Family therapy services in 20882: Gaithersburg, MD. Relationship and couples counseling.

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.

We are all relational beings, living within interactive, emotional systems. How we relate to our most significant others (spouse, children, siblings, etc.) can sometimes lapse into unpleasant scripts and powerful undercurrents of action-reaction, negative group-think, and ineffective authority roles. Restoring a sense of effective functioning, wellness and harmony (shalom) within family relationships can be aided by learning and practicing new ways to empathize, communicate, and collaborate with each other. Under certain conditions, families can even benefit from video sessions or teletherapy (if more convenient and less stressful than gathering everyone at a therapist's office!)

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.

Helping families work through difficult struggles in which family members are stuck in unhealthy patterns, Carol Corcoran, Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist can help the family regain connection and stability. She works with the family together then meets with different subsystems utilizing a well researched approach called Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, based on Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. This is an approach that helps family members feel more attached and safe with one another. To learn more go to http://www.creatinghealthyconnections.com/newsite/families.html

Family relationships are hard and demanding and frustrating. We strive for peace and harmony in our homes and often find ourselves angry, in tears and feeling powerless. I work with nuclear families, blended families and adoptive families who are living in chaos. I educate parents on setting appropriate limits and boundaries and STICKING TO THEM while also teaching kids how to have respect, follow rules as well as having an appropriate voice and getting their needs met. You WILL see positive results; bringing structure and balance into the home is the bare minimum you will experience, when you find yourselves laughing together as a family, you will know you have arrived.