Family Counselling Services in Toronto, ON.

We have excellent therapists at our clinic that work with both relationships and couples, and family therapy. Family dynamics can be tricky, and having a skilled therapist who can help you understand those dynamics is key. But understanding is not enough, a key to success in the family is knowing how to live happily with the challenges and create new ways of being a family that bring you closer together and support a peaceful and loving environment. Give us a call for a chat, and lets see if we can help?

Family therapy is a process for everyone to feel heard, understood and that their needs matter. From the youngest to the eldest all our needs matter. Through a process of growing empathy for each other, we can explore creative ways where everyone can get their needs met and everyone can have space to be themselves. Sometimes we all get confused about what we are really wanting. So often conflict and misunderstandings create isolation in even the most loving families. Our work together is to make the time and space to understand each other and find the way back from conflict to connection.

Our families can benefit from family therapy when they experience any stressful event that puts pressure on family relationships, such as financial hardship, family fractures or break ups, or the death of a loved one. Some issues we would focus on in family sessions are improving communication and solving conflicts, exploring ways we can support a family member who is experiencing difficulties, and how to grow stronger moving forward. It can seem like a monumental task. However with hope, optimism and commitment families can get better.

Family therapy is an effective treatment and can be complementary to individual therapy. The aim of family therapy is to develop insight and understanding into relationship dynamics and family structures that may be contributing to dysfunction for one or several family members and ultimately identify and develop healthier and adaptive ways to resolve conflict in the family.

Depression is not something to be ashamed of , nor is it a character flaw or a sign of a weak personality. No one with depression can just "snap out of it". You wouldn't ask someone to "snap out of diabetes or some other illness, and you cannot expect it of a person with depression. Everyone gets sad sometimes - a brief blue mood, feelings of disappointment or loss. The great news is that up to 80% of people who recieve proper treatment improve as a result. There are two principle modes of treatment for depression - Psychotherapy and medication. Your not alone, millions of families and friends have felt exactly like you. Your one step closer to change

When you stub your toe, your whole body acts to react to the pain. Likewise, when member(s) of the family hurt, the whole family is impacted. Drawing from family systems theory, I work with families to uncover and understand the unspoken emotional chain reactions that take place when the family is stressed, identify unhelpful patterns, and help family members find effective ways to work together as a cohesive unit to accomplish their goals.

When a family member is struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, the entire family is affected negatively. Communication barriers within families of addicts may cause the addict to withdraw into isolation, leaving their family members feeling frustrated, ashamed, lonely, fearful, depressed, hopeless and angry. The sources of addiction are mental, emotional and psychological in nature, and the addict, as well as their family, need to heal under the care of professionals. At Valiant Recovery, we offer counseling to the families of addicts to help them process the difficult emotions they have confronted, and to create a healthy, supportive environment for the addict to return home to.

Family Therapy can mean one of two things, generally speaking: 1) A client who wishes to process the affect their family (via their childhood or present-day events) has had on them. 2) Multiple members of a family unit (partial or whole) , who wish to -- in a way similar to couples counselling -- work out their problems. I am comfortable working with either scenario, however I do have a limit on the number of people I can fit in my office (4). If I'm working with multiple members of a family, I will often make available the opportunity to work with members individually as well as a whole.

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.

Most of my experience has been in providing family therapy. If you are interested in family therapy, I start by completing a thorough family assessment. For the assessment process, I require that all family members living in the household attend. This will be an opportunity for each family member to express concerns that are unique to them. After hearing everyone's concerns, I make a formulation. My formulation is my hypothesis on what factors may be contributing to your family dynamics. I then offer a treatment goal that is agreed upon by all family members.

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.

Family counselling takes into account all members of the family, because you all affect each other. In addition, blended families have special challenges that stem from two styles and two sets of rules. It's tough to get the balance just right, but it can be done. I also have experience with kids and teens with oppositional defiant disorder. Let me help you improve the functioning of your family. Your long term happiness is at stake.

Working with families requires tact and understanding. Creating change requires intent and determination. a willingness to deepen the understanding of the needs of the individual and the common goals of the family can be an obstacle course which may lead to conflict and misunderstanding. Resolving conflicts (Re-)integrating a family member Creating new harmony through understanding Are you feeling left out? Is your family suffering the behaviours of one (or more) of its members? Is the burden / tasks distribution uneven, or even unfair? Through Strategic Intervention talk and techniques, you will create a greater understanding and harmony within the family you love.