Linda Nusbaum, MFT

Others scream/fight/gut it out, and wait for things to get better. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. That’s when big changes can occur.What a difference it would make if families took the time for a “dynamics” tune-up. If it feels like your family is at the boiling point, why not see a professional counselor BEFORE a crisis hits? Everyone deserves a caring family that shares love, respect and support for one another. After all, what greater feeling is there to know one is loved and appreciated by family members?

What if being with your family was the most wonderful time of your day — not something you dread and avoid? Family counseling may be the way to help you get there.

Every family has its own way of communicating. Most family systems work well,
but sometimes they break down and members start to feel stressed, misunderstood or unloved. Sometimes a pattern is established where some family members yell at each other while others remain silent. That doesn’t mean the silent ones aren’t angry, too.

All these patterns are called family dynamics. And they are very important. Your family dynamics are what holds your family together — or breaks it apart. Maybe you get a feeling of tightness in your stomach when you go home. If this happens to you, chances are it’s happening to others in your family as well. When things start to fray, some families just ignore it and hope things get better.

HOW IT WORKS

Call to schedule an appointment for your whole family to come in together. Everyone just being in the same room for one hour with a licensed therapist can change the dynamics in your family for the better.

Marriage and Family Therapists have the credentials to help families during difficult times. The first part of the process during the sessions is TALKING ABOUT IT. And even more important: LISTENING. Each person expresses what it’s like to be a member of the family — from their perspective as parent, child, brother, sister, etc. During this phase, family members share thoughts and feelings, the same thoughts and feelings they had been unable to talk about before counseling. Other family members may be hearing their loved ones speak openly for the first time.

New skills are practiced to help family members support one another and to find new ways of saying what needs to be said. This is true COMMUNICATION and leads to UNDERSTANDING and GROWTH. By understanding the other’s position, it’s possible to find compassion for the other persons struggles and challenges... which are not unlike our own.

The process doesn’t take long to transform and enrich your family life. It just takes the COMMITTMENT to show up together on a weekly basis and do it.