Decatur, GA—Family Counseling
Your family is probably the most influential people in your life. You live with them, talk with them, eat with them, and generally do life with them! They say you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with, and at least some of those 5 are probably your family.
For better or for worse, we learn a lot from our families. How to communicate, love, and function with other people in our lives. But what if that family is not functioning as well as you would like?
Family dysfunction happens with everyone. You would be hard pressed to find a family that doesn’t argue, hurt each other, and perpetuate bad habits. It’s part of the beauty and chaos of a family unit. And it happens no matter what the family structure- biological, adopted, foster, step family, and everything in between!
We all desire our family to be positive influences on each other. After all, they affect you and you affect them. But sometimes that influence can turn from love to hurt. Your family will never be perfect (no one’s is!), but our Thriveworks Decatur counselors want to turn that time you spend with your family to a fruitful one that you will look back on with a smile.
Yes, chaos will always exist in a household. But a happy and healthy family unit is possible and within reach! Thriveworks Decatur is excited to walk beside you and your family as you work towards a happier, healthier relationship.
What Is Family Counseling?
Many of the problems you may be experiencing with your family are completely out of your control. Life happens, and sometimes you might wish it didn’t happen quite as painfully.
Thriveworks Counseling in Decatur understands the frustration, fear, and love that struggling with your family can bring. We have the tools and experience that can help you improve communication, problem solve, and implement plans to prevent future conflict.
The exact structuring of a counseling session will largely depend on your family’s goals and situation. Your family is unique, and so should a counseling session. Some families find that meeting individually with a counselor before a group session is beneficial. Others will jump right in with all members meeting at once. Our Thriveworks counselor can adjust to find a good fit for your family.
The goal of family counseling is to rebuild and strengthen families so eventually, you can leave counseling and thrive on your own. This means we want to hear all the little, minor issues as well as the big ones. We strive to create a nonjudgmental and supportive space. Even the smallest issues can blow up and wreak havoc in your home, so let’s get it all out in the counseling session!
Even though every family is unique, there are some common themes every family can work on and that we may address in a counseling session. These include:
- Strengthen communication
- Work through individual concerns (e.g. mental illness, personal stress, fears, etc.)
- Identify roles
- Build on strengths
- Learn to handle conflict in a healthy manner
We understand that your family didn’t chose conflict- no one does! The desire to have a safe and loving home is universal. Deciding to go to family counseling does not mean your family is “bad”. There’s nothing wrong with feeling like your family life is spinning out of control or heading down a darker path, sometimes these things just happen and there’s no way to predict them. Whatever the situation, our family therapists are here to be that voice of reason and a gentle hand to nudge you back on the right path.
Could Your Family Benefit from Family Counseling?
If fighting and stress exist in all households to an extent, how do you know when the turmoil in your family warrants a family counseling session? Well, there’s no problem too small. If you aren’t happy with your family life, we can help you get to a better place!
Some common situations we see in our clients include:
- The loss of a loved one
- A career loss or shift
- Divorce
- Diagnosis of a chronic illness
- Empty nest
- Welcoming a new member
- Substance abuse
- Academic problems
- Financial strain
- Mental health disorder
- Overworked members
Family therapy can be beneficial in every situation, since no family is perfect. It can feel impossible to have a calm, rested home, but with a little work, that dream can become a reality! We all hit rough patches and working through the issue to find new strategies is always a good idea. You and your family deserve the best. Together, we can get there.