Family Counselling Services in Oakville, ON.

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.

Family therapy can look very different depending on who attends. Some family therapy may involve adult family members struggling with a conflict, sometimes it involves parents and their young children or teens. In Family Therapy treatment is dependent on the goal, but typically involves improving communication, helping family members to listen to each other, help them to develop strategies for coping with conflict and/or differences, learn to get support from one another, improve closeness between family members, accept those elements that cannot change, identify their role within the family (and make changes if desired) and shift their perceptions of each other.

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.

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.

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.

For me, Family Therapy is distinctly different from any other form of therapy, as there are many stories to tell and many points of view to be shared. Because of my experience as a therapist and a parent, I understand how difficult it can be when the family unit is not functioning the way everyone wants it to. As a trained and experienced therapist, I can ensure that all of your family members feel heard and understood, and are willing to work together to help everyone reconnect.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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