Parent/Child Relationship Issues
Parent and child relationship problems happen at all stages of life. You may be a parent struggling with a child, or you may be a child (young or adult) struggling with the relationship with your parent. If you are really ready for a fresh start, you will need to do things differently. Counseling can help with that process.
Itʼs great when the whole family comes to counseling together. This shows how dedicated everyone is to improving the relationship. Donʼt worry, if your family members are unsupportive and wonʼt attend counseling. Believe it or not, we can get a lot of work done with only one person from a family in counseling. If one person consistently changes, the others will follow.
As a Cognitive-Behavioral therapist, I will challenge you weekly to act and view things differently. You will learn how to communicate more effectively. For example, one way to begin to improve your relationship is to make an effort to do something together weekly. During that time, only talk about things that donʼt matter. You know what the “hot topics” are for your family; so, donʼt bring them up. Guide the conversation to simple topics. I know this may seem superficial at first, but itʼs the beginning of repairing all the damage done by the arguments.
Things wonʼt happen overnight. Even though youʼve chosen counseling, you will experience ups and downs. The good news is that with time, consistency, and your counselors support, the ups will overtake the downs.