Family Therapy
Why Family Therapy?
Family dysfunction is a universal experience. It’s all too common to hear stories of “mommy or daddy issues” that have a lasting impact on a now adult’s life. Or maybe the family has a history of trauma or a chronic medical condition that impacts communication and connection. Every family has their “stuff” that members don’t like or complain about. Sometimes the dysfunction is so normalized that it continues unknowingly for years or forever and then gets passed along to generations to come.
Your family relationships impact how you view yourself, others and the world around you. How we function in our family impacts how we function in other systems (school, work, society) throughout our life. Family dysfunction is also a leading contributor to childhood mental health and behavioral issues. People often report family relationships as the most valuable aspect of their life, so we should devote time and energy toward improving those connections. Family therapy will support healthy family dynamics.
Creating Resilient Relationships through Family Therapy
Creating Resilient Relationships through Family Therapy
Family tends to be the people we turn to when things get hard, so these relationships need resilience to withstand the pressures and stress that life brings. Family therapy sessions will focus on identifying the pain points in the family dynamics in other words, what is not working. We will then spend time uncovering and healing the underlying reasons for these patterns.
This portion of treatment will focus on the intrapersonal (within yourself) process; things like identifying core beliefs, processing unresolved trauma and understanding attachment or communication styles. Once awareness is built, we can then start working more interpersonally (between people). We will focus on learning and practicing adaptive communication and emotion regulation skills that will support conflict resolution and connection. By working on both the intra and interpersonal processes will can successfully create resilient relationships in the family system.
The ABFT Approach
Carly is Level II trained in Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT). This evidenced-based model is rooted in interpersonal theories that believe our family relationships influence who we are as individuals. Secure attachment is an indicator of resilient relationships and the good news is, we can all work towards more secure attachment, no matter what our family history may be. ABFT was designed to address family conflict efficiently and effectively by repairing relationship ruptures and providing skills that support secure connection that will act as a buffer for stressors we will encounter.
