Articles
No Contact with Parents: Healing from Family Estrangement
No one wakes up and decides to go no contact with their parents. The choice to go no contact with anyone is made after you've tried for years to build a healthy relationship with someone. Unfortunately, when that someone is a parent, society attaches a lot of...
Our Approach to Premarital Counseling
Thanks to our diverse staff, we can offer many kinds of premarital counseling at Family Strategies Counseling and Mediation. Our approach to premarital counseling, therefore, falls into two categories; secular or faith-based premarital counseling. In addition, we...
Co-Parenting Counseling: Is it for Your Family?
Co-parenting can be messy, awkward, and just plain complicated. Unfortunately, no one gives you instructions on how to co-parent after you and your partner separate. However, you are raising a child, and it isn't about how uncomfortable it is for you to be in the same...
Does Your Child Need to See a Therapist?
Knowing when a child needs to see a therapist can be tricky. Kids don't always have the emotional control or communication skills to verbalize their needs or feelings. During difficult times, kids may think they must protect their parents and not add to their pain....
When Parents Use Emotional Blackmail, It Harms Kids
Unfortunately, many parents use emotional blackmail while raising their kids. They use fear, guilt, intimidation, threats, and withholding of patience and affection to get their children to do what they want. Furthermore, many parents are unaware of the harm this does...
Play Therapy for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Family Strategies Counseling & Mediation uses play therapy to reach children of all ages. We often use play therapy to teach empathy or work through specific negative behaviors. Unfortunately, one of the most frequent reasons parents or guardians seek out play...
How to Respond to Feelings of Contempt in a Relationship
Contempt in a relationship can be one of the most significant predictors of divorce. Dr. John Gottman, a renowned relationship therapist, identified it as one of the negative communication patterns couples fall into that can predicate divorce. Coining them the Four...
Healing Your Inner Child: Childhood Trauma Therapy
Childhood trauma is an experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressing. Prolonged exposure to trauma results in lasting mental and physical effects. A way to overcome these effects is through childhood trauma therapy with a licensed...
EMDR for Processing Childhood Abuse
Sixty percent of our adult population suffers from some form of trauma. Unfortunately, the most common form of trauma is related to childhood abuse. One effective treatment method for those suffering from post-traumatic stress is EMDR for processing childhood...