Family Counseling Services in Woodlawn, MD.

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.

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!)

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.

Family relationships are hard and demanding and frustrating. We strive for peace and harmony in our homes and often find ourselves angry, in tears and feeling powerless. I work with nuclear families, blended families and adoptive families who are living in chaos. I educate parents on setting appropriate limits and boundaries and STICKING TO THEM while also teaching kids how to have respect, follow rules as well as having an appropriate voice and getting their needs met. You WILL see positive results; bringing structure and balance into the home is the bare minimum you will experience, when you find yourselves laughing together as a family, you will know you have arrived.

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.

I primarily work with families who have been impacted by chronic health or medical conditions. Managing the burden of a medical condition can be overwhelming at times, and it can have an impact on the whole family. The families I work with benefit from parent support, increasing confidence in the medical setting, and improving interactions around symptoms. This work results in an overall improvement in quality of life not just for the person who has the medical condition, but for the family as a whole.

Helping families work through difficult struggles in which family members are stuck in unhealthy patterns, Carol Corcoran, Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist can help the family regain connection and stability. She works with the family together then meets with different subsystems utilizing a well researched approach called Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, based on Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. This is an approach that helps family members feel more attached and safe with one another. To learn more go to http://www.creatinghealthyconnections.com/newsite/families.html