Family Counselling Services in Streetsville, ON.

Family dynamics hold the key to many life experiences, both wonderful and terrible. We are deeply cellularly drawn to "work out" our family struggles. Some voices get heard and some get lost. There is often an "identified" difficult person who may be holding the tension for the whole family. Improving communication can be transformative in improving feeling of safety and connection. A family therapy session can reveal and relieve difficult dynamics that may be adding to daily stress and unhappiness. These sessions can take place in your own home as well as in my office.

All families are unique. I work with any configuration of a family system (intergenerational, siblings, one parent, same- sex parents). My approach to therapy is to promote enhancement of individuals' strengths and family resources (support systems, membership in the community). I assist each member of the family identify changes they desire for the family and explore positive solutions for change between members. It is my hope that in the end all members feel more connected and stronger as a whole while participating positively in family life and the community. Allow me to be instrumental in guiding your family to a place of hope, healing and renewal.

As a specially trained family therapist, I can work with all members of your family, including children and adolescents. I work together with parents, recognizing your expertise in the lives of your own children. My goal is to strengthen that expertise and restore your relationships to a balanced state. I offer young people a relaxed environment and a variety of ways to express themselves including art, writing, and play.

The relationships in your family can often bring you love, joy, and a sense of fulfillment. But when things aren't going well, your relationships can be exhausting and painful. Family therapy provides a safe and fair space for all of you to be heard, and can help you discover and process the root of the issue. Family therapy is hard work, but when all individuals are willing to put the work in, great things can happen.

Conflict and other issues often challenge the integrity of the family. Poor communication can be one of the main contributors. Many families give up unnecessarily, leaving minimal or even no contact between family members. Family therapy can help individuals understand the root of the dysfunction and open respectful lines of communication presenting the potential for healthy family relationships. Learning to let go of the past, healthy communication and conflict resolution can often lay the foundation to build a solid future of healthy relationships.

The issues your family faces are our focus. Lack of communication, misunderstanding, sibling conflict, or child development issues can affect the whole family. Families can enhance communication and resolve issues through family counselling. Family counselling helps families communicate and understand each other, making conflict resolution easy. Counselling sessions enable individuals to communicate and resolve disputes while respecting everyone's opinions. Family therapy may accompany individual treatment. The goal is to improve communication, conflict resolution, and relationships. Each family is unique, and one member's problems can affect everyone.

Family relationships are complex and are oftentimes impacted by various events, life transitions, and societal shifts. I believe that every family is unique and that your efforts to navigate challenges are valid and purposeful. As a family therapist, my aim is to help you strengthen your relationships with one another and to support you in finding a balance between your individual and family needs. I also help you to identify possible areas of stuckness and conflict as well as strengths and resources, so that together, we can create hoped-for solutions. Contact me or book a free consultation if you wish to learn more.

My overarching goal in family therapy is to help families overcome challenges, improve communication, and build stronger, more supportive relationships. Children and parents alike are heard and validated, in an environment that fosters honesty and safety. The specific approach used is eclectic and will depend on the unique needs and circumstances of each family.

Family issues can make you stuck in unhelpful patterns of interaction. Sometimes it is hard for families to deal with these issues on their own because emotions are high and perspectives can be so different. It can be helpful to seek support from an objective therapist. I can help you look beyond your individual hurt and anger so that you can find the root of your issues and work collectively toward your shared goal of mending and understanding each other.

Family therapy often benefits from a client-centered approach. Throughout our sessions, we will focus on communication and the openness to share one’s feelings honestly. Using exercises, we will work on improving communication, listening skills and emotional honesty. The use of behavior therapy may also be incorporated where we seek to recognize and change destructive behavior patterns. Use of these approaches encourages families to engage in healthy communication styles and break habitual cycles of unhealthy behaviors.

All families are the same and all families are different. Therapy is based on the family as an organised social unit that goes through phases of gradual but emotionally-charged change. Roles and functions often collide with personal needs and changing individual needs and hormonal behaviours that will clash with parenting styles triggering power struggles. Family dynamics must find a way to balance the conflicting childrens' needs to assert distinct identities while integrating conflicting parental values. Family therapy is difficult but growth-inducing for all but I find it helpful to see individuals separately for them to express ideas and feelings freely as it helps with communication.

Families are complex systems of relationships between parents, children, siblings, and extended family members. Each family member’s experience can influence the family dynamic. In family counselling, you can learn to recognize your role and significance in the family as well as the role and significance of other family members. Family counselling can help you understand how each member is contributing to the problems and what needs to change in order to restore balance and create a new and healthier family system.

Our relationships with our family are some of the most complex relationships of our lives. Being able to communicate our needs and feelings with our loved ones is crucial to our well-being and is an essential part of a successful parent/child relationship. Over time, families co-create a language and ways of interacting and being. However, as we enter times of stress and change, and our children grow, we start to develop independent languages that cause us to feel unheard, and invalidated. Sessions will allow you to be intentional about sharing with each other and provide a safe place to open up, repair hurts, and relearn each other's language.

