Tag: Family
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Family Counseling Guide: Preparing for The First Visit
All family relationships are tricky. Even when you find yourself in a healthy balanced relation, there are still some things or issues that can appear along the way. Unfortunately, most people avoid going to family counseling, and would rather prefer to deal with these problems on their own. No matter how skilled you are at…
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How to Care for a Blended Family, 5 Areas of Focus
Blending families is a courageous act of love and intelligence because at some point the kids need the next chapter to begin and so do Mom and Dad. There are 5 areas that need attention for the transition to go easier. Every family has their specific dynamics that can be worked with as long as…
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How to Grow a Marriage: Deepening the Emotional Conversation, part 1
If there is one thing a couple can do to grow a richer marriage it would be to deepen the emotional conversations. It takes some simple learning, a little courage and a hell of a lot of curiosity. The art of emotional conversation and the art of making love are very similar. The end…
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Seasonal Affective Disorder and the Holidays
Usually, people who tend toward depression are very sensitive. As fall and winter pull us into our inner world of feelings, thoughts, intuitions, and sensations, it brings us closer to the subtleties of how we tick. We miss the light of spring and summer where everything is bright, clear and extroverted. I commonly hear clients,…
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Parents, Children, and Autism Therapy
Often, the most over looked and yet the most essential work is helping parents cope with an autistic child. Many times parents lose sight of how to care for themselves, their marriage and other children in the family because it can feel selfish or not as important. I am not saying that something is being…
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The Meaning of Group Culture
We are born into a family, a community, a country and the larger group of humans inhabiting the earth. We begin with a given set of groups, each with all of their particular cultural values. The need for kinship is such a powerful force of nature that finding our way with various group cultures can…
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Relationships and the Marriage and Family Therapist
The Role of a Marriage and Family Therapist The focus of a marriage and family therapist or MFT in family counseling, couples counseling, or individual work is on relationship. It is the relationship one has with others and the relationship one has with the inner life of thoughts, feelings, sensations, intuitions, dreams, visions, fantasies and…
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The Shadow, Page 2
In the previous post, we began looking at the rejected parts of ourselves. The parts that have been put into the “bag” or banished to the “shadow”. Consequently, we may feel like “half a person”, or “something is missing”. As we bring these rejected parts into the light of awareness and value them, we begin…
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Family Therapy
Family therapy re-balances the family. Usually, in this busy world families get fragmented. Each person has their own work, school, and interests. This is all good, but it can create distance and dissatisfaction when they get out of balance. Warmth and intimacy usually diminish during this time. Family therapy works to reverse this process. Family therapy…
