Family therapy services in 20715: Bowie, MD. Relationship and couples counseling.

As a Marriage and Family Therapist I strongly believe that there is no one way to handle a problem. I work with my clients to highlight what works and use that knowledge to help improve what seems to not be working. I genuinely enjoy seeing the entire family in session since it provides rich information on how a family interacts and provides insight on the resources they have to tackle whatever problems come their way.

The focus of my family therapy work is the family as a whole. Working on the relationship between family members is more effective than just treating the person that is supposed to be in need of treatment. From my perspective, family therapy work sees individuals in relationships to others. As a result, the attention shifts from the symptomatic individual and problem is seen as the family as a whole. The goal of my family therapy work is to help establish a “functional family” – one in which needs and the desired goals of closeness, identity, self-expression, and meaning are met.

As a new mom myself, I know how challenging the adjustment to parenthood can be. No matter the age of your children, family therapy is a helpful way for each member to express their concerns and learn to work together toward common goals. Parents will leave feeling more united as a team, and children/teens will leave feeling understood and loved. Family therapy is also beneficial for siblings and extended relatives.

Christian counseling can benefit marriages, individuals struggling with personal issues, and families experiencing difficulties. Christian counseling is for those who want to honor God in their personal life, marriage, and family by aligning with God's truths and becoming fully reliant on God. God is our ultimate healer, and Christian counseling is one avenue that God has provided to those who need healing and life change.

Whether it is mother/daughter conflict, father/son, struggles, or the whole family, the dynamics are often wrought with underlying emotions that need to be addressed. Rather than therapy for the child alone, often having the entire family meet takes the role of "identified patient" off anyone, and emotional knots can begin to loosen and be untied. I use role play, in addition to talk therapy, to engender greater empathy. When there are unhealthy "triangles," new structures are put in place so that clear communication can flow between members.

Robyn began her career working with at-risk youth. She has worked extensively with older children and adolescents. Her approach goes beyond behavioral interventions and resolving negative school performance. Robyn believes the key to successful adolescent therapy is tapping into the strengths of the family system and helping the youth and each family member to grow and thrive as individuals and as a cohesive unit. Robyn's approach to adolescent therapy unites and coheres the family.

It can be a confusing world, with families coming in many shapes and sizes. Learning how to be connected, have good relationships, and setting up an emotional and physical environment where everyone can thrive can be a big challenge. We focus on attachment; that is, nurturing a deep sense of connection and safety between family members. Connection takes being emotionally “there” for family members, and having time and activity together. Connection means feeling like “I belong, and I’m valued”. Safety can mean discussing a fair work-load balance, limit-setting on behavior, and knowing that we can count on each other.

I primarily work with families who have been impacted by chronic health or medical conditions. Managing the burden of a medical condition can be overwhelming at times, and it can have an impact on the whole family. The families I work with benefit from parent support, increasing confidence in the medical setting, and improving interactions around symptoms. This work results in an overall improvement in quality of life not just for the person who has the medical condition, but for the family as a whole.

Family therapy is indicated especially if the couple also is looking for help out of an emotionally difficult place. Family stresses can also provide stresses on each member of the couple. Through therapy, we work together to find the causes of the family stress, and then create strategies for managing the negative emotions and creating positive ones. Then we practice the strategies so that when similar stresses arise, each family member knows how to work within their family dynamic, keeping things calm.

The family therapy I do is in situations when a child or teen is acting out. A child or teen might be defiant, or aggressive, or failing in school, or in trouble with the law or abusing substances or lying excessively or acting promiscuously, or some combination of these and other negative behaviors. The family therapy I do is preceded by a thorough and state-of-the art evaluation of both the youth and the youth's system. I then set measurable goals with a family and follow it up with behaviorally oriented family therapy. In this approach, there are specific and structured strategies brought to bear and home, and often and school, to enhance a child or teen's odds of being highly successful.

Our team of therapists can help you face your specific family issues and tailor a treatment plan specifically for you. Our team of counselors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, so we're confident we can find you help that's best suited for your unique challenges and goals. Working with us, you'll get results. Please don't wait, we're ready to help you today.

Parents and teenagers must navigate a difficult process as the teenager begins to separate from the parents and form his or her separate identity. I work with both parents and teenagers to help in this process in terms of developing strategies for communication, conflict resolution and ways to begin connecting more effectively. I help both the teenager and the parent find ways to better understand and to develop greater tolerance for one another. More than any other developmental stage, the teenage years necessitate that parents alter their typical ways of parenting, become more flexible, more patient, more emotionally attentive.

Have any of your family members recently graduated from high school or college? I provide career counseling and coaching to young adults that may need guidance to get them on the right career path. Or they may feel stuck and as a parent we don't always know how to help them. Feel free to reach out and contact me to learn more. I always provide a free phone consult.