Family Counseling Services in La Riviera, CA.

“I work to help families understand and communicate with each other better. I help them uncover the complex and varied realities that impact them while moving them to a better and healthier relationship.” I have a passion for working with all ages, races, cultures and orientations. I incorporate mindfulness techniques, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and methods by Satir and Minuchin into my sessions. My goal is to help individuals, couples, and families to regain healthier ways of communicating and the ability to live with themselves as well as each other.

When working with children and youth, the therapist cannot ignore the family system in which the child lives. I work with parents in multiple ways to help support youth in treatment, which may include separate parent sessions, co-parenting sessions, systemic family therapy, or Filial Therapy, a play therapy practice that coaches and guides parents in special play sessions with their child to decrease unwanted behaviors, improve relationships and communication, increase the child's emotional vocabulary, and increase the child's self-esteem.

I believe that as we grow up we are shaped by our relationships; this starts from the time we are little and continues for the rest of our lives. Through these relationships we are also shaped by society. In being shaped we create various meaning from our experiences as well as receiving and giving instructions on how to live. When we form new relationships of any kind, this gets challenged; coming together and finding a path forward that celebrates all involved is the key to success.

Involving the family members in therapy can be extremely helpful in dealing with issues such as anger, co-parenting, and addiction. I also work with adolescents and their parents by bringing them together into sessions so that everyone can be heard in a supportive setting. Family members who have different communication styles can benefit from being in a therapeutic setting so that all voices can be heard and understood.

I love working with families! I know that it is important for each family member to feel seen, heard, and included. I can help families create healthy boundaries with each other and work through parent-child and sibling problems. I also help families improve their communication and work through divorce, the loss of a fmaily member, and changes or transitions that occur and through family members off-balannce.

I specialize in online parent coaching with the goal of helping you and your family have a closer more intimate relationship. After 11 years of working with children and families, I have concluded that this is the most effective way I can support families because you parents are the leaders of your home. If I can empower you through my knowledge and experience to implement some strategies at home, you can achieve your goals for your family. The support I provide will be sufficient for many families, but there are some situations that could benefit from the in-vivo coaching and direction that in person family therapy provides. Call me for a free 15 minute consultation about your needs

The family is a unit, a system of sorts. When one member of the system is struggling, the whole system is impacted. While it is always helpful to enlist counseling support for the member of the family that is in crisis, it is also important to bring the entire family together to help heal and strengthen the system. Family counseling helps to improve communication and conflict resolution skills in the family unit. This helps to increase feelings of intimacy and connectedness among members of the family. It is also helpful for families navigating transitions in their life i.e. a move, death of a grandparent, child leaving home, divorce, etc..

Let me guess. One partner feels alone and like they don't matter and the other feels they are always being criticized and can't get anything right. The more one asks for the other to show up, the more the partner disappears physically and emotionally. You both bicker and fight and the idea of sitting and just hanging out seems elusive, if not impossible. Something like this? Often we crave connection but are blocked by the pain and the history that gets in the way. Small fights about little things become battles that highlight our struggle to have our basic relational needs met. I can help you get under the bickering to the parts crying out for connection- to an enriching relationship.

Family therapy looks at the entire family system—parents, children, extended family members—to identify strengths and problematic behaviours. I collaborate with families on strategies for utilizing their own capabilities for resolving problems, and on developing effective communication and problem-solving skills for preventing conflicts. I specialize in working with families of teenagers, which is an age that can be challenging for both the teenagers and their parents.

I use a family systems approach in my therapy, so having family members in the room, in my opinion, is the most efficient route towards healing and growth in individuals. I encourage clients to address relationships that are causing distress in their lives and work towards healthy differentiation of self. This can be done in individual therapy as well, but is more effective when all members of the relationship are present.

Family therapists are trained to look at family dynamics and to work on relationships, treating the family as a whole instead of each individual separately. We know that a family can be a wonderful source of healing, but it can also be a tremendous source of pain. Healthy relationships take a lot of work. It’s not always easy to share our lives, so family therapy aims to help build strong and satisfying relationships. Family plays a role in who we individually are and it can adapt and build resiliency by showing support, understanding, connecting, and finding new ways of relating. Family therapy allows the family to connect in moments of pain and explore new family roles and behavior.

Imagine a family as a tree with branches, roots, trunk representing parts of the immediate and extended family. When working with families, all elements are considered. Usually there is a request for family therapy due to one of it's members in crisis, often a child. However, when an analysis of need is done it becomes apparent that more than one member of the family needs help in adjusting, growing and learning new behaviours. Clients contact me for a variety of reasons: to improve communications, solve family problems, support in special situations such as death, divorce, marriage, illness, child or adolescent issues.

A family is like a mobile, it takes balance to make it work well. Balance with work and play, balance with parents and children's needs, talking and listening (that is a biggie). We all need to be heard even if we do not agree with another person. Parents need to have consequences when the kids do not follow the rules of the home. Without consequences the kids keep repeating the same things. Children need eye contact from their parents. There are simple helps like these that will make a beautiful difference in your family life.

I work within a family framework, but I do not treat families as part of traditional "family therapy." This means that if you are a parent and you struggle with your child's behavior, I can help you learn techniques to manage the behavior better. I have extensive experience working with parents of children with autism and other mental health disorders that can make parenting extremely challenging. There is no shame in asking for support. I can help with creating a parenting plan, I can help with co-parenting after divorce, and I can help parents who care for their own aging relatives. We truly live in the "sandwich generation" where family can grow far.

When there are challenges in parenting, teens acting out, blended families trying to become a joint unit, and other conflicts; family therapy can help. All persons are invited into the therapy office to solve problems, open up communication, and develop new patterns of relating that work. If you're looking for new solutions to the troubles in your family, don't wait, there is help available.

Most family therapists inadvertently create more chaos through their well-intentioned efforts to assist a family move through a change process. Why? Brains are inherently deregulated (all of us, may I add) and most talking and dialoguing misses brain-centric problems that need more intensive help. Many times the emotional trauma created by years of solving problems ineffectively can wreak havoc on the brain's parasympathetic nervous system, not ever giving the family a break from flight or fight thinking. Contact us for an innovative neuroscience solution to family dysfunction. Kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

Families engaging in therapy with me will find a compassionate and strong leader who understands the profound stress that family conflicts and perpetual problems can create. My approach is centered on guiding families through their tensions and difficulties, providing a structured and supportive environment where each member feels heard and valued. By focusing on your family's unique dynamics and challenges, I facilitate open communication and collaboration, leading to practical and lasting solutions. Clients will leave with a renewed sense of connection and the tools to foster a more harmonious family life, turning seemingly insurmountable problems into opportunities for growth.