Restoring Hope Through Family Therapy in Katy, Tx & Houston
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You've watched as your teen has been going through some changes in mood, attitude and behavior. You love your teen but you don't like what he/she is doing to the family.
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The tension in the home is thick when they are around. You've seen the impact they have had on their siblings as well as the relationship you have with your spouse or partner. The family is just not the same.
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You've grown increasingly concerned with your teen as they used to be a happy, care free child. Now, in their teens years, you have seen lingering sadness, tearfulness, and isolation away from family members.
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Your worry and concerns continues to grow. Their siblings notice the change and the dynamics of the family have been altered as the concern for the teen is shared by all.
As a parent, we work hard for the happiness and benefit for the whole family. Having a teen or young adult who is struggling can impact the family system. Externalizing struggles like ADHD/ADD, oppositional and defiant behavior, substance abuse or other like behaviors can have an obvious and immediate impact on the family system.
Internalizing struggles like depression, anxiety, panic attacks and other like difficulties can have a more subtle effect on the family system. A change, whether positive or negative, in one family member can have an affect on other familiy members.
Family therapy can help with teens or young adutls struggling with externalizing behaviors or the more subtle internalizing behaviors. Long term success in individual therapy for teens and young adutls is often achieved through both individual and family therapy.
As teen therapists and young adult counselors, we will be in your lives for a relatively short period of time. You as parents will be there for a life time. If we can help you join in the therapeutic journey with your teen or young adult, long term changes are often the result.
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The Katy Teen & Family Counseling Approach to Family Therapy
Teen or Young Adult Struggles, Family Therapy, & Long Term Change
As individuals and parents, we can, if we are not careful, be our own worst critics. The grace and understanding we can give other parents in the parenting of their teens can, at times, be lacking in our own self appraisal of our parenting.
Something happens when we have our children. A switch get's flipped and our world as parents shifts and rotates around that child. There is nothing in the world we wouldn't do for that child and we work very hard to make that happen.
When that child grows into a teen, the same parenting skills we used with them as a child suddenly shifts and we find ourselves learning how to parent differently for a teen. The first born kids usually get the brunt of our teen parenting 'experimentation' and after the first teen, we feel we may have it down.
Then comes along the next teen and we find that we have to parent them differently. The rules and goal line are continually shifting.
Now, add to that the complexity of teen depression, teen anxiety, panic attacks, teen trauma, and you now find yourself as parents looking for answers. We reach out to friends and family asking for their input as the goal line just shifted so far away it feels, at times, unattainable.
Specialists in Family Therapy
As parents, our hearts ache for our teens who are struggling. Teen depression, teen anxiety or other mood and emotion based struggles, leave us searching for answers.
When a teen is struggling, this can come out in anger, frustration, and mood swings beyond the normal, typical teen angst. We are having a difficult time liking the teen we love due to the impact their behavior is having on the family -- and we feel guilty for having this thought.
Parents, you have an expert and specialist in family counseling to lean on. There is such power in family counseling to affect long term change.
As a family unit, we individually play such a vital role in each other's happiness and well being. The teen may require individual teen therapy and the chances of maintaining those changes over time increase exponentially when family therapy is included.
As parents ourselves and our 'switches' having been flipped with our own children, we understand at the core what you are experiencing. As family therapists, we utilize that understanding in our family therapy sessions to help your family through the challenges of this time.
Family Counseling Can Help Your Family Run Like Clockwork
Families may start family therapy for a variety of reasons. Yet, the underlying driver for reaching out and contacting a family therapist is the same: parents are concerned for the happiness and well-being of their teen and how their teen's behavior is impacting the family.
Parents simply want their lovable teen to be likable again and see the family strife, tension, and stress disappear. Families want the strong, connected family relationships again.
Those parents who reach out and start family therapy are typically the parents who get and understand the role of the family in supporting each other. These are parents that understand that they too may be able to contribute to helpful change. If there is going to be lasting and enduring change, it will 'take a village', in this case, the family.
Though the primary issue may rest with the teen who is struggling, each family member can play a critical role in supporting the teen. The challenges your teen faces and the hope for change and improvement take support.
It is also important that each family member take a look to see if their actions are inadvertently playing a role in the teens struggles. Though it may be a minor role, we have seen small changes make a big impact.
