Brooklyn Family Therapy
Fix the fracture in your family
Brooklyn Family Therapy And Counseling Services
For any number of reasons, your family might need therapy, or as Tolstoy once said, ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’.
Conflict within a family is entirely normal and a positive sign that natural issues are arising to the surface. It becomes an issue when these conflicts are never fully addressed and allowed to linger.
Two family members might have an ongoing feud that they don’t want to defuse. This feud can cause tension throughout the rest of the family, requiring the professional help of a trained family therapist.
It could be a culmination of factors that have never been addressed. If you feel ongoing tension and anger within your family that’s been going on for too long, you may want to consider a counselor trained in solving family issues.
Here at Eclectic Counseling Brooklyn, our counselors have helped countless families resolve the issues causing constant arguments and anger. You can trust our highly experienced therapists can help you understand what’s causing strife in your family and help you live a happier and more fulfilling life.
Signs You Family Needs Therapy
Family tragedy
Tragedy is something no family member wants to deal with, and usually, everyone has little idea how to resolve an issue of this magnitude. Speak to an experienced and trained counselor who knows how to provide support for a complex issue such as a family tragedy.
Lack of closeness
Families can be lacking in their love and closeness for one another. Never spending quality time together as a family and the children show little friendship and conversation, preferring to spend all their time alone.
While lack of closeness doesn’t seem as severe as incessant arguments and fights, it can be a problem in its own way. Usually, the parents want to make a change but are unsure where to start. An experienced family therapist can help guide you.
Step family issues
When a new parent enters a family or two families are combined. It’s not uncommon for some members to feel resentment against each other and strongly dislike the new change in their lives. This resentment can create underlying tension within the whole family.
Struggling child
If one or more of the children are struggling in school and causing problems at home, this could potentially be a symptom of a deeper cause from their family life. However, it’s normal for children to act up in school and home, but family counseling is worth considering if their behavior is causing tension in your family.
Constant arguments
Arguments happen as natural conflicts arise, but if these arguments are constant and never seem to stop, there could be deeper issues that need to be resolved. Endless arguments can be difficult to resolve by normal means and require the whole family to come together with an experienced and compassionate family counselor.
Undiagnosed mental health
When a family member has an undiagnosed mental health condition, this can create turmoil as the family is unequipped and can’t adequately address this unknown mental health issue. Luckily, a trained therapist can help diagnose what’s causing the family’s turmoil and, subsequently, the undiagnosed mental health disorder.
Whole Family And Individual Counseling
Individual Family Counseling
For a counselor to get a clear picture of a family’s dynamics, they need to hear each person’s perspective individually. This helps to understand the family and the underlying issues without a more dominant member influencing the counselor’s opinion. This process also allows members who might be shyer to speak up.
Once the whole family is brought into the fold, each member has already undergone some level of self-reflection. These preliminary individual sessions are what lay the groundwork for progress in the subsequent group sessions.
Whole Family Counseling
For healing to work, everyone eventually has to sit down and address the feelings and perspectives of their loved ones.
Sitting down together is usually where the most progress is made in a family therapy session. It allows each member to voice their concerns in a calm, safe space with a therapist present. This process helps everyone reconsider their thoughts and past actions and how they may have been wrong in a given situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
‘One or more of my kids refuse to try family therapy.’
It’s not uncommon for teenagers to be against visiting a counselor, and forcing therapy will make your child resent you even more, not to mention make little progress.
Instead, have your child visit the practice and just meet the counselor. Getting your kids used to the idea of family therapy is the first step. You can also try leaving the contact details of our practice with your kids and see if they are more open to therapy if it’s their choice, rather than their parents.
Lastly, you could broach the idea of online counseling to your kids, it’s less of an effort for them, and they’ll be more comfortable by not having to sit in a room with whom they perceive as a stranger.
‘I’ve heard family therapy is expensive’
The counselors at Eclectic Counseling Brooklyn offer years of experience in mending broken families at reasonable rates and the initial costs of counseling are far outweighed by the benefits it will bring to each member of your family for years to come.
‘How do we get the most out of therapy?’
If you want to get the most out of therapy, you’ve got to remember a counselor can steer you and your family in the right direction. A counselor can help you gain a new perspective. But a counselor can’t magically click their fingers and solve all your family’s issues. Therapy requires you and the rest of your family to be wanting to fix the issues you’re experiencing and willing to make an effort.
We recommend you attend your family therapy sessions regularly as if sessions are attended irregularly, little progress is made. Ideally, you should visit your therapist weekly or biweekly.
Lastly, you and your family need to be open and honest with your counselor. If you feel no progress is being made and the counseling isn’t helping, you need to make your therapist aware of how you’re feeling about the sessions.
‘We would like to start, but not sure if we can make it in person.’
Not to worry, since the pandemic began, most family therapists offer online counseling services. We have found regular online counseling can be just as effective. If you’re unsure about therapy and would like to try it out, an online session can be the best way to gauge how you feel and if the counselor is right for your family.
Family Therapy Is Worth It
Family therapy takes time and effort from all members. Still, we’ve seen it firsthand unravel constant turmoil and arguments, repair rifts between parents, and fill in the gaping holes of a new stepfamily.
While it may seem difficult initially, the vast majority of families do make progress and get lasting rewards from therapy that benefits them for years to come. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns, as we would love to help get your family back on the right track.
