Family Counseling
You may have arrived here because…
You desire family counseling because the family has experienced grief/loss.
Your family struggles with healthy communication
The family is facing division due to issues with intimacy, adapting to new daily life, or healing after past/present hurt.
Your family went from your immediate to blended
Your family is struggling with someone you love suffering with addiction.
It is Monday morning at 7am as you drive to work in a haze. The weekend did not go how you thought it would. Your immediate family has been dealing with a lot of issues, but not for a second did you think the family BBQ would end up that way. Earlier in the week your husband thought it would be good to bring the family together. You agreed that having some lighthearted time would do the family well. So, you sent out a text asking all your kids to come to the family home Saturday at 12pm for a BBQ. One of your children responds immediately. Your second child responds hours later with a simple, “Ok.”
A few years ago, the family experienced a trauma that left them disconnected. Since then, the youngest has kept her distance from the family. She has stated feeling like she cannot communicate with her family, which is a sentiment the rest of the family cannot understand. In their eyes the communication is fine. Afterall, if she ever needed help her family would be there. What more is needed in their communication?
Saturday at 12 rolls around and your oldest who is 20 shows up early. As he walks in the door, he has a big smile on his face and says, “hello!” You get excited at the possibility that today is going to be a great day for the family.
The three of you finish setting up the backyard when you notice that it is 12:15 and your youngest has yet to arrive. You send a text asking for her ETA. There is no response back. The more time passes the more frustrated your husband becomes. Finally, at 12:45 your youngest arrives at the BBQ.
Walking into the house she says hello to everyone in the room. The greeting is cold and disconnected. She asks if the food is ready, she is starving. Your husband makes a passive aggressive comment about her being late and making everyone wait on her. Your daughter rolls her eyes and walks to the back yard. You look at your husband begging him to let it go. You think, “please God let us have one good day together.’
As you all sit around the table your oldest strikes up a conversation. You all start talking and again you think, “maybe it is going to be a good day.” At the same moment you have this thought, your youngest makes a snide comment to her father. That is when he loses it, and the BBQ you dreamed about becomes one of the biggest fights you and your family have experienced.
I don’t know about you, but I have a love and dislike relationship with my family sometimes. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them. At the same time, they are the ones that can irritate me the most.
Having that many opinions and personalities in one place can be a lot!
What if I told you that healing, connectivity, and communication are possible within your family.
Envision your family being able to sit around the dinner table and not feel awkward or disconnected. In fact, as you each sit and talk you feel heard and attached, something your family hasn’t experienced in a long time. The disagreements that may have occurred are able to be resolved without it becoming a blowup. Healing becomes possible as you begin to learn tools and techniques that allow each person in the family to have power over themselves. No longer does the family live in a place where a lack of setting and enforcing boundaries exists. The ability to have awareness of the needs of each individual family member is balanced with the wellbeing of the family unit.
All of this occurring while also having God at the center of the family. Irregardless if some of the family members do not believe or are struggling within their faith.
Questions about Family Counseling
Does it have to be biological family members in order to use the services?
Family therapy is useful for those who are in immediate family systems or a family you created for yourself. Being biologically related is not required for family therapy.
I’ve never been to counseling before, what should I expect?
First, I want to congratulate you on taking the big leap to ask for help! Second, I want you to take any TV or movie references of counseling and throw it out of your brain. Like anything in movies, there is a small percentage that is accurate.
In many ways, counseling can look however you want it to. I tell all of my clients this is your time so we will go in whatever direction you wish to go. However, so I can better understand where my client would like to focus, I do have them set therapeutic goals. You could set one goal you could set one hundred!
What if we have done family counseling before?
If you have participated in family counseling previously that is totally fine! We can either continue where you left off, look at the previous issues addressed again, or begin working on new goals.
Amanda, you don’t take insurance and I want to work with you, what do I do?
The thing I encourage you to do is see if your insurance company will take a superbill. If they do, then I have no problem supplying that for you. Superbills allow you to get reimbursed up to a certain amount for your sessions. The insurance carriers where this is an exception are: Anthem and Medicare. Unfortunately, I do not provide superbills for these providers.
Want to build an awareness of the needs of each individual family member, while balancing it with the wellbeing of the family unit? Then click the button below to set up a free 15-minute consultation call!