Parents and families
Our primary clients are parents and other caregivers in situations where:
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A young or adult child could be helped by therapy but refuses it
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A young or adult child is in therapy and parents need counselling
Parents come to us when they feel helpless in dealing with their young or adult children. They feel they “lost the sense of what it means to be that child’s parent”, they “don’t know what to do,” they feel trapped and humiliated. Many come to us in the midst of an acute life crisis.
Understandably, parents experiencing helpleness wish to send their child to therapy. A wide variety of helpful therapeutic approaches for children exists today. Such therapies, however, cannot always be effective without parental counselling, not to speak of the parent’s own need for support. Many therapists who practice individual therapy with young or adult children refer the parents to us.
In many cases, children are simply not willing to attend individual or family therapy. In such cases an entire family may be in distress. Parents, siblings, spouses, and parents may find themselves suffering due to their relationship with a child with untreated mental difficulties. In situations where a young or adult child refuses therapy, or is undergoing therapy with no visible effects on their well being, there is only one option left:
Stop trying to change the child, and help improve the parent’s wellness in a way that will affect the child.