family

Managing family dynamics can sometimes be a challenge, especially if you’re feeling like your family is dealing with ongoing conflicts or never ending arguments. Maybe you’re struggling with your child not listening or testing limits. You may find a clash of parenting styles is creating another layer of conflict, or you and your partner can’t agree on discipline and consequences. You may even be feeling overwhelmed by calls from teachers about your child’s poor performance or acting out when in school.

Another source of conflict may be changes happening in the family. Perhaps you’ve recently separated or divorced, introduced a new baby into the family, moved or even lost a family member. You may be finding your child is not responding well to these kinds of changes, and is struggling socially and emotionally.

In the face of these difficulties what you really want is for your household to feel less chaotic. You’d like to return to that sense of harmony and well-being you all shared in the past. You want all the members of your family to feel safe, loved and supported. Trying to stay positive and gather the confidence to meet your challenges head on can be tough, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Whether your current struggle stems from managing change, engaging conflict, poor communications or a difficult child, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only ones dealing with such issues. The truth is that, at some point, almost every family willwith experience some sort of disruption, and it’s often in connection with some major crisis or life transition. The way you experience these challenges may be amplified when you encounter a situation that is sudden or unexpected. This is often the case when it comes to trauma or loss. Every person—and, by association, every family—copes differently. The interaction of those different coping styles can further impact your experience.

Family conflicts most often arise when there is a change in the family itself. This can happen when parents separate, divorce or remarry. Almost all divorced and blended families struggle with the impact that change has on the family as a whole. It’s very common for financial fear and other stressors to affect parents, while children may act out or withdraw. Change is, of course, harder for some to manage than for others.

All families can benefit from support when things get overwhelming, and sometimes it’s not just a good idea, but necessary. One of the most sensitive barometers of family health is children. If your child seems to be struggling socially, experiencing ongoing conflicts with one or both of you, or appears to be generally overwhelmed, family counseling can help you in gaining the support, insight and tools you need to get things back on track.

Family counseling can be extremely effective because, rather than working with individual family members in isolation, the process includes everyone. When family dynamics are considered as a whole, a variety of perspectives and patterns emerge. This allows your counselor to help you identify and implement effective solutions that can be applied to the overall dynamic, not just individuals within it. When everyone has the opportunity to share in the process a deeper understanding of each other can develop, strengthening bonds and diminish resentment, judgment and other tensions.