family

Family Therapy

Families are the core of who we are. Weather I am working with parents,
couples or individuals I am always interested in your family. What were the
roles in your family growing up? Where the roles clearly defined or loose?
What is your belief system and how does it relate to your family of origin?
These are just a few questions that we may look at if we were to work together.
These questions are part of a therapy called systems theory. The theory
basically looks at the interactions with one another in our families, relationships
and the larger community. I have found this theory to be helpful for most
people I work with given that it does not place blame on any one and gives
people a different way to look at things that invites change.

The other guiding theory I use is called Rogerian. A man named Carl Rogers
developed it. He was a therapist that began the Humanistic movement that
challenged schools of thought like Freud. His basic idea is that we all have the
power to heal ourselves and this healing is partially developed through a
relationship with someone that is open and supportive to the concerns you
face. It may sound simple but like systems theory it does not place blame on
the individual and believes that people are basically good.

If you were to work with me on couples issues or parenting I would use these
theories as well as my past professional experience in working with you. For
couples we may be looking at how we transition from our family of origin, to
adulthood and then create our own family. What values did we bring into this
relationship? When changes occurred in forming the relationship? If you have
children, how does your parenting style relate to your family of origin. As you
can see, families, couples and parenting are all interconnected. Therefore
many of the ways that we will work together will be similar even though family
issues, couples concerns and parenting problems originally seem so different.
In reality they are all interconnected.