Family Counselling Services in York, ON.

You might seek family therapy if family members are struggling with sibling or parent conflict, parenting differences, adjusting to teenage years, divorce/separation, feeling alone with your family, unable to express your feelings to your family members, feeling like you’re not meeting someone’s expectations or coping with a family member’s mental illness or addiction. Working with a family therapist can help family members feel heard and valued and bring harmony to your family system. We can help you learn to communicate effectively, set healthy boundaries and learn coping mechanisms to help manage difficult family dynamics.

As a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, I can create a safe atmosphere where you and your family can work on difficult issues. Even though the work can be tough at times, the reward of family connections outweight the cost. My expertise can guide you and your family in building meaningful relationships that will last a life time. You will feel more understood and validated as a result of family therapy.

Family relationships can be complicated. All families have their own patterns, and unique sibling and parents/child relationships. Often families hang onto pain and patterns from much earlier in life. I can help your family members communicate in different ways and challange 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.

In the area of family matters, I provide mediation services. Family Mediation process is focused on resolution of concerns and issues that arise in families. In the mediation process, as a neutral party, I assists the disputing parties resolve their disagreement by facilitating their discussions and guiding them to appropriate resources and possible solutions until they reach desired outcomes. *Family mediation is not psychotherapy, marital counseling, or legal representation.

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.

It can be hard to adjust and interact with the person growing from the baby you once knew, particularly if you are motivated to help them avoid all the mistakes that you experienced in your life. For your child, it can feel impossible to be understood by you, especially when you find it hard to be understood by them. I can help you build a stronger bond through mutual respect and shared understanding by leveling the playing field that may be dominating your parent-child relationship. You might be surprised just how quickly things can change when you can engage in a well facilitated discussion that seeks to improve things, rather than trying to mold things to fit your expectations.

With the fast pace and challenges of life, you do not have to face them alone. Sometimes you need a helping hand and a friendly ear to talk to. It's my passion to help people. I offer counselling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples and families. I work with clients to improve their resiliency, and uncover their strengths using a client centered approach and different modalities to meet needs .

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.

My family therapy provides coaching, support, guidance and empowerment to all members. I coach parents to become better "parenting coaches", and children to become better "game of life" payers. I help each member tap into his/her "life tools" and empower personal abilities, flexibility, and self-control. It is not "power over" another person, but "power shared." It is about becoming the right person. When you focus on your own behaviors and the way you treat the person you love, it will not be long before things begin to change. we can make ourselves do what we need to do in order to become the kind of person who is worthy of being in a healthy family relationship.

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 dynamics can be complex, and working through issues together can lead to more harmonious relationships. I offer family therapy to help address conflicts, improve communication, and strengthen family bonds. By creating a safe and supportive environment, we work on understanding each family member's perspective and developing strategies to resolve disagreements and foster a healthier family dynamic. Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to start improving your family relationships and building a stronger, more connected family unit.

In family counselling, I use a blend of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and family systems theory to help families improve communication, resolve conflict, and strengthen connection. We explore interaction patterns, uncover underlying emotions, and understand how each member’s experiences shape the family dynamic. Together, we work toward creating a safe space where all voices can be heard and respected. This process fosters empathy, reduces tension, and builds healthier relationships that support the well-being of the entire family.

Our first connection with love is with family, in its complex, colorful, and sometimes chaotic forms. It is also an area that can be the source of conflict and misunderstanding. In our Family Counselling sessions, I am not a referee, but instead I am a facilitator for difficult conversations. Together we will create a safe space where each voice is heard, everyone’s story is acknowledged, without judgment or expectation.

Family dynamics can be complex, and challenges within the family unit often affect everyone involved. In our sessions, I provide a safe, supportive space where each voice is heard and respected. Together, we’ll explore patterns of communication, address conflicts, and strengthen relationships. My approach focuses on fostering understanding, improving problem-solving skills, and building resilience as a family. The goal is to create healthier connections and a more harmonious environment where every member feels valued and supported.

Gestalt therapy is a systems‐oriented, immediate‐experience‐oriented, and affect‐oriented therapy that is highly effective for families. Unlike other therapies, gestalt regards the client system's emergent processes as the central focus, and it emphasizes that growth occurs as the family and its members are helped to greater self‐awareness and responsibility for their own functioning. Dynamic forces within your family may need some the maintenance. How can a sense of peace and equilibrium be brought back into your home? I am not afraid to work with intense emotional outbreaks. I can help support family unity with strength and care! Develop better ways of communicating with each other!

The cliché goes “we don’t choose family, they are chosen for us”. All families experience difficulties in their relationships with each other. This is normal as multiple personalities are at play. Family counselling incorporates the use of different theories with the task being to define the problem from individual’s perspectives. Ultimately the goal of attaining cohesiveness within the family is reached by every member acknowledging and understanding each other’s feelings and perspectives about unresolved issues.

In my family therapy practice, we will work on strengthening the overall health of your family system, not just resolving one relationship within it. Whether it is looking at conflicts that repeat, emotional distances that develop, or uneven power dynamics, I strive to create an atmosphere that develops clearer communication and safer connection. My approach places an emphasis on structure and boundaries so that conversations can be productive and emotionally safe, particularly when teens are involved. The goal is a calmer, more harmonious family environment where challenges and needs can be addressed without disrupting the sense of safety and belonging.

I provide a nurturing and inclusive space where all family members can come together to explore and heal relational dynamics. By fostering open communication, promoting empathy, and strengthening family bonds, I work collaboratively with families to address conflicts, improve understanding, and cultivate healthy patterns of interaction. Through this transformative process, clients can experience improved family cohesion, enhanced problem-solving skills, and a deeper understanding of one another. Family therapy offers an opportunity for growth, healing, and the building of stronger, more resilient relationships that can positively impact the entire family system.

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.

My overarching goal in family therapy is to help families overcome challenges, improve communication, and build stronger, more supportive relationships. Children and parents alike are heard and validated, in an environment that fosters honesty and safety. The specific approach used is eclectic and will depend on the unique needs and circumstances of each family.

Family dynamics can be challenging to navigate even during the best of times, and family therapy can help each member of the family unit find new ways to relate, connect, and communicate with each other. Giving each family member the chance to feel heard and valued while also navigating external stressors like work and school can be a struggle, so I work collaboratively with clients to identify and explore patterns of interaction that they want to strengthen or change, while highlighting each member’s contributions, and celebrating the family’s successes. Book a free consultation to learn more about my approach and explore if we are a good fit.

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.

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.

In family counseling, I offer a safe, inclusive space where each member feels heard and valued. My approach is grounded in systems theory and emotion-focused work, helping families recognize how their interactions impact one another. We explore patterns, repair ruptures, and build healthier ways of relating, especially during times of tension or transition. Whether you're navigating cultural differences, generational gaps, or communication breakdowns, I support families in fostering empathy, restoring connection, and moving forward with greater understanding, resilience, and unity.

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.