Family Conflict

When a couple is experiencing a divorce, other members of the family are affected. Divorce is a transitional period for all family members involved, especially children. Divorce necessitates a reorganization of the family regarding proximity (both physical and emotional), boundaries, roles, expectations and rules. It can be helpful to have intentional conversations about these changes as a family to promote emotional health, adjustment, and healing.

I believe that we are made up of the stories of our pasts, but that our pasts do not freeze us in time. My hope is that we can examine how our past experiences, particularly those from our childhood, affect our lives today. From here we can move forward and find ways to integrate and heal from our past.

Inner child work may help those experiencing interpersonal conflict. Inner child work helps explore unprocessed childhood emotions and feelings that currently impact one’s life and understanding, managing, and/or reducing triggers. One desire for inner child work may be to identify wounded areas and/or unmet needs of the child, learn to advocate, protect, or show compassion for the child, create a safe enough space to invite the child to play, and integrate the child with the adult self.

Intimate relationships that are not safe, trusting or respectful hijack your sense of feeling valued. Any compulsion, addiction, or dysfunction in the family, when the focus is on one member affects all. It may be a serious illness, a recent death, or a huge life stressor that creates upheaval and discord in the family. This can result in estrangement, bickering, loneliness, and isolation. Healing is available and often can help develop stronger bonds.

Conflict within families is normal, but not everyone knows that! I try to normalize the presence of conflict and guide families (and partnerships) to healthy conflict resolution.

Whether working with an individual or with the whole family, I am experienced at supporting families to work through conflicts by teasing out the ways in which strategies used to survive historical and intergenerational trauma have become habits and patterns of behavior that interfere with closeness, connection, and unconditional support.

In my role as a family-based therapist at Child Guidance Resource Centers, I served the Philadelphia community through intensive home- and community-based family therapy for children and adolescents displaying social, emotional and behavioral disorders and for their families from 2019-2022. I am deeply committed, personally and professionally, to delivering culturally competent treatment to underserved populations in the community.

Families are complicated, and you deserve a space to process and sort out your thoughts and feelings. I help clients process emotions about family, set better boundaries, improve communication, strengthen coping strategies, and gain perspective.

I work with adult families and friends on mid to late life issues. This may include multigenerational family conflict; caregiving and planning for loved ones; coping with health conditions; redefining parent-child relationships.

We are trained to consider presenting issues from a contextual family systems lens and are always considering complex intergenerational trauma and other family dynamics in our work with all clients- whether you come to therapy with your family or as an individual.

Are your identities (e.g., gender identity, sexual orientation) causing friction or distance in family relationships? Have you felt torn between loyalty and seeking autonomy from your family? Have complicated family relationships caused longstanding wounds? Are you a "cycle-breaker" in the family? Are you needing help navigating very different values and perspectives held by family members? Together, we can explore the nuances and complexities of your circumstances, and help you find alignment.

What we learn from our own family affects our sense of self and seeps into our partnerships, work, and child-rearing. Solid individual or couples' therapy involves values clarification, trust and commitment, developing positive feelings towards oneself and our partner, sharing in life achievements, and conflict resolution skills. Insight isn't the cure, but it's where action begins.

Launching young adults, parenting teens, parenting children, parenting adult children, empty nesting, financial conflicts, school conflicts, household management, defiant children, Aspergers and autism-spectrum disorders, ADHD/ADD, co-parenting Also specialize in conflicts around extended families and family businesses.

As a specialist in working with family conflicts, you focus on helping families navigate and resolve disputes to restore harmony and improve relationships. I use evidence-based approaches such as family therapy and conflict resolution techniques to address communication issues, identify underlying problems, and foster mutual understanding.

Family relationships can be a source of both support and stress, especially when dealing with trauma, boundaries, or estrangement. I work with clients to navigate complex family dynamics, rebuild healthy communication, and address past wounds. Together, we’ll explore ways to foster connection, set boundaries, or find peace in situations where conflict may feel overwhelming.