Family Conflict

Family conflict is something that happens in every single family. Seriously, it does! You're not alone! Conflict in any type of system is going to occur naturally, whether that's due to change, or something traumatic happening. It is important to hear each member of the family on their feelings and experiences, while teaching new ways of interacting within the family that can cope with the new change or event. Change can be uncomfortable, but it is so worth it.

I work with families to heal from past hurts and improve ways to communicate that build understanding and closer relationships.

One of my main clinical interests is working with adults that grew up with substance abuse in the home. Being the child of someone that struggles with substance abuse comes with complex emotions, experiences, and pain. No matter what your relationship with you parent is now, I'd love to help you process the past or present experience of loving someone with substance use disorder.

I believe we are hardwired to seek affirming and intimate bonds with others. Conflict with parents, partners, children, siblings, and extended family can cause significant stress and unhappiness. I can assist in developing communication skills, healthy boundaries, conflict resolution techniques, and relationship scripts. The goal is to establish relationships with others that are fulfilling and allow for personal growth.

I am fascinated by families and I always have been. It was the first therapy that I started practicing as a clinician. Families are incredibly complex. The tendency of a family system is to maintain homeostasis, in other words, resist change. The trouble with this is that the systems surrounding the family are always changing, as are the individuals in the family. I can help your family adapt to changing roles, rules and challenges.

Drawing from 15+ years of experience, I've honed my expertise in anxiety. My approach involves identifying root causes, collaboratively crafting effective coping strategies, and empowering individuals to regain control over their lives. I'm committed to guiding you towards a calmer and more fulfilling journey.

The family unit may experience significant stress because of work, school, or the personality differences of various family members. In addition, as children grow and enter new phases in their lives, parents and children may need help in a safe environment to explore ways of coping with these changes. Our clinicians work with families and/or with a parent and a child to help them learn how to navigate transitions, communicate effectively, and develop an empathic, secure connection.

Throughout life, it's common for our own cultures to diverge from the cultures that were given to us by our families. And often, this process can be accompanied by pain in the relationship. If you are feeling lost about how to happily and peacefully exist in your family system, we can work through it together in therapy.

Family conflict is one of the most unique areas of therapeutic work. By taking a relational look at family conflict, I help families learn what one another is really feeling and meaning in their words and actions. By giving each member a voice, I help heal the family structure and unit.

Conflict happens when people who love each other miscommunicate. Couples and family therapy can help you strengthen your relationship by understanding conflict patterns and learning new skills.

You can strengthen your family ties by understanding conflict patterns and how to deal with them successfully. Often there are definite patterns that happen over and over. Once we have a good understanding of these sequences, we can figure out how to change them. Sometimes a pattern happening today is related to past traumas, which can be faced and overcome. Ultimately you will find yourself giving and receiving the love you always wanted in your life.

Intimate relationships that are not safe, trusting or respectful make it difficult to maintain your sense of feeling valued. Any compulsion, addiction, or dysfunction in the family, when the focus is on one member affects all. It may be a serious illness, recent death, or huge life stressor that creates upheaval and discord in the family. This can result in estrangement, bickering, loneliness, and isolation. Healing is possible and often can help develop stronger bonds.

I am trained in Family Systems theories which explores dynamics of families of origin-the spoken/unspoken rules, roles, secrets, and relationship patterns. Some examples of rules could be: don't express emotions, don't talk about family problems, don't talk about a parent's alcohol abuse problem. Perhaps parents were mostly good and provided a safe home, but emotional connection wasn't present. We explore how these various dynamics affect us throughout life and seek to bring healing as adults.

Inner child work may help those experiencing interpersonal conflict. Inner child work helps explore unprocessed childhood emotions and feelings that currently impact one’s life and understanding, managing, and/or reducing triggers. One desire for inner child work may be to identify wounded areas and/or unmet needs of the child, learn to advocate, protect, or show compassion for the child, create a safe enough space to invite the child to play, and integrate the child with the adult self.

I have a lot of experience helping families increase their ability to communicate and feel a greater degree of connection. Often, once we understand and acknowledge the valid places our feelings are coming from, this enables the conversation to turn from conflict to communication. Everyone has a role to play and some valuable to bring to the table. My role is to help build on the connection that is already there