Family Therapy

Disruptions in the bliss and balance of family life…

Work demands. Slipping grades. Mom’s taxi. Whose turn is it to cook?

Everyone used to get along so well. What happened to us? Life, that’s what.

Different schedules, different motivations, and alternate views of the same challenge all leave room for conflict. Heads are being bitten off, when a kind request would suffice.

We all have “stuff” we agreed we’d be responsible for doing. What happened to those “agreements?” It seems my face is always blue from repeating myself over, and over… and, yes, over again!

Some days are great. It all seems to flow nicely. But that’s far from where we once were and where I want to be again. Two steps forward, one step back has become the opposite.

Wrong direction without a map or even a destination. Ugh!

Sometimes you think you’ve got it under control, but then…

…stressors mount and tensions rise. Attitudes deteriorate. Respect takes a holiday.

Sometimes it seems chaos has won. Days get shorter, as duties, responsibilities, and obligations clearly didn’t get the memo.

Each member of your “team” is running their own plays without even a playbook. Sometimes you want to just punt on first down!

Considerate communication has been replaced by snarkiness or even avoidance altogether. Coming home after a long day at work is filled with dread rather than the gleeful anticipation that used to exist.

The kids go to their rooms… and don’t come out. They tell you they’re “sick of it,” or don’t tell you anything at all, despite your pleading for a discussion.

Don’t even get me started on blended family challenges! Controlling, manipulative exes, support that doesn’t get paid, legal disputes about custody, “You’re not my Mom!” Why can’t we ALL just get along?

There’s no manual for how to live family life.

Sure, books have been written. Knowledge exists. But it’s the application of said knowledge that’s the real problem.

Different parenting styles or different views of the same situations leave much room for dissention… and disrespect… and eventually the pulling of hair from one’s own head!

You’ve “set up a system,” or made what you thought would be a workable agreement about who’s responsible for what/when, only to discover over time that it seems that “agreement” was really nothing more than lip service.

Systems, structures, and strategies…

These are all at play, every day – in your family… in your home.

We settle in. We adopt roles and functions, usually without even being aware we’ve done so. These roles and functions become solidified; and we often stubbornly adhere to them, again, without conscious awareness of doing so.

This stubborn, unconscious process is what leads to conflict. I mean, seriously, how could anyone change anything that leads to conflict when they aren’t aware it does so and could use some changing?

Feeling as though you’re approaching your wits’ end?

You’ve read, you’ve fretted, and you’ve consulted family and friends.

You know it doesn’t have to be this way, and you’ve tried diligently to make it better.

You may have even tried therapy before with minimal, if any, results.