Family Counseling: Who Should Be Involved & How It Helps
Relationships can be hard and our relationships with our family members can be some of the hardest to manage. These can be some of the longest and most intimate relationships in our lives, and also some of the most painful and difficult to manage. Whether you are a family of 2 or 10, family counseling can be helpful when there is a conflict you just can’t resolve, a big life event or trauma that has happened, or you just want to feel closer and more connected to each other.
It is not just for parents and children.
Who should be involved in a family counseling session? Family therapy can be with you and one member of your family or can include the entire family. Family counseling can help you improve your understanding and connection with your partner, parents, siblings, or children. One of my passions as a family therapist is working with adult children and one or more of their parents. So that they can build a more positive connection and work through conflict.
What to Expect in Family Counseling?
Prior to beginning family counseling, we will decide together who to include in your session. Family therapy can be with you, your partner, your parents, your children, or your siblings. It can be with one other person or many other people in your family. After you have decided who to include in your session, we will all meet together to discuss the reasons for having family counseling. Along with the needs of each person in the session and establish goals for our sessions. We may have several sessions together or just one session.
Signs family counseling might be for you.
Do you feel disconnected from or misunderstood in your family? Do you have frequent conflicts or blow-ups and it feels like no matter what you do, you just can’t get along? Has there been a rupture in your relationship with a family member and you haven’t talked to each other in a long time, maybe even years? Or perhaps you’ve felt you had to stop talking to a family member in order to create a boundary or get your needs met? Has substance use, mental health issues, or big life events affected someone in your family? Is it causing conflict or problems in the family? Family counseling is helpful when your family is going through struggles or challenges and the family needs additional support to cope with the problem. Family therapy is about bringing awareness and intentionality to how we get along, respond to each other, and solve problems in our families.
Potential Goals for Family Counseling
An overall goal of family counseling is to help family members develop better strategies for sharing their thoughts and feelings clearly and respectfully. We will work on developing healthy ways to resolve disagreements, advocate for themselves, and to communicate opinions and needs effectively.
Other goals of family therapy can be:
Talking through a family trauma or big life event such as illness, divorce, or loss.
Creating healthier boundaries.
Increasing a sense of connection and understanding between members.
Talking about the impact of substance use, mental health issues, or even physical or emotional abuse on the family.
Helping family members identify their needs and communicate them more effectively.
My Approach as a Family Therapist in LA
My approach to family counseling is to help the family function better and be healthier as a unit. In our sessions, I will act as a mediator to create space for identifying family problems and helping each person to feel heard and understood. I will be acting as a guide to develop constructive strategies to address family problems. As a family therapist, I highlight patterns of communication and conflict resolution and help members develop more adaptive ways to communicate and solve problems. My role is to help family members identify how specific behaviors impact them, learn new ways to communicate emotions and needs, and open lines of communication between all family members.
Start Family Counseling in Los Angeles, CA
Family counseling at Flourishment Psychology can help you find peace within your family unit. No matter how many family members are part of the session, my goal as a family therapist is to help improve communication between everyone. If you are ready to get support so you can start functioning better as a family, follow these steps:
Reach out and receive a free consultation to discuss your needs.
Schedule your first family therapy session with any family members you want to be involved.
Start sharing and communicating in a healthier way.
Other Therapy Services I Offer in Los Angeles, CA
Along with family counseling, I offer specialized therapy for women and therapists. I also offer individual therapy for anxiety and trauma. All of these services are offered in person at my Los Angeles-based practice or online in California and New York.
