Family Counseling Services in Woodcrest, CA.

Family counseling is helpful with problems setting limits with children, dealing with grief, divorce, loss that can cause behavior problems, school issues, or family problems. Sometimes parents want help with boundaries for teenagers with anger issues, reblelliousness or entitlement problems. In some cases family therapy involves young adults who need support building an indepentent lifestyle and recovery from drugs or alcohol. Family therapy helps you learn how to help without enabling!

Who doesn’t sometimes experience family problems? Family therapy effectively addresses issues that arise as a family grows and changes. Whether it’s balancing work and school demands, finding quality time, solving problems, setting boundaries, or blending a family, I help families develop the tools and techniques that will create a positive and healthy home environment. I help families handle challenges great and small, with humor, insight, and caring. With adult children and having been married for more than thirty years, I bring both professional and personal experience, which creates a unique caring environment. I can be contacted at 949.370.4726 or at info@southoccounseling.com.

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.

As someone trained in family therapy, I see each family member as part of a team. Sometimes, one member is in pain and acting out. The whole family will then feel the effect. I love my work with families to help them get unstuck and see the growth. For the children / teens, family counseling can help sort through the acting out (or acting in sometimes) and help them more appropriately express their needs and wants. I can help!

Most of the time, families search out treatment or guidance when there is strife among themselves or in shared conditions, reports Health Psych. While the goal of family counseling treatment eventually tries to fix harmed connections, there are sure-shot techniques that are as often not utilized to arrive at the endgame above effectively. Family therapy or family counseling is designed to address specific issues that affect the psychological health of the family, such as major life transitions or mental health conditions. It may be used as the primary mode of treatment or as a complementary approach.

In today’s culture, having children derived from more than one relationship is common. Divorce and remarriage can lead to a complex view of what is family. With these complexities come pressure, confusion, frustration, anxiety, and depression. These emotions can be experienced by any part of the family; the children, the father(s), or the mother(s) or even with extended family like the grandparents. Often these emotions are advanced as the lines of connection and boundaries are blurred or misunderstood. Counseling can help you to discover the importance of boundaries, understand the need for healthy relationships, and find balance.

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.

Said one grieving mother, "Being estranged from your children and grandchildren is harder than surviving suicide. It's like experiencing a funeral, but they are not dead." Said another, "Many of my friends are excitedly anticipating visits from their relatives. They are shopping for them, planning meals and activities. I am truly happy for them. I want the same for myself, but I can't have it..." I work with parents and their adult children who have become estranged. My goal is to bring about reconciliation. If you have a need in this area, please feel free to call me to discuss your situation.

Family therapy techniques teach and coach members of a family unit to address family conflicts by improving the communication and interaction of family members. There are numerous family therapy techniques, but four main models dominate the spectrum. The main therapy family techniques: structural, Bowenian, strategic and systematic. All provide an environment to increase communication and an empathic understanding of the emotions of family members. Our initial assessments determines the technique that the therapist feels best to increase positive interactions within the family unit. During sessions we provide an environment that is safe and non-judgmental, allowing free expressions.

I specialize in helping families find harmony within the home. I have extensive experience working with individuals, couples, families, and children of all ages. Whether you are dealing with a family conflict, a difficult transition, or a new challenge, I am here to help. My practice focuses on providing a safe and supportive environment for all family members. I will work with you to identify the underlying causes of the conflict and develop strategies for improving family relationships. I believe that all family dynamics are unique and strive to provide each family with the attention and care they need.

Dr. Laura Adams is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Psychoanalyst in South Orange County CA. Dr. Adams has extensive experience working with couples, individuals and families dealing with communication problelms, anger, teenager issues, blended families, and gay/ lesbian issues. For an appointment please go to www.SouthOCTherapist.com or call Dr. Laura directly at (949) 244-1992

Sometimes family members just can't seem to get along. Parents and children may experience a heightened amount of conflict turning the teen years; one parent may be too enmeshed with the kids, leaving the other one out; brothers and sisters may fight; new families don't blend as expected. Whatever the issue, family counseling can surely help. I will meet you all and examine each persons ability to solve problems and express thoughts and emotions. Together, we will work towards identifying the family's strengths and weaknesses in effort to overcome unhealthy ways of relating to each other. We will work towards improving communication and resolving conflicts in effort to bring you closer.

I am a registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern and am completing a Ph.D. in Marital and Family Therapy. I focus on building stronger relationship attachments by helping you communicate emotions. I have advanced training in experiential approaches to family therapy (Gestalt therapy and emotionally-focused therapy)--this just means I help facilitate greater emotional contact between family members.

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.

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

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.

I offer a balanced approach which gives a voice to each member of your family unit. Validating individual concerns while promoting inter-familial harmony is my specialty when it comes to counseling troubled families. I will teach you and your family how to communicate in productive ways, how to set healthy boundaries with one another and how to respect your differences in an atmosphere of love and understanding.