Why Adult Family Therapy?
Because it is never too late.
Often when people think of family therapy, they immediately think of families with younger children or teenagers. What about families with adult children? There is tremendous room for healing, with an unprescribed notion of what healing might look like, within families with adult children who carry historical wounds, generational trauma, and relational patterns that continue through adulthood and emerge in future generations.
We often carry old resentments and pain that makes us lose grasp of the possibility for love, reconnection, and sometimes just a deeper understanding of one another. We’re taught to just move forward and try our “best,” while carrying a full backpack of emotion from the past that prevent us from establishing deeper connections with ourselves and with people around us, family especially. Allowing ourselves to look at the past together while keeping a focus on the future, lifts the feeling of stuckness that keeps us from emotional and relational movement. I believe in the power of repair, and sometimes repair can mean, going our separate ways. Every possibility is on the table.
By having a balanced alliance with every member of the family, where each person feels supported and understood, there is room for truth, honesty, and transformation. Healing adult relationships within any constellation of a family—siblings, spouses, caregivers, grandparents, family friends, etc, is one of the most powerful gifts we can give ourselves. Success in family therapy can look a variety of ways, but the bottom line is that It Is Never Too Late.
Specializations
Revisiting and reconciling past relational trauma, patterns, and wounds
Improving communication across relationships
Gender, sexuality and identity issues
Grief and loss
Intergenerational trauma
Interracial, interfaith, etc coupling or decoupling
Decoupling and its effect on the family system
Realigning and deepening relational connections
Life transitions
Adoption
Integrating new family members through partnership
Parenting adult children
Cultural differences amongst generations
Current conflict in familial relationships
Generational parenting and parenting styles
“Assigned” family roles (mediator, scapegoat, golden child, etc.) and how to integrate and expand beyond and change roles
What next?
I start by establishing a connection with every member of the family, and defining the needs, dynamics, difficulties, and wounds that need healing. From there, I bring every member of the family together either on Zoom or in person, allowing us to collectively connect, while defining what each person sees as the “problem,” already beginning to establish honest communication by exploring together.
What then emerges is a new way to relate to one another in the present day. When we face the past together and decide what the future can be, we can gain clarity, understanding, and liberation.
Family therapy is an opportunity, an open door. It is NEVER too late.
Inquire by emailing me at ct@caitlentschann.com or via this website to discuss pricing and availability.