Your family, whatever shape it takes, are the people who typically have the deepest connection to you. For good or for ill, your family plays a significant role in shaping you and the person that you become. The choices we make and the values we espouse are molded by the influential formative relationships that mark our beginnings. Christian family counseling in Redding, California can help with this process.
Given that families are so significant in shaping the people that are part of them, helping families become and remain healthy spaces where each member is nurtured is an important task. Each family has its own set of concerns and issues that need to be addressed, and Christian family counseling in Redding can be a great way to work through these meaningfully.
Understanding Christian family counseling and how it works
Family counseling is a form of psychotherapy, or talk therapy, which is designed to help families work through areas of concern, foster change, nurture deeper communication, and resolve conflicts that undermine the well-being of the family unit. If there are emotional, behavioral, and psychological issues in the family that are complicating relationships, family counseling is intended to help work through these.
Christian family counseling addresses these mental, emotional, and behavioral problems that negatively affect family life making use of spiritual resources such as Scripture, prayer, and wisdom gleaned from seeing things through a Christian worldview.
These resources and this Christian perspective aren’t used in isolation but in combination with or as an approach to the various evidence-based therapeutic techniques used by other mental health professionals.
Families can be thought of as living organisms containing various systems of interactions. You may be innately aware of this, and that awareness often emerges when you’re considering who to invite to family events. You know that this sibling and that parent don’t quite get along, but if a certain aunt is around, she can help to keep the peace, and everyone can enjoy Thanksgiving that year.
When a family goes for family counseling, what can happen is that the counselor can talk to the family as a group, as individuals, or a combination of both. Each session is between 50 minutes to an hour each week, but the number of sessions the family will need depends on the issue that needs to be addressed, and whether the family members are willing to participate and do the work.
Family counseling works best when family members are willing to participate and contribute to the process. If family members object to taking part in the process, that doesn’t mean that one is out of options. Individual counseling can still help you unpack and work through your own experiences and emotions.
Issues addressed
Relationships take work to make them healthy and nurturing for the people involved in them. Any number of issues can crop up to disrupt the dynamics in a family. Even a family that previously had healthy relationships can develop habits and patterns that undermine the well-being of individual members.
Christian family counseling can address issues as diverse as:
- Marital problems, including dealing with the aftermath of infidelity.
- Family members have difficulty communicating with each other or expressing their emotions
- Conflicts between siblings or between a parent and child.
- Inconsistent parenting and its impact on the children.
- Cultivating a functional and healthy relationship after a divorce, including co-parenting.
- Adapting to significant changes, such as moving, remarriage after divorce, the death of one spouse, or the addition of a new child to the family.
- Support to deal with chronic illness or substance abuse.
- Dealing with loss and grief, such as death in the family.
Christian family counseling aims to help families and the individuals in those families to fully become who God made them to be. The process of counseling can help with improving communication between family members and assisting family members in understanding their role in the family. Each family member has their strengths and growth areas, and family counseling can help harness those strengths and provide tools for growth.
Additionally, family counseling can provide family members with the skills they need to cope with difficulties, including having the capacity to deal with conflict and resolve problems amicably. Every healthy relationship requires boundaries, and family counseling can help family members define those for themselves and help with addressing dysfunctional interactions such as the violation of personal boundaries.
Strengthening your family through Christian family counseling
A healthy family means that each member is given room to flourish, that those who need support are supported, and the relationship dynamics in the family help to nurture each member. Instead of being a space marked by conflict and dysfunction, home and family life can improve significantly as underlying issues are addressed through Christian family counseling.
If your family has any underlying issues that are causing significant problems in how family members relate to one another, you should consider Christian family counseling in Redding, California. It’s possible to have a healthy and happy family life.
Reach out to Redding Christian Counseling in California to speak with a Christian family counselor in Redding for the support you and your family need to address issues affecting your family life.
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