Interpersonal Family Dynamics
“When we deny our stories, they define us.
When we own our stories, we get to write a brave new ending.”
We each have a unique family story - from our families of origin to who we call "family" now. Those stories are most likely filled with some combination of celebration and disappointment, joy and pain.
Our relationship experiences, or lack there of, in our earlier lives play a major impact on how we connect with the world and those around us.
While it may feel easier to say "the past is just the past" or "I turned out okay" when we think about our families of origin, if we don't identify and recognize beliefs, values and patterns set for us earlier in our lives - we miss the opportunity to own, and sometimes challenge, these norms to create renewed, healthy relationships with those we love.
Individual therapy focused more specifically on interpersonal family dynamics might be a good fit for you if:
You grew up with a parent who experienced chronic physical or mental illness such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bipolar a Substance Use Disorder or any other dependency or addictive behaviors and want to understand the impact this family dynamic may have had and/or how to set healthy relationship boundaries moving forward.
You grew up in a home where you experienced and/or were witness to trauma - which can range anywhere from verbal or emotional outbursts that left you feeling uncertain or unsafe, to emotional and physical neglect from a loved one, or to emotional, physical or sexual abuse within or outside of your family of origin.
You are currently experiencing interpersonal difficulties with family members (i.e. parents, children, siblings, partner, etc.) that produce feelings of guilt & shame, chronic unrealistic and/or unmet expectations, resentment, or lack of defined boundaries between yourself and your loved ones emotional wellbeing.
You have a partner or significant other with chronic physical or mental illness and are experiencing compassion fatigue, guilt & shame, or resentment toward them and their condition.
You are in a dating or marital relationship that is greatly impacted by your family of origin background, values, norms and belief systems and would like help navigating relationship dynamics and learning new ways of interacting and communicating with one another.