Family Counseling

Join together through Family Counseling

Is life tossing your family into distress and crisis?

Unsure how to manage the situation and keep everyone close?

Has a crisis or loss split your family and you're unsure what to do?

Family Therapy provides hope for doing it all differently; better.

It is possible to come together to increase the nurturance and connection between family members and solve issues, in contrast to other family models that focus more on the structure or dimensions of power and control in the family.  My work with families occurs on two levels, between the relationships of family members and within each persons experience.  Together we engage to increase everyone's sense of secure attachment.  When we can improve each family member's degree of confidence that other family members will provide support, comfort, and protection as well as remaining emotionally responsive and accessible, being in the family takes on a new and more enjoyable feeling.

"When our daughter was having trouble at school and the tension and fighting at home became too much, I started feeling as though I were failing as a parent.  Marlon helped us come back together as a family and reconnect in a way that made the difference.  Now we're closer and more connected than ever.

-M.M.

One model of therapy that I use is called Emotionally Focused Family Therapy.  EFFT zeros in on everyone's sense of attachment in the family. This is important because it is where most of our high emotions flow.  The questions around family attachments are the same ones couples ask.  "Do I matter to you?"  "Will you be there for me?"  "Does my pain matter to you?"  In couples I focus on adult attachment and the emotional bond. In Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, the focus is still on attachment, but I add the children to the picture because they ask these same questions.  It is in the family that we all first develop an attachment style, one that typically drives many of our emotional responses in all our relationships. 

These emotional patterns are very much alive in our families creating reactivity and distressed responses.  EFFT is effective at addressing these within the family context by increasing the security of family relationships. This allows children and adolescents the freedom to act independently and confidently as they explore their environment.  Secure attachment creates a secure base for them to move from and a safe haven for them to return to.

Schedule an appointment and let’s get started working through these negative patterns and changing your relationship in a way that works for you both.

Click here to schedule a risk free appointment today.

"The goal here is to modify family relationships in the direction of increased accessibility and responsiveness, thus helping the family to create a secure base for children to grow in and leave from."

- Sue Johnson

Read more about Emotionally Focused Therapy