Helping and Strengthening Families

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The Power of Family Therapy

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Family therapy can be extremely beneficial in that it brings parents, children and other family members together to transform their interactions by looking at the problem from a systematic perspective instead of individual or single perspective.  A family functions as a system and while it may be tempting to isolate an individual and identify them as the problem this can keep the family stuck in dysfunctional patterns of behavior.  In family counseling the goal is to address the multi-faceted problems that your family is facing, identify  how each person in the system is contributing to the problem, then identify and implement potential changes that will get the family unstuck from the problems that appear to be plaguing it. 

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Family Counseling Defined

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Attempting to define family counseling and psychotherapy in easily understood and precise terms can be extremely challenging because there are so many different definitions and perspectives.  If I were to define family therapy I would say that family counseling is the informed and intentional application of scientifically derived principles and practices through ethically established means that involves the development of a therapeutic relationship between a trained professional (the counselor) and a family unit seeking assistance (the counselee) in resolving large or small psychological and/or relational problems through the modification of behaviors, cognitions, emotions and other personal characteristics that the counselee and counselor deem reasonable and desirable.

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Having said that, I believe it is the Christian foundation from which all other counseling and therapy are built upon.  I have found no better definition than that of Dr. R. K. Bufford to describe the integration of Christian Faith into clinical practice.  Dr. Bufford states, “Counseling is most truly Christian when the counselor has a deep faith; counsels with excellence; holds a Christian world view, is guided by Christian values in choosing the means, goals and motivations of counseling; actively seeks the presences and work of God; and actively utilizes spiritual interventions and resources within ethical guidelines.”  Christian integration in counseling can be either implicit or explicit based on the needs and desires of the family being counseled.  It should be noted that Christian Integration is not to be confused with converting individuals to the Christian faith or the debate of Christian principals and doctrines.  It should also be noted that Christian Integration is not required in order for counseling to begin.

 

Every family presents with their own unique set of circumstances and desired outcomes.  For this reason I choose to use Christian principles found in the bible as the foundation for counseling as well as several other clinical therapeutic approaches in an effort to meet each client’s unique circumstances and goals with the hope of attaining the best possible outcome.  Implementing different aspects of several different approaches gives me the ability to more accurately meet the needs of your individual family problems.  Please contact me with any questions regarding family counseling I look forward to hearing from you.