Healthy Families
Strong Bonds
Functional Families
Family Therapy
Families are like mobiles, they are balanced. Every family member has their own way of hanging or being in the family. This way of being may be healthy or dysfunctional. It doesn’t matter; it all helps to make up how that family is defined.
In the fields of psychology and mental health, this consistent way of functioning is called homeostasis. And just like a mobile returns to its normal state after being shook up, so do families. The field of chemical dependency figured this out in the late 70’s when they started to look at why the relapse rate was so high. They figured out that once a family member entered treatment and sobered up, their return to the family was frequently met with resistance. Why? Because they changed. They were no longer the drunk.
Consequently, what did this do to the family’s mobile? It made it go all out of whack. The newly sober individual came out of treatment different and sent the whole family mobile tilting out of its normal, balanced state. So, how does the family mobile get balanced again? There are two ways; the simplest is by getting the changed individual back into their old role. They do this by unconsciously sabotaging their recovery and getting them to drink again. The other way is a lot harder and typically met with a lot of resistance because it would entail every member in the family to now change.
It’s pretty well known that people don’t like to change unless it’s their decision to do the changing. After all, why should they have to change what and how they are in the family when they weren’t the ones drinking? This dilemma was exactly what the treatment facilities started to address. And they addressed it by adding Family Week to the treatment process. Subsequently, there was a dramatic drop in the rates of relapse.
This example of the family mobile is what my family therapy is all about. The family therapy I conduct addresses the entire family system and helps to facilitate constructive change that lasts. Through the use of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), I work with families to create clear lines of communication and strong emotional bonds that help them deal with the constant change and demands of today’s world.
A family is a powerful force in the lives of us all. Let me help you create the strongest family structure possible, capable of withstanding the tilts to your mobile.
Families are like mobiles, they are balanced. Every family member has their own way of hanging or being in the family. This way of being may be healthy or dysfunctional. It doesn’t matter; it all helps to make up how that family is defined.
In the fields of psychology and mental health, this consistent way of functioning is called homeostasis. And just like a mobile returns to its normal state after being shook up, so do families. The field of chemical dependency figured this out in the late 70’s when they started to look at why the relapse rate was so high. They figured out that once a family member entered treatment and sobered up, their return to the family was frequently met with resistance. Why? Because they changed. They were no longer the drunk.
Consequently, what did this do to the family’s mobile? It made it go all out of whack. The newly sober individual came out of treatment different and sent the whole family mobile tilting out of its normal, balanced state. So, how does the family mobile get balanced again? There are two ways; the simplest is by getting the changed individual back into their old role. They do this by unconsciously sabotaging their recovery and getting them to drink again. The other way is a lot harder and typically met with a lot of resistance because it would entail every member in the family to now change.
It’s pretty well known that people don’t like to change unless it’s their decision to do the changing. After all, why should they have to change what and how they are in the family when they weren’t the ones drinking? This dilemma was exactly what the treatment facilities started to address. And they addressed it by adding Family Week to the treatment process. Subsequently, there was a dramatic drop in the rates of relapse.
This example of the family mobile is what my family therapy is all about. The family therapy I conduct addresses the entire family system and helps to facilitate constructive change that lasts. Through the use of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), I work with families to create clear lines of communication and strong emotional bonds that help them deal with the constant change and demands of today’s world.
A family is a powerful force in the lives of us all. Let me help you create the strongest family structure possible, capable of withstanding the tilts to your mobile.