Is This Your Family?
Is your family living trying to cope with:
- Sadness, and tension?
- Helplessness and Hopelessness?
- Distanced relationships caused by guilt, anger and frustration?
- Does the pain felt affect all family members?
Does your family need:
- Professional assistance to unpack the impacting issues?
- Do you long for your family to be respectful again and to know closeness and restored relationships?
Setting the Standard
Family behaviour starts with parents/primary caregiver’s behaviour (be that mum and dad, mum and mum or dad and dad).
Children learn their behaviour from their parents, so any desired changes you want to see happen in your family must be modelled by you as parents.
Parenting from the same page and learning the skills of parenting are also important factors to consider when improving family behaviour. Improving family relationships require many of the skills necessary for couples relationships and can be coached if required as well.
Children learn their behaviour from their parents, so any desired changes you want to see happen in your family must be modelled by you as parents.
Parenting from the same page and learning the skills of parenting are also important factors to consider when improving family behaviour. Improving family relationships require many of the skills necessary for couples relationships and can be coached if required as well.
Good family therapy creates an environment where conversations that should happen at home, but don't, can take place.
- Nichols and Schwart, 2004
Getting Started
If you would like to engage in some family counselling I will talk to you first to better understand what is going on in the family and suggest who should come along to the first session.
Anyone who could potentially contribute to helping with the problem is welcome. It is important for family members to know they have a choice. After the first meeting membership can be decided on a session by session basis.
Anyone who could potentially contribute to helping with the problem is welcome. It is important for family members to know they have a choice. After the first meeting membership can be decided on a session by session basis.
Family Therapy - Keys to Success
Family therapy is not about blaming any one person for a family issue, but about trying to understand what actions, behaviours and family dynamics are contributing to the problem/s and doing things differently in the future so the problem/s retreat or go away.
Family therapy is more likely to be successful if family members can come to their session with a spirit of goodwill and generosity and engage in a reflective stance rather than adopting a reactive stance.
As therapist I can help you with adopting the most beneficial stance from which successful therapy can take place.
Family therapy is more likely to be successful if family members can come to their session with a spirit of goodwill and generosity and engage in a reflective stance rather than adopting a reactive stance.
As therapist I can help you with adopting the most beneficial stance from which successful therapy can take place.
Family Therapy - The Process
If possible, it is important that everyone's unique perspective in the family system is heard, as each person's contribution is a valuable resource from which solutions can be found.
I practice from a constructionist perspective, which means that meaning is not communicated from therapist to client but is generated conjointly and is different from the contribution of either party.
The goals and direction of therapy are co-constructed, and clients are encouraged to be authorities on their own troubles and dilemmas.
In order to ensure the safety of all family members or make other value based decisions I will, however, use my professional authority if I think necessary, and on exceptional occasions may stop a session.
I practice from a constructionist perspective, which means that meaning is not communicated from therapist to client but is generated conjointly and is different from the contribution of either party.
The goals and direction of therapy are co-constructed, and clients are encouraged to be authorities on their own troubles and dilemmas.
In order to ensure the safety of all family members or make other value based decisions I will, however, use my professional authority if I think necessary, and on exceptional occasions may stop a session.
Positive Parenting Strategies
I can assist you in developing the most beneficial parenting strategies to help you parent problem behaviour in your child or children.
First, I will need to understand what problems you are experiencing in regard to your child or children's behaviour, then we can co-construct a plan using best parenting theory and practice to help you enjoy your children again.
First, I will need to understand what problems you are experiencing in regard to your child or children's behaviour, then we can co-construct a plan using best parenting theory and practice to help you enjoy your children again.
How I Can Help
Some of the common issues that I can help you with are:
- Understanding what factors may be impacting on your child or teenager
- How to create a positive, safe and engaging environment for your child/ren
- The use of assertive discipline
- Having realistic expectations
- The escalation trap (we all get caught in it)
- How to make requests
- Ineffective use of discipline
- Setting goals for change (for your child and yourself)
- Coaching problem solving
- Conducting effective family meetings
- How to manage problem behaviour
- Establishing clear family rules
- Acknowledging your child's emotions
- How to deal with emotional behaviour
- Dealing with risky behaviour (especially your teenager)
- Family survival tips
- High risk times in your family.