For a courtesy appointment call 781 246-4570 

Note:  Our newest group Divorcing Dads is looking for members.  Click onto the title to learn more about it.

RMOUNT@aol.com

Sliding scale fees are available for people with lousy HMO plans.

For a courtesy appointment call (781) 246-4570

Note:  Our newest group Divorcing Dads is looking for members.  Click onto the title to learn more about it.

Couples counseling

  Stepfamily counseling 

Counseling for Children

Family Counseling

Whenever one family member struggles, everyone is affected.  Family therapy helps each member understand how he or she can best contribute to the solution.  When problems are approached in this manner, children and parents begin to pull together as a team and family values are respected.

Counseling the whole family or smaller units within the family can change enough of the "dynamic" to make a difference in everyone's life.  The three groups I most frequently see are:

Couples            Step Families            Children

Couples Counseling

Couples normally encounter some difficulties communicating their needs to each other.  However, when communication breaks down so does the relationship.  Counseling improves communication and by doing so can help both partners meet each other’s needs more effectively.  

In my experience, the greatest tragedy is when a couple waits so long to begin counseling that there is very little left of their relationship, and everyone has suffered.  Laugh if you will, but the time to begin couples counseling is when you decide to begin a long term committed relationship, especially if you are planning children.  Establishing empowering patterns of communication early on in a relationship is the best insurance you have that the relationship will endure. 

However, sometimes couples must separate even when this will “traumatize” the children.  Counseling can help couples mediate agreements for raising children and set the groundwork for successful parenting following divorce.  By also involving the children, family therapy can lessen the trauma for everyone by preparing children for the separation.

Couples    Step Families    Children

Stepfamily Counseling

When one parent remarries or finds another partner most children will experience the change, no matter how positive as a loss.  Dealing with this loss is necessary in order for family members to move on with their new relationships.  Stepfamilies are unique from intact, “biological families,” because of the special circumstances under which they were formed… circumstances which evoke some common problems such as: 

Lack of understanding—

Members of the new stepfamily came into each other’s lives with out the advantage of a shared developmental history.  This can make understanding each other much more challenging. 

Issues of territory—

Each family member must carve out a “safe space” within the home, and a social role within the family structure.  Major conflicts may erupt over such benign issues as: positions at the table, television programming, and which of you have the “real parental authority.”

Attention—

Blending families changes the way each member is attended to by the others.  A family member may no longer receive the kind or amount of attention they need.

Expectations—

New family members will expect to receive the same treatment they had gotten used to before.  Learning to trust new relationships is difficult if previous ones had been abusive.

Stepfamily counseling helps step families to work in harmony.

Couples    Step Families    Children

Counseling for Children

Counseling children has given me a lot of personal satisfaction, and it's usually fun.  Because children are not able to put complex emotions into words, we need to learn to listen to them in a different way.  One of my favorites is through play therapy with Genni, the Golden Retriever who has worked with me for the last 10 years--with no complaints.  Children also learn and practice new ways of dealing with "real life" situations during play therapy.  It is important to make counseling interesting and comfortable for children so they will value the process of sharing problems or feelings and working cooperatively toward solutions.

Adolescents who try counseling report that it is a great way to orient themselves to the adult world.  Most have not had an adult in their lives with whom they can share their inner thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism.  This is not to say that parents and educators don't try, rather that the nature of the relationship with a therapist is different and should not feel judgmental.

Ideally, children and adolescents should be included in the selection of a  a counselor they will see.  Take your time to pick someone that your child likes and that you trust. 

Couples    Step Families    Children

  RMOUNT@aol.com

For a courtesy appointment call 781 246-4570 

Sliding scale fees are available for people with lousy HMO plans.