Family Counseling – Is it right for you and yours?
Family Counseling is a specific kind of counseling that focuses on helping families improve their relationships with one another and get along. It’s different from individual counseling in that the counseling often involves one or more people from a family at time, and that individual problems are seen in the context of family’s that are experiencing some problems.
3 Things Family Counseling can Help with:
- Improving your family’s ability solve problems together, and express thoughts and feelings appropriately.
- Explore family roles, and behavior patterns that lead to conflict, and make changes to help the family get along
- Identify your family strengths—like being there for one another, and weaknesses like difficulty talking about your feelings with one another.
Parents are such an important part of children’s therapy. Because of this at Kalamazoo Child and Family Counseling, we believe that to some degree all child therapy is family therapy, because we know that parents can be the greatest healers in children’s lives.
Family therapy is built off the belief that individuals in a family are connected, and important to one another. Additionally, when one person in the family is struggling there is a direct impact on the rest of the family. This is especially true for challenging children and frustrated parents.
Questions to ask yourself if you’re considering counseling for your family:
- Am I happy with the relationships that I have with my spouse or children?
- Does my family enjoy spending time with one another?
- Is there frequent conflict between family members that gets in the way of us enjoying one another (fighting)?
- Was there a big or sudden change in the family?
- Am I happy with how my spouse and I co-parent?
Reflecting on whether or not therapy is right for your family is important, and may take some time. If you’re wondering if family therapy is right for your family please contact us. Kalamazoo Child and Family Counseling is passionate about helping parents and children get along.
Jeff LaPonsie LMSW
Jeff LaPonsie is a clinical social worker at Kalamazoo Child and Family Counseling, PLLC. He provides counseling to children and families in the Kalamazoo, Portage, and South West Michigan area. He is passionate about helping challenging children and frustrated parents. Jeff has over seven years of experience working with at risk youth. His clinical expertise includes working with children with behavioral, anxiety, attachment and trauma related disorders.