As a Marriage, Couple, & Family Therapist by title, I am often asked, “Do you provide individual therapy too?” The answer is “YES!” Family Therapy means that the approach to the problem – regardless of whether it is with an individual, couple, or family – is holistic and explores the context of your life. Essentially this means that all your relationships are believed to be extremely significant to how your mental health is today.
Individual therapy focuses on the emotional experience of your life. We examine how relationships, all your relationships -to self, family, friends, culture, environment, and so on- and how they have worked toward shaping who you are. By establishing an awareness of the context you live within, specifically the different systems you are a part of, a clearer perspective can be gained.
Once a clearer perspective is established, we collaboratively start creating healthier ways to relate to yourself individually, and as result to others around you. The core to all the work is the way you first relate to yourself. So yes, individuals are welcome.
YOU MAY BENEFIT FROM INDIVIDUAL THERAPY IF YOU EXPERIENCE:
- A struggle with communication and emotional expression in relationships
- The desire to have more mindful ways to relate with self and others
- A seeking to deepen your relationship and connection with nature
- Difficulty navigating life’s transitions
- Working through grief and loss
- Relief from stress, anxiety, and/or depression
- Career development
- Challenges with intimacy and those you love
Do you find it challenging to communicate with your partner? Are you struggling to be intimate? Does even the smallest conversation trigger both of you into an argument? If so, couples counseling may be for you.
Couples and marriage counseling allow for a safe place to mindfully navigate through the difficulties you are facing. Couples counseling offers an opportunity to truly listen to your partner. To better see where they are coming from while in a conversation/argument, while finding the tools to handle the emotions that come up.
COUPLES COUNSELING MAY BE FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER IF YOU SEEK TO:
- Find support for the relationship during life’s transitions into marriage, parenting, co-habitation, separation, or reconciliation.
- Learn to communicate in healthier and more mindful ways
- Deepen the level of intimacy and connection within the relationship
- Explore where the relationship is heading and establish tools for navigating this path
- Gain insight on the emotions that take place in the moment that alter the way you and your partner interact
- Re-establish connection and enjoyment in each other’s company
- Build the tools for bringing wellness and health to the couple and family system
- Reduce conflict, learn triggers, and develop strategies for navigating arguments
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Couples counseling is not just for couples who are struggling and is a great way to promote wellness to your relationship. Any couple could benefit from better communication skills, putting intention into the dynamic, or just having a few moments to connect without distraction. Building a relationship with a couples therapist can be valuable, so if times get tough, you already have an ally to lean on.
Being in a family is a lot of work! Think of a garden. There are multiple forces at play in each moment: light, water, bugs, soil, nutrient, weeds. If one part goes awry, the whole system can be compromised. However, a small change or improvement to one part can alter the course of the entire system, and lead to big change. When each part is working together, amazing possibilities appear.
A family is a living, breathing, garden that has to be attended to in the same manner as anything else that you would want to operate smoothly. When each part is a person, with a whole range of individual thoughts, feelings, and experiences, it can be hard to get everything aligned.
Family therapy can help with this. Family therapy is an invitation to be more intentional and mindful of the way your family operates together.
FAMILY THERAPY MAY BE FOR YOU IF:
- Your family is suffering from stress, conflict, loss, or grief
- There is desire to connect more intimately and deeply with family members
- There is hope to exist more harmoniously with each other
- Your family could benefit from improved communication, expression, and listening
- Your family needs help navigating life’s transitions and/or circumstances that are creating a strain
