Family Counseling Services in Potomac, MD.

Life can present you with difficult situations which are hard to process and move past. These challenges are not on your timeline and affect everything. Having worked in many healthcare settings, I am familiar navigating life-changing events and grief. I understand the territory of encountering loss, coping with trauma, the complexity of the medical system and living with illness. These issues can have ripple effects on your relationships, sense of self and perceptions of the world. I know how complex things can get, and I will support you during this process.

Typically, family therapy will bring the entire family together in therapy sessions. However, it may be that individuals in the family also see the therapist alone. There may also be times when individuals who are not a member of the family (such as a teacher or school counselor) participate in a therapy session with the family if their participation would be of benefit to the family. We can help your family learn how to better solve problems and how to better express thoughts and feelings. In family therapy, family members will learn about family roles and rules. Family members will examine behavior patterns and learn to identify issues that cause conflict.

We are all relational beings, living within interactive, emotional systems. How we relate to our most significant others (spouse, children, siblings, etc.) can sometimes lapse into unpleasant scripts and powerful undercurrents of action-reaction, negative group-think, and ineffective authority roles. Restoring a sense of effective functioning, wellness and harmony (shalom) within family relationships can be aided by learning and practicing new ways to empathize, communicate, and collaborate with each other. Under certain conditions, families can even benefit from video sessions or teletherapy (if more convenient and less stressful than gathering everyone at a therapist's office!)

Through family counseling, you can understand family dynamics that have impacted all of your relationships. Our families-of-origin are the training ground for our life skills. Communication skills are one example and are learned in our families; they can be relearned in therapy. Through various therapeutic approaches and techniques, I will assist you in creating a more loving and harmonious family system.

Christian counseling can benefit marriages, individuals struggling with personal issues, and families experiencing difficulties. Christian counseling is for those who want to honor God in their personal life, marriage, and family by aligning with God's truths and becoming fully reliant on God. God is our ultimate healer, and Christian counseling is one avenue that God has provided to those who need healing and life change.

In family therapy I meet with any number of family members together as a way to build understanding between family members and resolve conflicts that may exist. This tends to be a very active and dynamic interaction where each member is given the opportunity to express their views and concerns in a neutral environment. I, in turn provide feedback and help to clarify the issues.

It can be a confusing world, with families coming in many shapes and sizes. Learning how to be connected, have good relationships, and setting up an emotional and physical environment where everyone can thrive can be a big challenge. We focus on attachment; that is, nurturing a deep sense of connection and safety between family members. Connection takes being emotionally “there” for family members, and having time and activity together. Connection means feeling like “I belong, and I’m valued”. Safety can mean discussing a fair work-load balance, limit-setting on behavior, and knowing that we can count on each other.

Family therapy is indicated especially if the couple also is looking for help out of an emotionally difficult place. Family stresses can also provide stresses on each member of the couple. Through therapy, we work together to find the causes of the family stress, and then create strategies for managing the negative emotions and creating positive ones. Then we practice the strategies so that when similar stresses arise, each family member knows how to work within their family dynamic, keeping things calm.

Did you know that not everyone who claims to practice family therapy was actually trained in family therapy? It's true. Only licensed marriage and family therapists are specifically trained to deal with the complex issues that can arise in families. Not surprising - you know your own family and how complicated it can be! It takes a therapist with experience and training to know how to balance the needs and wants of each family member, all while making sure everyone is heard and understood. Add to that the difficult tasks of helping the family as a whole achieve its goals for better communication and closer relationships, and it's clear it takes a professional to make lasting changes for you.

Every individual is impacted by their family of origin in some way or another. Whenever appropriate, we believe it is important to integrate family therapy in our services to best help our clients understand patterns, resolve conflict, and communicate more effectively . Incorporating family members, such as parents, spouses, or children is essential for a client to maintain progress within their family environment.

I would say that about 25% of my coaching is in the family scope. This area sometimes takes the most time. It has so many fascist. I ask each party for the one "big" problem and we start at that point. Resolving one step at a time. In any area of the home, there is commonly layers of bad thinking that brings things people to the edge. In the past I did testing, but I have found by the 38 years of history that you and I must get in the middle of the "stuff". Testing can really be a cop-out for the lack of experience in a field.

Sometimes family members find it very difficult to communicate with each other. Adolescents may offer challenges that the family finds overwhelming. Parents may be sandwiched between grandparents and their children. One member of the family may have a mental illness that causes a lot of stress. There are many reasons why a family requests family therapy. This therapy may be short term. It can include all members of the family or some members of the family. I help the family develop skills they can use to improve relationships and move through stressful times.

