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We provide couples counseling
and marital and family therapy to couples and families in distress.
Marital and family therapy
involves working with couples and family members in intimate
relationships to help facilitate and promote positive change and
development. The focus is on patterrns of interaction--identifying
positive resources and strengths in the family/couple system to change
dysfunctional and self defeating behavior patterns. The emphasis is on
meeting everyone's needs within reason, and the counseling/therapy
process often involves negotiation so that everyone's needs can be met
realistically without ignoring anyone's needs. Family therapy has been
used effectively where families, and or individuals in those families
experience or suffer from:
-
serious
emotional or psychological disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, trauma,
psychosis, personality disorders, addictions, eating disorders, ADHD,
etc.)
-
transitional
crises in a family's life cycle (e.g., loss, bereavement, grief,
divorce, serious injury, trauma, loss of work, affairs, separation and
divorce, child and adolescent issues)
-
the need for
support to help them make positive progress in individual counseling,
psychotherapy and psychiatric medication therapy
As a clinical psychologist, I
have been trained in a number of proven approaches. These include:
conflict resolution, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, rational-emotive,
reality therapy, multimodal, psychodynamic, object relations, systemic,
strategic and Ericksonian approaches to marital and family therapy.
After over 25 years in practice, I understand the importance of
flexibility, and the necessity of drawing from a range of techniques
from different schools of counseling and psychotherapy in order to
address the often complex problems that couples and families in distress
present.
As a behavioral and
cognitive-behavioral psychologist, I understand that promoting the
change of self defeating and dysfunctional behavior is a primary goal in
both individual and marital and family therapy. As a hypnotherapist and
psychodynamically trained therapist, I understand the important role of
the Subconscious and the Unconscious in motivating and determining
behaviors.
In many cases, behaviors can be
changed through direct methods and educational interventions. In other
cases, it is necessary to change underlying cognitions, attitudes and
beliefs in order to promote behavior change. Each member of the family
who is involved in a problem has their unique perspectives and beliefs
that have to be addressed and subjected to reality testing. A key
question is: Is this belief useful? Is it helping or hurting the
situation? In still other cases, Clinical Hypnosis and clinical trance
work can be used effectively and strategically with couples and members
of a family system to promote positive change. When indicated, and with
informed consent and permission, I might utilize hypnosis with everyone
in the room to promote positive change, productive insight, and empower
everyone involved.
Often, seemingly insurmountable
problems can be solved and impasses circumvented when one member of a
couple or family system changes their behavior. This is because when one
person's behavior changes, the other people involved must change their
behaviors and attitudes in order to accommodate and adapt to the first
change. Change promotes change. First order change promotes second order
change and so on.
Depending on the situational
circumstances, I might point out to the involved participants
interaction patterns that they might not have noticed, or I might
suggest different ways of responding to other family members. These
changes in ways of responding then trigger repercussions in the system,
often leading to a more functional and satisfying state for all members
of the family.
The number of sessions depends
on the situation, but the average is 5-20 sessions. Often couples and
family work need to be alternated with working individually with the
involved persons.
Couples and marital therapy can
improve quality of life, help relationships become more functional and
satisfying, and help the involved parties make informed decisions that
can benefit everyone in the system. After a course of successful
treatment, conflicts can get resolved, hidden or unconscious motivations
and agendas can be clarified, past experiences can be re-examined,
worked through, reframed and resolved, unhealthy identifications can be
changed, punishing interactions can be changed, and new hope can often
be restored.
Bruce Eimer, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.
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