and practical strategies that help families build trust, strengthen relationships, and support one another more effectively.

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

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

My family therapy approach involves seeing the whole family initially to understand each person's unique perspective, provide safety for each person to express themselves and to give each person the opportunity to determine their comfort level with me as therapist. I will then work with parts of the family (eg, siblings, parents, dyads such as Mother/Child, Father/Child, Sib/Sib) to support recognition of the unique cycle each group/dyad experiences as problematic in having the closeness and safety they desire within the family. I use Emotion Focused Family Therapy which is based on attachment research and which acknowledges our need to be known and loved by family members.

Are you a parent challenged by the illness of a child? Do you feel exhausted & sad at times? Has your partnership or marriage become strained? Is your family unit having trouble staying positive and enjoying one another due to stress and anxiety? I can help you develop coping strategies, restore balance, and manage the day to day challenges using brief solution focused therapy.

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.

Families undergo constant change as each member strives to learn, grow and develop individually and in relation to others. Stress and challenges are a normal part of family development and, at times, these can become "too much" to handle alone. When arguments, disagreements, confusion and conflict arise it can be quite helpful to draw upon an experienced family systems specialist. Assessing and prioritizing concerns and developing a game plan for improving communication, relationships and overall functioning is available. Teamwork require good coaches (parents/caregivers) and good coaches benefit from training. Problem-solving, mediation and stress management coaching improves family.

I view the family as a system. Each individual in the family has a part in how well the system functions. Sometimes the components of the system are imbalanced so that some are over-functioning, and some may be underfunctioning. I work with families to tweak and adjust the system to help it to run more smoothly such as the parents relationship, parent-child and sibling relationships, roles within the family, parenting and communication styles, individual/couple/family needs. Sometimes factors such as addictions and mental health also need to be addressed. Families learn healthy new ways to function and are happier post therapy.

Families are very complex systems, we all know that. We love each other but that love may not be all you need to understand the needs and behaviors we have in order to make the most of the relationship. Having a neutral, caring and educated professional to support you and guide you might be necessary in some cases when you depleted your resources and you feel like you are going around in circles. If this resonates with your situation do not hesitate to contact me, you can be sure to find a safe and not judgmental space to work through the family challenges.