Family Counseling
Some Things To Consider Concerning Family:
- Is Your Family Life Deteriorating?
- Is your family in disarray?
- Do you often feel disrespected, unheard or not valued by your partner, spouse or extended family members?
- Perhaps your family is struggling through a life transition, such as grieving a death, relocating to a new community or having another baby.
- Or maybe it’s difficult for your family to communicate, resolve conflicts and make peace with one another.
- Do members of your family argue often, causing disharmony and discomfort to those around them?
- Is a member of your family suffering from an addiction?
- Do you and your partner disagree about parenting decisions?
- Or, if you and your partner are divorced, are you struggling to co-parent and maintain consistent rules between two households?
- Do you wish everyone in your family could feel loved, heard, respected and responsible within your home?
Struggling to create and maintain harmony within your family can be a frustrating, confusing and stressful experience. Family conflicts and transitions can have a negative effect on personal wellness and impact everyone’s work and school life. Mornings may consist of frequent verbal arguments, resulting in many family members choosing to stop communicating entirely. After a long day of work or school, members of your family may be ready to fight – waiting for someone to say something negative so he or she can get into an argument. You or other members may compare yourself to other families, wondering why they seem so happy and wishing your family could be more loving and balanced.
More About Families…
Family Tension Is Very Common
We live in a rapidly changing world with many nuances to what it means to be a family. More and more families are now separated by divorce and blended by marriage. When families are separated due to parental divorce, it is common for their foundation to crack. Often, with busy and uncoordinated schedules, separated families do not allocate enough time for each parent to have a substantive role in their children’s lives and/or co-parents struggle to create consistent schedules and routines for their children.
Even when parents stay married, many family members often do not spend enough time with one another, eventually causing communication problems. For blended families with two parents who have their own children, it can be especially difficult to create a set of unified rules and guidelines for all of the children in the family.
Other problems contributing to modern family issues include a lack of time when all members of the family are home spending time with one another as well as cell phones replacing face-to-face communication. The good news, however, is that communication can improve and harmony can be restored. If your family is struggling, family counseling can help you and your family come together and find peace, balance and happiness within your home.
You Can Build Unity And Happiness Through Family Counseling
In a safe, collaborative and respectful environment, one of our experienced therapists can help you and your family identify both your family’s strengths and areas that need improvement. During family counseling sessions, solutions-focused tools and strategies can provide all members of your family with the opportunity and skills needed to effectively listen, communicate and set boundaries with one another.
One of the most effective ways to create positive change within your family is to collaboratively set expectations and family engagements together. This can include a fair list of responsibilities, scheduling weekly or monthly family planning sessions and finding time for fun family activities. We always encourage our families in therapy to save some time for a game night or a family outing that everyone can enjoy.
Each week in family counseling sessions, we typically ask all family members to talk about what they appreciate about one another as well as offering suggestions for improvements. Communication exercises such as this can help you and your family work together to find the solutions that fit everyone’s needs.
If your family’s troubles have been triggered by a recent loss, disability, transition or financial setbacks, your professional therapist can tailor-create specific strategies to aid your family in your specific situation. If you believe your family’s issues stem from parenting issues, such as a lack of communication, divorce or difficulty merging families, we can offer countless techniques for you and your partner to successfully and respectfully co-parent.
In addition to regular family counseling methods, we can provide bonding assessments for children (recommended for blended families), custody evaluations and family mediation sessions. Our therapists can also testify as expert witnesses in court cases.
There Is Hope!
Since 1994, we have helped countless families find peace in their homes. While our expert staff has a diverse set of specialties, we all have a Master’s or doctorate degree. We also all participate in continuing education in order to provide the most up-to-date techniques during family counseling sessions.
Even though issues with your family may be causing you to feel hopeless, with help, guidance, effective tools and support in place, you can take steps toward building a respectful, loving and unified household. It is possible to for all members of your family to communicate more effectively, resolve conflicts with more ease and develop stronger connections.
What is The Process Like?
We usually start sessions by addressing your immediate concerns. Our highly individualized approach prioritizes alleviating emotional pain quickly. Once we get to know you better, we can dig deeper and learn more about underlying emotional triggers that may be blocking you from enjoying your life and obtaining mental, emotional, relationship and professional success.
FAQs
I think my family could benefit from family counseling, but I still have a few questions and comments…
1. With so many schedules to coordinate, I don’t think we can find the time.
With work, school, after-school activities and other obligations, it’s understandable why scheduling time is difficult during the week. Fortunately, in addition to regular business hours, we’re also open extended hours two nights a week and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition, scheduling family time is one of the important topics we discuss during family counseling sessions. Even if it is only once a week, all families could benefit from family activities and building stronger relationships with one another.
At first, speaking to a therapist might be unsettling because you are afraid to share your deepest and strongest emotions with a stranger. However, the fact that your therapist does not know you personally can actually aide the treatment process. His or her objective point of view can lead you to a more thoughtful analysis of your situation and more effective solutions. In addition, our adult counseling sessions remain completely confidential, so you do not have to worry about anyone else knowing about your personal life.
2. Our family’s tension is caused by financial problems. We are worried about the cost of counseling.
Even though financial problems and seeking therapy may seem like a Catch-22, we take all personal insurance and are a part of the TN Cares program. Some services are available on a sliding scale with verification of income. Therapy is also an investment in your family’s future. By spending the time, energy and money now, you could save yourself the money and stress of more troubling problems later.
3. Our family has a long and detailed history. How can a stranger solve our problems better than we can?
If you attend family counseling sessions with an open mind, you will see our skills and experience in action. Our high-level professionals have helped numerous families in similar situations. While your history and current situation may be drastically different in many ways, our tailor-made strategies and tools can help you to effectively mitigate tension within your family. The solutions we offer often have life-long, positive results.
4. How do I know if I can afford counseling?
Even though financial problems and seeking therapy may seem like a Catch-22, we take all personal insurance and are a part of the TN Cares program. Some services are available on a sliding scale with verification of income. Therapy is also an investment in your family’s future. By spending the time, energy and money now, you could save yourself the money and stress of more troubling problems later.
5. The path toward a loving and respectful household starts here.
If you are ready to reconnect with your family and build unity within your home, we invite you to call us for a complimentary 20-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs and how family counseling can help with your family’s specific situation.