Family and Teen Counseling

Family life has ceased to be happy.

At the opening of “Anna Karenina,” Leo Tolstoy writes, “All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its way.”

“Wait! Are there other unhappy families; mine is not the only one?” Sometimes, it feels like everyone else seems fulfilled, happy, and comfortable in their families, but not you.

In the beginning, everything was idyllic. Not quite a breeze, there were problems, but you and your partner managed to figure them out. Despite hardships, big and small, you enjoyed a happy family life.

Not anymore.

Something happened along the way; you don’t know when and how, but your family life became a burden. Family members don’t talk to each other; when they do, it always ends in a fight.

Battles rage!

Another Tolstoian allusion comes to mind – your family life is a “War and Peace,” right? Or maybe “just” a minefield?

There are secret, tacit alliances; family members are divided into camps, waging war against one another. Or it is simply just chaos, anarchy, a total war, everyone against everyone else.

Even worse, there is dead silence at home. Family members are just strangers sharing space, sort of roommates.

For too long, you and your partner ignored the problems in your family, and they snowballed. Now, there is an avalanche, and you don’t know how to stop it.

Children become part of the equation.

Your children are acting out, bringing bad grades from school, spending hours in the darkness of their room, and yelling at you. When you dare enter their room and ask what is happening, you hear, “Get out of my room!”

You know your children are hurting, but you don’t know what bothers them and how to help them.

Well, maybe their strange behavior is a response to living in a dysfunctional family and a mess your family became.

In-laws don’t always help.

Perhaps, your spouse’s parents are too involved in your family life. You feel they are present everywhere, even in your bedroom.

They love, love, love sticking their noses in your matters. Like parenting, they think they are better parents than you will ever be, so they get involved in raising your children.

No wonder your kids are defiant and don’t respect you. Your in-laws invade and conquer your space, inch by inch. And your partner doesn’t mind that at all. You do; you give in to them and keep quiet for peace until peace disappears.

Your family might suffer from a severe form of permeable boundaries. You know, when your in-laws or extended family feel your family life is their business.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to blend families.

Yours is a blended family, and you might think “the more, the merrier,” right? No doubt. But your children don’t get along well with their new step-siblings.

You and your partner are getting used to being married again, but your partner’s child has special needs. Sharing space means lots of adjusting and renegotiating rules. On top of that, your spouse’s ex is secretly and not so secretly sabotaging your new family.

The blended family faces several problems that traditional nuclear families don’t experience.

Tolstoy is right – but counseling can help.

No family is perfect, but some are particularly vulnerable. Problems like dependence on substances, serious physical or mental health issues, insecure, confused teenagers, a student struggling with school stress, marital conflict, and looming divorce can make a family very UNHAPPY.

Ignoring the problems and waiting for a miracle that will never come only worsens things.

But you’d do anything to help your family overcome their struggles and ease the pain you all feel. And your decision to do something about it is a great start, a beginning of a happier family life. Change for the better is possible! Let me be your partner and supporter in this process.

I help families reduce stress and anxiety, (re)discover and leverage their strengths, reignite affection, turn problems into opportunities, learn how to communicate with each other, and live and work as a team.

Call me at (954) 245-0098 for a free 15-minute consultation, and we’ll set you off on a pathway of family healing.