Family Counselling Services in Oakville, ON.

The Refuge can support your family to heal and recover from a variety of life challenges, including trauma, addictions, grief and loss, separation and divorce, conflict, complex family dynamics, and other transitions and stressors. Our approach is trauma-specific, body- and emotion-focused, and grounded in attachment theory, neuroscience and family systems to help you and your loved ones restore respectful communication, mutual understanding, repair attachment injuries, develop emotion regulation skills, promote attuned parenting, and reconnect with joy and enjoyment with one another. Our team offers individual, couples and family sessions.

My approaches to family therapy involves first recognizing the family system that exists. This includes identifying the different roles that each family member play within the system. In addition, an exploration of the communication styles, individual characteristics and behaviour patterns of each member of the family will help understand why potential conflicts or disagreements are occurring.

Family issues can make you stuck in unhelpful patterns of interaction. Sometimes it is hard for families to deal with these issues on their own because emotions are high and perspectives can be so different. It can be helpful to seek support from an objective therapist. I can help you look beyond your individual hurt and anger so that you can find the root of your issues and work collectively toward your shared goal of mending and understanding each other.

Being a parent is hard. There are no instruction manuals and no guidebooks. We all become parents aware that it's the most important job we'll ever do, so now is the time to stop feeling frustrated and anxious, burned out and ineffective. My experience in working with parents and my training in solid parenting theory will combine with your vision for your family and your own personal approach to parenting to create the family harmony you're looking for. End the fighting, nagging, and disconnection with personalized strategies and tools designed just for your family. Don't let another day slip by feeling as though you can't get through to those you love the most. Your family is worth it!

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.

Families don't have to be perfect but when a family functions well, parents and children fulfill their roles, enjoy their life together and develop in a healthy way. A healthy family means that all of the members are involved, children are empowered and self esteem develops. As a therapist, I can assess family issues, direct you in appropriate roles and responsibilities and help you communicate more effectively.

As a parent or caregiver it may be confusing about meeting the needs and children and youth with mental health difficulties. Children and youth may function well at home, but struggle in school or peer situations. Some may struggle with depression or anxiety, while others struggle with issues of anger management, substance use, or defiance. I will work with your family to develop healthy communication skills, set appropriate boundaries, and if necessary create a behaviour management plan.

Strong families assist each member to venture into the world as responsible and confident individuals. Counselling can help families build the strong foundation of understanding that’s required to do this. In Family Counselling you’ll learn the skills of effective listening that lead to better communication, as well as the ability to do conflict resolution in respectful and helpful ways.

Family relationships can be complicated. All families have their own patterns, and unique sibling and parents/child relationships. I can help your family members communicate in different ways and change long standing patterns within the family unit. I can facilitate healing from past events and misunderstandings, and shift your family relationships into different life stages.

Family therapy is a space to discuss and improve communication between the family members. Children and adolescents may have a difficult time expressing their needs, and more often than not, will act out their need rather than verbalizing what is bothering them. I help children and parents better identify and express their needs through emotion coaching, and effective communication skills in the context of family and/or individual sessions.

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.

Therapy can provide a safe environment for families that seek to repair their relationships. The problems generally stem from a much earlier time, when it was hard for family members to understand the nature of their conflict. Each person often has felt hurt and misunderstood, and these feelings have perpetuated over time. My approach is to encourage dialogue between them to help them understand the dynamics that have prevented a fulfilling relationship. I also try to establish the positive intentions of the work they are about to do. Therapy is intended to give them insight into what went wrong and how to repair the relationship while working through the difficult feelings and mistrust.

Everything relates to everything else, and families in all shapes and forms are no exception. Different ages, developmental levels in children, genders and or cultures need to be considered, when we try to establish a loving, respectful. proactive and supportive family team. I do believe, that the HOW, WHAT, WHEN and WHY of communication is what makes or breaks a family .... any relationship. Allow me to help you establish reasonable goals and find manageable solutions to challenges, which will improve your family's wellbeing. 905-842-3626

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.

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.

Imagine a family as a tree with branches, roots, trunk representing parts of the immediate and extended family. When working with families, all elements are considered. Usually there is a request for family therapy due to one of it's members in crisis, often a child. However, when an analysis of need is done it becomes apparent that more than one member of the family needs help in adjusting, growing and learning new behaviours. Clients contact me for a variety of reasons: to improve communications, solve family problems, support in special situations such as death, divorce, marriage, illness, child or adolescent issues.

All families are the same and all families are different. Therapy is based on the family as an organised social unit that goes through phases of gradual but emotionally-charged change. Roles and functions often collide with personal needs and changing individual needs and hormonal behaviours that will clash with parenting styles triggering power struggles. Family dynamics must find a way to balance the conflicting childrens' needs to assert distinct identities while integrating conflicting parental values. Family therapy is difficult but growth-inducing for all but I find it helpful to see individuals separately for them to express ideas and feelings freely as it helps with communication.

Family Therapy involved treating the whole family system, rather than just an individual. It can be one of the more efficient forms of therapy, but also very challenging allowing each person in the family to have a voice. Getting family members to come is a big step. Family therapy helps develop new rules, attitudes, feelings and relationship patterns that work more effectively.