Family Counseling Services in Franklin, TN.

As a marriage & family therapist for 30 years I've helped many individuals & couples deal with complex issues and strained relationships with: * parents * in-laws * siblings * teenage children * adult children Issues may include: * resolving conflict * reaching forgiveness and rebuilding trust * negotiating differences and different expectations * setting healthy boundaries

Brian approaches hurting relationships with great hope, based on a knowledge of the ways to intervene with couples and families that have been found to be most effective. Beyond mere behavioral training and communication techniques, he uses the principles of Emotionally Focused Therapy to go deeper into the core of clients' hurts, fears, desires, and hopes.

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.

There is not one template to tell any family exactly how to fix their problems. Families get healthier as individuals in the family become healthier, and visa versa. Sometimes personality conflicts exist that can be improved by simply understanding the enormous differences in how varying personality types interpret life and events.. Other times there are much deeper issues ranging from character disorders, neurosis, personality disorders, past abuse, etc. While the dynamics can sometimes feel daunting, a mood of compassion and hope from a skilled therapist can set the tone for improvement in what might have seemed a hopeless situation.

A great deal of attention is given to understanding how a family has structured, organized itself around a presenting issue or problem and how the family has been functioning. Family systems therapy provides the family with a focus on patterns of communication and behaviors that help them understand how such communication and behavior has perpetuated their issue(s) and reduces the likelihood of placing responsibility or blame on one person or identifying one person as the "patient". With the therapist as a facilitator the family can learn new ways to relate and create innovative approaches to problem solving.