When Family Life Becomes Difficult
Families can be a wonderful source of love, belonging and support. But family relationships can also be complicated, and even families who care deeply about one another can find themselves struggling.
Perhaps conversations keep ending in arguments, someone has withdrawn, or tensions have been building for a long time. You may feel that you're going round in circles, with everyone trying their best but nothing really changing.
Sometimes one person seems to be at the centre of the difficulty. Yet what happens within a family rarely belongs to just one person. Each family member affects, and is affected by, the relationships around them.
Family therapy offers a space to slow things down, understand what is happening between you, and begin to find a different way forward.
How I Work with Families
I don't begin by looking for someone to blame or deciding who is right and who is wrong. I believe that people's feelings and behaviour make sense when we begin to understand their experiences and the patterns that have developed between them.
My approach is warm, respectful and collaborative. Drawing on Transactional Analysis and systemic thinking, I help families explore how they communicate, how they respond to one another and how familiar patterns can keep difficulties going.
Everyone's perspective matters. My aim is to help each person feel heard, while supporting the family to understand one another more fully and make changes that feel possible in everyday life.
What Can Family Therapy Help With?
Families come to therapy for many different reasons. You might be facing repeated conflict, changes in family relationships, difficulties between parents and adult children, the effects of separation or loss, or the challenges that can arise when family members have different needs and ways of seeing the world.
You don't need to have a clear explanation for what's going wrong before getting in touch. We can begin with what each of you is experiencing and work from there.
What to Expect from Family Therapy
Our first meeting is an opportunity for me to hear what has brought you to therapy and for everyone attending to begin sharing their experience. We will explore what you would like to be different and think together about how our work might help.
Not every family member has to agree about the problem, or even about what needs to change, before we begin. Differences are often an important part of what we need to understand.
As we work together, I will help you notice patterns, have conversations that may have felt difficult or impossible, and discover new ways of responding to one another.
Sessions and Fees
Family therapy is available in person in Lincoln and online. Sessions are usually 90 minutes and cost £150. The first appointment is usually two hours, giving us time to understand your family's situation.
We can discuss who might attend and what would work best for your family when you get in touch.
Taking the Next Step
If things have become difficult within your family, it can be hard to know where to begin. You may have tried talking things through, making changes or simply hoping that things will settle down, only to find yourselves facing the same difficulties again.
You don't have to wait until family life reaches a crisis before asking for support.
Family therapy offers an opportunity to understand what's happening, hear one another in a different way and begin to make changes that can help everyone move forward.
Whether your family is going through a particular challenge or you've been struggling for some time, you're welcome to get in touch to talk about whether family therapy might be helpful.
Your relationships are in safe hands.