We all want to have a “happy family!” But, life has a way of challenging that goal for all of us:
- A child or an adolescent suffers from behavioral problems;
- A family finds itself grieving deeply because of a serious loss;
- Depression or anxiety weighs heavily on one or more of the family members;
- Abuse has entered the family system;
- Personal conflicts arise within the couple or the family;
- Divorce or separation complicates family functioning;
- Remarriage has created a stepfamily with it’s unique challenges.
These are just a few of the issues for which family therapy can help develop, restore or maintain an emotionally healthy, functional and happy family.
Whatever your family challenge may be, family therapy can improve family relationships through:
- Developing a family support system and environment;
- Creating an environment of honesty, trust and mutual respect;
- Identifying and reducing sources of stress in the family;
- Teaching communication skills that help with conflict resolution and forgiveness between family members;
- Learning how to manage the effects of a family member’s diagnosed disorder on the family functioning;
- Acknowledging how each family members’ actions impact all other individuals within the family;
- Recognizing that learning to have fun together is a helpful skill!
At “The Growing Place,” we learn lessons and skills by using games, artwork, stories, movies, sand tray and a lot of interaction. The lessons learned can benefit both the relationships within the family and every aspect of each participants life.