Family Counselling

 

At times family counselling is recommended to help individuals in a 

family address and process significant experiences and/or dynamics

that impact the way they feel about themselves, each other and/or their

family as a whole.  Families are bound together by a shared set of

values, beliefs and attachment models that play a significant role in

shaping their lives.   Something that affects one family member usually

affects the family as a whole, although each member may experience and cope with the situation in very different ways. A family counselling approach can also help prevent an individual family member from feeling responsible for his or hers family situation or as the identified problem in the family, needing to be fixed. 

 

The inclusion of family members in the counselling process serves not only to support a child in his/her counselling process,  but also recognizes the importance of parents, siblings and extended family as significant influences in a child's life. There are no greater resources available to children than parents, primary caregivers such as foster parents and grandparents, and significant others. In cases where these important relationships have been compromised or are not readily available, a Seedlings counsellor will make every effort to source out and work in collaboration with existing resources available to the child including social workers, teachers, close friends, and/or mentors. 

 

Family counselling can be an important aspect of a child's healing process by awknowledging

the role that family members play in each other's lives. Through a family systems lens, a counsellor helps identify relational, communication and historical patterns exisiting within a family that may positively or negatively impact individuals and/or the family as a whole. This awareness provides opportunities to learn and practice more effective, and at times, healthier 

and more positive ways of interacting with each other and managing family dynamics, 

problems and stressors.

 

A family counselling process provides a powerful way to identify existing resources available within a family while tapping into inherent individual and collective strengths and capabilities that when nurtured, can act as catalyst for growth and healing. It is common for family

members in a family counselling process to be seen together by a counsellor,  as well as on their own as needed.