There can be moments where there is a disconnect within your family. This can feel isolating and it may feel like you aren't being heard/understood. In family counselling, we will create a safe environment where all members are able to express their emotions/feelings. We will work together to foster healthier communication by introducing new skills and strategies.

Our Emotionally Focused counselling approach revolutionizes family therapy, fostering secure attachment, emotional healing, and effective communication. By addressing underlying emotions and patterns, we create a safe space for families to express themselves authentically, leading to improved well-being. Our sessions empower families with practical tools to navigate conflicts, strengthening bonds and creating lasting positive change. Family members will be able to express their needs, listen actively, and validate each other's experiences. By enhancing communication patterns, families can better navigate conflicts and collaborate on finding solutions, creating a harmonious environment.

I often find that dealing with mental health and addiction issues is not possible unless we deal with the structural issues of the family. I use a family systems approach where relationships are seen as two-way and reciprocal. It's not about who did what, it's about our relationship skills and ability to manage having a family. It's about being healthy rather than being right. Sometimes you need to make a strong move in order to get the whole family system to shift. Let's figure what to do together as it is often too difficult to handle alone.

Family therapy is a unique opportunity for loved ones to come together, listen to one another, and navigate challenges. Are you a parent wanting to support your young child or teenager through a challenging transition? Are you an adult child wanting to reconnect with your parent or a parent wanting to reconnect with your adult child? Or are you a family processing a new event, like blending your family, a divorce, or a change in lifestyle? As a family therapist, I am here to ensure that everyone’s voice and opinions are heard, so that you can navigate your goals in your most authentic and preferred way. Connect with me today for a free consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Communication.empathy and forgiveness work are a primary focus in family therapy with me. We work with many modalities including Traditional talk therapy: Giving space for the family to explore and express feelings, own awareness’s, transform thoughts, grieve, vent, and neutralize guilt, anger and fear. New understandings and thus new neural pathways and patterns begin to form. This is a profoundly transformational set of tools that can bring families to stronger places of connection and union.

Therapy can provide a safe environment for families that seek to repair their relationships. The problems generally stem from a much earlier time, when it was hard for family members to understand the nature of their conflict. Each person often has felt hurt and misunderstood, and these feelings have perpetuated over time. My approach is to encourage dialogue between them to help them understand the dynamics that have prevented a fulfilling relationship. I also try to establish the positive intentions of the work they are about to do. Therapy is intended to give them insight into what went wrong and how to repair the relationship while working through the difficult feelings and mistrust.

My background in relational therapy allows me to understand individuals through the relationships they cohabit. Families come in various forms and sizes, and at times, navigating through these relational dynamics and understanding differing perspectives may be difficult. Throughout our time together, we will work to make each member’s voice heard, find ways of communication that feel helpful, and establish and restore connection. Please reach out for a free consultation to see if we are a good fit.

You might seek family therapy if family members are struggling with sibling or parent conflict, parenting differences, adjusting to teenage years, divorce/separation, feeling alone with your family, unable to express your feelings to your family members, feeling like you’re not meeting someone’s expectations or coping with a family member’s mental illness or addiction. Working with a family therapist can help family members feel heard and valued and bring harmony to your family system. We can help you learn to communicate effectively, set healthy boundaries and learn coping mechanisms to help manage difficult family dynamics.

Do you have trouble communicating with your kids, spouse, siblings, in-laws, or parents? If you are like most of us, you probably do! Families adopt certain rules for how people are to behave within the family, and more often than not, these rules contribute to unhealthy relationships and communication patterns. It is my job to help families understand and identify their dynamics, and work towards effective and healthy communication patters.

We all being life with a family, one that influences every aspect of our lives, from our first moments to our last. Our family shapes who we are and who we become. Within the family system we learn language, habits, customs and believes, how to view and observe the world around us and learn how to love, and how to interact with others from these first important relationships. Shauna's family therapy offers families a way to be healthy and happy through a structured, systems, attachment based approach – families learn to develop and maintain a healthy, functional family.

In the area of family matters, I provide mediation services. Family Mediation process is focused on resolution of concerns and issues that arise in families. In the mediation process, as a neutral party, I assists the disputing parties resolve their disagreement by facilitating their discussions and guiding them to appropriate resources and possible solutions until they reach desired outcomes. *Family mediation is not psychotherapy, marital counseling, or legal representation.

When working with families I aim to focus on common ground and shared hopes and goals. This sets the stage for collaboratively working through conflicts so that common goals can be achieved. Focusing on positive family experiences and strengths of the family are also helpful in reconnecting family members. Understanding relationship patterns and encouraging new ways of communicating and interacting often allows families to practice different ways of being with and understanding one another and can often alleviate tension for more pleasurable family experiences.