Family Counseling Services in Prospect Heights, IL.

Kari Hunter is a licensed family therapist with over 25 years of experience. Whether your family has young children, teens, or adult children, Kari has worked with all types of problems. Families can benefit from family therapy when there is school performance problems, sibling rivalry, divorce or re-marriage transitions, or parenting differences. In many cases, insurance covers family therapy.

Family therapy is incredibly helpful for families experiencing stress, discord, arguments, grief and loss, as well as other life transitions. I provide family sessions for families who wish to process certain experiences, learn about patterns, and support one another through a difficult time. I allow each family member become understood as an individual as well as their role within the family dynamic/system, while we collaborate in finding effective solutions.

My goal in working with couples and families is to restore hope and a love to battered relationships. I believe in using a mix of practical assessment skills, creativity and humor with a genuine commitment to marriage and families. In addition, I lovingly challenge individuals to look at themselves and identify what is holding them back from fully loving each other. I offer dynamic and powerful trainings and assessments that will propel families and couples forward more quickly. My heart is to help couples and parents once again experience grace to see their loved ones the way God does.

In my family therapy approach, I focus on fostering open communication and understanding within the family unit. By creating a safe space, I encourage each member to express their feelings and perspectives without judgment. Utilizing techniques such as systemic exploration and narrative therapy, I help families identify underlying patterns, conflicts, and strengths. Together, we work towards resolving conflicts, improving relationships, and establishing healthier dynamics, empowering families to navigate challenges and thrive.

Does it seem like your family is just off? or maybe like one person is to blame? Sometimes, the adults think that a child is root cause of an issue, but many times they may be the symptom to a bigger family issue. Many times I work with kids whose behaviors have escalated, and parents are looking for support. I then walk alongside them and the child to help identify the symptoms, the underlying issues as a family, and work towards living a more fulfilling life. Most times youth learn new ways to cope, as well as parents learning to decipher the codes that kids are trying to tell us. Call me for a free phone consultation and I'll help you assess if family therapy is right for you!

The family is a very important and formative group in society and the magnitude of the effects of family dynamics cannot go ignored. We look at the individual roles that each member plays in the family unit and we strive for every voice to be heard. We set family therapy rules, so that we can provide a respectful place to process family concerns, trauma, and other past situations.

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.

In family therapy I treat the dynamic of the relationship between family members. We all have a deep need to belong and feel accepted by others. This starts in our family of origin. If things are preventing us from feeling accepted by our families we seek other places to feel that connection. By helping each person feel heard, understood and accepted by their family members we can create significant change.

I'm a family man myself in a long term marriage where we raised two sons and now we're grandparents. I've " been there, done that" on so many family issues where respectfully resolving differences and conflict is needed for family growth. As a professional family therapist I enjoy helping families grow to enjoy themselves more fully. My approach is open, conversational, andgoal oriented. I work with families of older teens, young adults, families dealing with elder issues and with family businesses. I also see young families where the couple, the parents, need to find a new life pattern incorporating raising young children and while still enjoying their life as friends and lovers.

My greatest desire and joy is to meet with families who want to learn how to communicate better in the home, to listen to each other, respect each other and in short, to get along well. I counsel from my belief that the mother and father are the leaders of their family. However, I treat each individual family member with the respect they deserve, and by listening to and addressing each family member's issues within the family. I used Person-Centered, Family Systems and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in working with families, because I believe these counseling theories work best in the 'real world' where families really live, dealing with REAL problems in getting along with each other.

Life is complicated. It is hard to create and maintain healthy relationships with those we love the most. There are many different thoughts and feelings, from the past and present, that exist in all of our interactions with one another. It isn’t always simple, whether we are trying to effectively communicate feelings, establish rules for the household, navigate the waters of intimacy, guide our children toward a successful future or simply attempting to provide a healthy meal while working, studying, and cleaning. The world and our family lives are increasingly more complex. Though we all have the tools within ourselves and within our relationships to create thelives we want. Through our psychotherapy approaches whether parenting coaching, couples or...(view profile to read more)

Family therapy is complex nowadays exacerbated by high divorce rates and blended families. There's an necessary built-in awareness and empathy that has to exist in order to help these families. It requires more than knowledge and understanding, but rather an ability to read, interpret and redirect not one individual but an entire group of individuals who are invested in each other and needing insight, guidance and intervention. Not easy. Family Systems theory drives my work in this realm. It's all about the relationship and the impact each person has on the other. I've been trained in Gottman Couples Therapy - a leading expert in this area.

Is your family dealing with a major life transition, such as divorce or death of a loved one? Or is one family member dealing with something that is impacting the whole family? Family therapy is a very effective way of helping with either of these situations. When you see me for family therapy, we will create a plan together to help your unique situation through improving communication, problem-solving, and coping skills. Give me a call today for a free consultation and we can put together a preliminary plan over the telephone.