Family Therapy
Families often seek family therapy during times of transition, challenging behavior, or new developmental phases.
As a parent, perhaps you are recognizing intergenerational patterns of parenting you'd like to change that are leading to misunderstanding, helplessness, frustration, or reactivity. You'd like to forge a new path with your own children and break free of old habits. We view the whole family as the “patient,” not one family member.
We work with patients of all ages. When working with children and teens, we ask that parents be highly involved. You are the most important, influential relationship in your child’s life. When one member of the family is struggling, the whole family struggles; when one member of the family makes changes, the whole family changes.
Complex families are welcome at Greenlake Psychology. Perhaps you are experiencing a high-conflict divorce, have years of longstanding resentment with adult children, or have a family history of abuse or estrangement. Family therapy can be more time-efficient and cost-effective by addressing issues with multiple family members at once.
Issues We Treat in Family Therapy:
Family estrangement
High-conflict divorce
Sibling rivalry
Parent-child conflict
Mismatch in parenting styles
Child defiance or acting out
Internalizing behaviors such as withdrawal, anxiety, depression, and perfectionism
Behaviors related to neurodivergence (autism/ADHD), such as meltdowns, aggression, or rigidity
Family grief
Breaking the cycle of multigenerational patterns of trauma or abuse
When providing family counseling, we see your family as the patient, not one individual.
We are not looking for one person to “blame” for the family’s problems, because we don’t believe that one person is responsible for an entire family pattern. Families are interconnected systems, and even small shifts can spark meaningful growth for everyone.
We use the metaphor of a mobile hanging above a baby’s crib to understand your family dynamics. When one object on a mobile is pulled, for example, a little animal, every other animal connected to the mobile is also affected. Each animal works together with the others so the mobile can rebalance and find its equilibrium. The pull to maintain family cohesion is strong.
Families are connected - when something happens to one family member, it sends ripple effects throughout the family system. This connectedness also means that each family member is affected when healing occurs.
