Sexual abuse of any kind is traumatizing and negatively impact the way we bond with our loved ones and friends. When intrafamilial sexual abuse occurs, the survivors may have difficulty maintaining a sense of safety and stability in their families, and this lack of familial support makes it difficult for them to develop and maintain healthy bonds with family, friends, and romantic partners now and in the future. Within the family, an abuse survivor may not trust the other family members, or they may feel the family let them down by failing to provide protection. It takes time and effort, but working together with a trained psychologist, survivors of intrafamilial abuse and their families can begin to heal.
During a separation or divorce, parents are likely experiencing a lot of stress and sadness, and they have struggles of their own. Worrying about the effects of divorce on children makes the entire process even more difficult. A family therapist makes the process of navigating the tough conversations and difficult moments a little easier. We also offer relationship therapy sessions for partners who are dealing with the effects of divorce or separation.
Emotion focused therapy centers on the way that patterns of communication develop within relationships and how these patterns impact those relationships. Within families, specific members seem to have roles to play, and we often find ourselves falling into problematic ways of interacting out of habit. Emotion focused family therapy involves three stages of interactions. First, the family members define their patterns of miscommunication. Then, they gain awareness of problematic patterns of behavior as they occur, and finally, the family members develop skills to improve the ways they interact and communicate.