Family Counselling Services in Guelph, ON.

Each family has its own unique personality that impacts the functioning of its members. I am trained in a variety of therapeutic models and the approach I take will be catered to your family dynamics and the special challenges that brought you here today. When working with the family, I help improve their ability communicate openly to challenging issues and work through ups and downs in their relationships.

Family work is fun and exciting to me. I find feedback from my families indicates that they all felt respected and understood. I am very skilled at issues of confrontation- and bring together tools that will allow us to understand, appreciate and find resolution to your identified issues. The skills we use in family therapy will enhance your relationships in the immediate and for many years to come.

Families attend therapy to repair or strengthen bonds, as well as to address challenges directly experienced by the whole unit or concerns that appear to be presenting around an individual or relational subsystem. My approach to family therapy honours the concept of “linked lives”- no single person is viewed as "the problem". I attune to the contexts the family has been situated in, generational influences, interactional patterns, emotions & attachment bonds, and familial & individual values to support members in achieving more helpful ways of engaging with each other, fostering stability, and coping with hardship. Book a consultation with me to begin your family's journey to healing.

Family therapy is a unique opportunity for loved ones to come together, listen to one another, and navigate challenges. Are you a parent wanting to support your young child or teenager through a challenging transition? Are you an adult child wanting to reconnect with your parent or a parent wanting to reconnect with your adult child? Or are you a family processing a new event, like blending your family, a divorce, or a change in lifestyle? As a family therapist, I am here to ensure that everyone’s voice and opinions are heard, so that you can navigate your goals in your most authentic and preferred way. Connect with me today for a free consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Family counselling can lead to a more harmonious and healthy dynamic for family members. Having an increased ability to communicate emotions effectively can lead to increased understanding of needs and wants and likewise lead to healthier discussions of boundaries. Topics that are difficult to discuss in the family can be discussed with my support once safety and boundaries are established in the therapeutic relationship. This can lead to a happier family dynamic once topics that were previously unspoken have been addressed. Increased skills such as interpersonal communication and emotional regulation leads to improved parenting and improved overall family dynamic.

Working with families is assessed on a case by case basis in my practice. If your family is assessed as a good fit for my practice we will work together to support problem-solving, increase clear communication, reduce tension and increase ease between family members. I also work with parents to understand the complex needs of babies, children, youth, and young adults by learning and practicing tools to support compassionate parenting. My associate and I work with clients to understand the complexities of family systems, and how to navigate boundary setting with family members, and we work together to practice tools that support healing wounds created from trauma within families.

We will work together to achieve more harmony & less conflict in your family. We may need to work through helping you & your family members adjust to difficulties or transitions you are going through or have gone through. Each family member's opinions (including children) will be valued. All family members will be validated & each person will be given a voice & time to share their thoughts on what is & isn't working in family life. I have years of experience helping clients with: parent-child conflict; parent disagreements; blended family issues; coping with a sick or mentally ill family member; dealing with trauma and loss; grief. We will work to achieve compromise.

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!

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.

Families are built on deep-rooted emotional bonds. When you feel disconnected from your family, it's likely due to trauma. The family can impact people profoundly. Many times people within the unit seek approval and validation from one another. When those aren't received, it can cause lasting damage, mainly when it involves a child needing a parent's reassurance.

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.