Families Running Like Clockwork: Family Therapy
An example we often use is that of a watch. If we take off the backside of a watch we can see many parts all working together in a very synchronous way.
Each of the individual parts must function with precision. Though they are individual parts, they also serve an interdependent function. Each part interacts with another and depends on other part(s).
If each of the individual parts are operating at peak performance, the result a system that is functioning optimally. It will create a watch piece that runs with high precision.
But, if we make one small alteration to one of the pieces, say a gear, what happens to the operation and precision of the watch as a whole? Not only will the watch not keep accurate time, the watch itself may stop working all together.
Families (and business organizations, schools, sports teams, etc.) are all very similar. To make a change in one aspect of the family alters the functioning of the rest of the family (or business organization, school, sports team, etc.).
As one family member begins making changes, we also need to be working with other family members to to help them make adjustments. When this occurs, your family will run 'like clockwork'. This is the purpose of family therapy.
A family counselor helps make small adjustments with each family member in order to work out the challenges. When these challenges are worked out, it results in a stronger, happier family.
The Katy Teen & Family Counseling Approach to Family Therapy
Barbara Bush once said, "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there." Elizabeth Edwards said, "It takes a lot of work to put together a marriage, to put together a family and a home." And Anthony Liccione, "Everyone needs to live within a house. But, having the love and support of your family? That is what makes your house a home."
At Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we know that the foundation of any teens success rests on the foundation of a strong family and a strong home. It takes hard work and sometimes it's messy. Add in a teen struggling with teen depression, teen anxiety, teen trauma, ADHD or other struggles, it takes that much more work to maintain a strong, harmonious, family unit.
We are here to lend you our expertise in family therapy to help strengthen the family bonds and set that strong foundation with you. When we are members of that family trying to solve complex problems within the family, it can be helpful to bring a family therapist.
A family therapist can see things with from an outside perspective. This provides a level of objectivity and combined with a wealth of experience working with families, results in success.
Below are two of our approaches in working with families:
Functional Family Therapy (FFT) for Family Counseling
One approach to family therapy that is utilized is Functional Family Therapy (FFT). FFT is a strengths based therapy approach that is supported by research and shown to be effective. FFT is designed specifically for working with teens and is a short term family therapy approach (generally 12 sessions).
The FFT model does not focus on the 'dysfunction' of the family (though this is taken into account). Rather, FFT focuses on how the current functioning of the family members is meeting certain needs.
We all meet our needs in various ways. Sometimes we meet our needs in healthy ways. Other times, in ways that affect our relationships. FFT looks at the need behind the behavior and how to meet the need in a new healthy way.
Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) for Family Therapy
Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) is a strengths based, evidence-based model. CPS's foundation is in neurobiology with specific regard to the teen brain. It allows parents and teens to address the problem through mutual problem solving.
Empathy and empowerment are it's two main elements. This approach teaches teen's various skills in the application of CPS. Skills like empathy, collaboration, insight, analytical thinking, etc.
Begin Family Therapy at Katy Teen & Family Counseling:
Serving Katy, Tx & Houston
You don't have to continue to live with the sleepless nights, fatigue, exhaustion, worry or fears any longer. Teen depression, teen anxiety, teen trauma and other mood, emotional, or behavioral struggles can unintentionally create a high level of tension in the family. This can can stress the family system to near breaking point.
At Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we have caring family therapists waiting to join with you. We are the outside, objective observer, who has the clinical training and expertise to help resolve family struggles. With you as the expert on your teen and family and our clinical expertise in family counseling, we can together bring hope and happiness to your home.
To get started in family therapy, you can follow these simple steps:
1. Contact Katy Teen & Family Counseling
2. Meet with one of our teen and family therapy specialists
3. Let's make the sleepless nights, the fatigue, exhaustion, worry or fears a thing of the past. We're happy to talk with you about how we can work together to do just that!
Other Teen Therapy Services Provided by Katy Teen & Family Counseling:
Serving Katy and Houston
While we specialize in treating gifted teens and talented teen athletes at Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we also specialize in other emotional and behavioral life struggles and provide the following approaches such as:
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Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
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Teen Therapy for Self-harm
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Teen Therapy for Self-esteem and Self-worth
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Teen Anger Management Treatment