Family counseling  is often used to address specific issues impacting the psychological wellbeing of the family unit. Families can benefit from therapy when they experience any stressful event that may strain family relationships, such as financial hardship, divorce, or the death of a loved one. It can also be effective in treating everyday concerns, like communication problems, interpersonal conflict, or behavioral problems in children and adolescents. This strategy may be used as the primary mode of treatment or as a complementary approach.

Using a Family Systems approach, our clinicians can also work with your family to promote improved understanding and collaboration among family members in order to solve the problems of one or more individuals. For example, if your child is having social and/or academic problems, this type of therapy would focus on the family patterns that may contribute to your child’s acting out, rather than evaluating his or her behavior alone. As your family works together with a clinician to uncover the source of the problem, you can learn to support your child by minimizing or altering the conditions that contribute to unwanted behavior.

This mode of therapy is solution-focused and short-term. The number of family members who attend each session may vary, depending on therapy goals, and often your therapist will offer individual sessions to supplement the family sessions.