Families come in many shapes and sizes and contract and expand over time. I work with families in all forms, including: nuclear, ‘intact’ families; extended families; blended families; straight and LGBT families; grandparent-or-other-person-as-caretaker families; adoptive and foster families; single-parent families; and, families who identify as such because of the nature of their bonds. Families have their own unique alchemy created by: their emotional climate; individual temperaments; overt and tacit rules and expectations; values and beliefs; individual roles and functions; and the prose and power of family narrative and mythology.
The singular aspects of a family dovetail with the universality of families across culture and time. Ideally, families provide an individual with a sense of belonging, identity, love, safety and security. Each individual within a family has needs and desires which are folded into the needs of the family. Family boundaries are sometimes flexible and sometimes rigid but they create a sense of ‘us’ in the world.
An initial session with a family can take up to two-sessions, allowing time for each individual in the family to share their view of the family as a whole, individual concerns, and how they see themselves in the family. As we come up with goals for treatment, I have the opportunity to see how the family functions and communicates together. Assessment is an ongoing part of the therapy and subsequent work may involve the entire family, the parents, siblings, or various groupings depending on the needs of the family at the time.