Stanley Tamale offers family counseling to help address issues with relationships. Family history and dynamics can often bring about many challenges in relationships. Often we are caught unaware of how our own backgrounds and projections can impact family relationship. Stanley Tamale offers family counseling to help with communication and education how family dynamics play a in conflict and strained relationships withing families.

Whether it is mother/daughter conflict, father/son, struggles, or the whole family, the dynamics are often wrought with underlying emotions that need to be addressed. Rather than therapy for the child alone, often having the entire family meet takes the role of "identified patient" off anyone, and emotional knots can begin to loosen and be untied. I use role play, in addition to talk therapy, to engender greater empathy. When there are unhealthy "triangles," new structures are put in place so that clear communication can flow between members.

As you learn more about yourselves as a family, you will also begin to better understand yourselves as individuals and a collective unit. You can identify your own needs and learn how to express them more honestly and respectfully. You can become a stronger and happier family, while increasing understanding and love for your family. Although you may be feeling hopeless right now, with guided support and a willingness to change, itis possible to re-build your family dynamics and have it be even better than it was before.

Our team of therapists can help you face your specific family issues and tailor a treatment plan specifically for you. Our team of counselors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, so we're confident we can find you help that's best suited for your unique challenges and goals. Working with us, you'll get results. Please don't wait, we're ready to help you today.

As a new mom myself, I know how challenging the adjustment to parenthood can be. No matter the age of your children, family therapy is a helpful way for each member to express their concerns and learn to work together toward common goals. Parents will leave feeling more united as a team, and children/teens will leave feeling understood and loved. Family therapy is also beneficial for siblings and extended relatives.

Have any of your family members recently graduated from high school or college? I provide career counseling and coaching to young adults that may need guidance to get them on the right career path. Or they may feel stuck and as a parent we don't always know how to help them. Feel free to reach out and contact me to learn more. I always provide a free phone consult.

When I see the family, I ask each one how they view the situation and how it affects them and the whole family. With parenting issues, I will see the child or teen alone and then the parents. I teach parents ways of listening to each other and understanding where each one is coming from. Once they validate each other, I help them problem solve using possible strategies with their child or young adult. These strategies will depend on the issue whether their child is experiencing symptoms of hyperactivity, addictions, learning processing difficulties, acting out in a new blended family, etc. Then I bring the family together for the parents to set limits on the child or young adult.

Ashburn Psychological Services therapists and counselors offer a variety approaches to family therapy including: family systems therapy, interpersonal therapy, psychodynamic therapy, relationship education, etc. Often families come to therapy with an identified problem for one or more family member. Typical problems include divorce, remarriage, step parenting and blended family struggles, alcoholism/substance use, death or a medical illness or condition. At other times, the presenting problem has more to do with personality or communication issues for certain family members that can be addressed and worked on in treatment over time. We at Ashburn Psychological Services are here to help.

Parents and teenagers must navigate a difficult process as the teenager begins to separate from the parents and form his or her separate identity. I work with both parents and teenagers to help in this process in terms of developing strategies for communication, conflict resolution and ways to begin connecting more effectively. I help both the teenager and the parent find ways to better understand and to develop greater tolerance for one another. More than any other developmental stage, the teenage years necessitate that parents alter their typical ways of parenting, become more flexible, more patient, more emotionally attentive.

In addition to marriage counseling, I have also helped with parenting issues, relationships between aging parents and their adult children, as well as between twins (I'm a twin). I see family conflict as normal and inevitable part of a growing and changing family. The key is how we communicate and resolve our tensions. Using Bowen family systems and emotionally-focused family therapy, I facilitate safe and open communication while being sensitive to the family hierarchy.

A family is a living organism, and when one member is in pain or confusion the whole family unit is part of that pain or confusion--sometimes as part of the cause, and always as a potential part of the cure. I offer families help in seeing how family members may contribute to each other's suffering and, more importantly, how they can help each other reduce the suffering.

Robyn began her career working with at-risk youth. She has worked extensively with older children and adolescents. Her approach goes beyond behavioral interventions and resolving negative school performance. Robyn believes the key to successful adolescent therapy is tapping into the strengths of the family system and helping the youth and each family member to grow and thrive as individuals and as a cohesive unit. Robyn's approach to adolescent therapy unites and coheres the family.

Are you and your spouse at odds as to how raise children? Are there power struggles in the home; Children vs. Parents? Families are more than groups of people who share the same address and genes. Although conflicts occasionally arise, a family should be a source of Christian love and support. My objective is to counsel family members on how to strengthen the family with characteristics of a Christian home; love, joy, peace, patience...fruits of the Spirit. Counseling may include all family members, or just those able or willing to participate. Single parents are encouraged. I look forward to working with you, and applaud you for taking the first step towards a peaceful coexistence!