Family Counseling: What to Look for in a Family Counselor

Is your family living in chaos and conflict?  Instead of a haven, does your home feel like a war zone?  Maybe things aren’t as bad as a war zone, but relationships are strained.  There isn’t the closeness or connection that you imagined when you went down this journey of having kids.  If any of this sounds true to you, your family may benefit from family counseling.

What is family counseling?

During family counseling you get to spend time as a family with your family counselor.  Together you can work on communication, conflict resolution, and other challenges that families deal with.  Your family counselor can support your family in making the subtle shifts that will make a difference in your day to day home life.

What are the benefits of family counseling?

Family counseling can be especially helpful because the entire family system gets supported.  None of us operate in a bubble so when we try to change in a bubble it is often more challenging.  For example, let’s say some family members struggle with the way in which they express their anger.  Maybe they yell and cuss or hit and kick.  It can be helpful to work with the family member who is having difficulty with anger; however, it is also helpful to work with the family as whole with this issue.  During family counseling, the counselor can support all the family members with the way in which they each express and respond to anger.  The counselor can help the family understand their responses and determine the way in which they want to handle anger as a family.  When the entire family is part of the solution, change can happened quickly.

What to look for in a family therapist?

When looking for a family therapist it is important to find someone who works with families.  It is also important to find someone who each of the family members feels comfortable with.  Of course it is likely that some family members will connect with the therapist more than others, but it is helpful if no family member dislikes the therapist.  The relationship between the family members and the therapist is a critical part of the change process.

If you think family counseling could help your family, give us a call at 720-583-9332.  We serve families living in Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Rock, Parker, Greenwood Village, Centennial, and other communities in the South Denver Metro area!