Family Therapy & Parenting Support

Some child behavior issues stem from family dynamics and the quality of relationships between family members (parents and siblings). When, in my assessment, a child’s behavior is not the result of individual fears or losses but the ongoing difficulty in successfully navigating family relationships, I suggest family therapy as the main modality of treatment.

In family therapy, the people attending the sessions are the child and the parents, or siblings.

The most important thing in a family session is to understand everyone's needs and find ways to get those needs met.

Family Sessions with Parents

Techniques to guide the child and parents towards more positive and satisfying interactions include:

communication exercises that ensure everyone feels heard and understood
playful activities that promote positive interactions and collaboration
role playing
games

All these can be practiced at home after learning in session how to do them. The most important thing in a family session is to understand everyone’s needs and find more adaptive ways to get these needs met.

Sibling Sessions

When the main difficulty is patterns of interaction between siblings, I offer sibling sessions. These sessions bring to focus expectation, communication, and other behavior (including manipulation, aggression) that causes dissatisfaction and stress in the interactions between siblings (and of course stress to the parents who are asked to intervene on behalf of one sibling or another).

I help by identifying what needs are not being met, or are attempted to be met using poor strategies (whining, hitting, grabbing and breaking toys, name calling). Then I solicit both children’s input into other ways to meet their needs, and help them practice new ways of interacting. I also suggest to parents ways to support new ways of interaction and ways to avoid scapegoating one child and appearing to use favoritism.

Parenting Support

This is not a separate service but integrated into the individual work with the child(ren).

I strive to keep parents involved and informed about what issues are being addressed in the session (without breaking confidentiality).
I listen to parents’ concerns and offer education and techniques.
I educate parents about stages of development, what seems to be happening in the child’s nervous system and how to help the child manage their feelings.
I suggest more effective ways to respond when a child is not able to manage feelings and behavior. 
When needed, I schedule a parent-only session to cover with more detail observations and suggested interventions.

I’m also available between sessions to address concerns about behavior, crises, and urgent questions that can’t wait. Please ask me for my policies about how these in-between session updates are covered.

How Does Confidentiality Work with This Age?

For children and adolescents to feel comfortable revealing private information, they need a safe place to communicate about anything they'd like, without fear of that information leaving the room. Yet parents can feel left out and worried when they are told nothing about what happens in the room.

What I say to parents is this: without breaking confidentiality, I will tell you the general theme of what we are working on, and I will encourage the child to share with you challenges and solutions we’ve come up with. I ask young children and teens what they are willing to share with the parents and address worries about sharing any particular information. I might try to mitigate worries, but ultimately I respect the child’s decision.

What if the Parent Wants to Tell the Therapist About a Recent Issue to Address in Session?

Any information communicated about the child’s behavior, especially if it makes the child look or feel bad, should not be communicated in the presence of the child. I am available for communication to take place between sessions to revisit or re-evaluate treatment goals.

In addition, it is good to remember that sessions are not prescriptive, or decided in advance. Sessions follow the child’s lead, with therapist taking opportunities to work on treatment goals.

site icon

Booking Guidelines

How do I begin?

You can call or email to schedule a 15-minute phone consultation.

Why can’t I schedule a full session, only a phone call?

Existing clients can schedule any type of session during available hours. Prospective clients can only schedule a free 15-minute consult call. Before scheduling a first full session, I want to make sure that I am the right therapist for you. A good fit between client and the type of issues the therapist can treat is crucial to the success of treatment.

Also, during consult, I will address medical insurance. If I cannot address your therapy needs or if I do not take your insurance, I will try to find a referral for you.