"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...
until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
By Harper Lee
One of my absolute favorite things to do is work with families. Families are dynamic systems that are consistently and often rapidly changing. I love the challenge and complexity of each family! When I work with families I will use a variety of treatment approaches. The first session is grown-ups only because we will have a lot of talking to do and paperwork to sign. This is horribly boring for kids (and often grown-ups too!) I don't want your child's first impression of therapy to be negative. Therefore I will ask that they not be present while during our first meeting.
In our first session I will ask you to explain what brings you to therapy at this particular season of life. We will explore various topics such as marital satisfaction, pregnancy and delivery experiences, childhood developmental stages, as well as what struggles you are currently facing. I will ask you to fill out some forms (or you can print them out from this website and bring them completed to the first session) to help me learn your family. I will also ask you to sign some forms that help define and protect the therapeutic relationship.
By the end of the first session we will have decided upon a treatment plan, which includes fees and frequency of therapy sessions. The treatment plan will also identify who will be coming to therapy. We will also discuss expectations we have of each other as well as the therapeutic process in general. I believe in a collaborative therapeutic approach. Therefore I will expect you to share your feedback as we progress through our therapy goals.
During family therapy, the unit of treatment (who comes to therapy) may vary. As previously mentioned, the first session is grown ups only. The following sessions might be just the child. It might be child and one parent. It might be several children and one parent. Or it might be both parents and one child. We will decide this during our initial session. Family treatment is always dynamic which means that we will be able to adjust to what works best as we go.
I believe the success of family therapy is largely dependent on our ability to work together as a team.