Family Issues

Because familial relationships matter so much to us, they also have the power to worry, frustrate, and anger us the most.

The Brown family is just one example…

Carrie worries.

Her oldest daughter, Maria, seems to be floundering. She graduated from college two years ago and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She moved back home and works part-time to save money, so that she can move into her own place.

Carrie cooks her daughter’s dinner, does her laundry, cleans up after her… because, that’s just the way it’s always been.

Carrie likes taking care of her daughters. She likes being a mom. But, it gets a little tiresome – cleaning up after an adult.

Maria says she’ll change and help out around the house more, but she doesn’t. If Carrie pushes, Maria gets angry and says her mother doesn’t understand what she’s going through.

Carrie’s youngest daughter, Piper, is a perfectionist. Piper is about to graduate college. She did really well in school, but often called her mom, filled with anxiety, during her time away.

Piper was so anxious about her grades and schoolwork that Carrie had to regularly “talk her down.” Carrie can’t imagine how her youngest child is going to survive in the world.

Mike is frustrated.

He doesn’t understand why Carrie insists on cleaning up after Maria or why she will talk for hours to Piper, trying to help her calm down. Doesn’t she realize that their daughters need to start doing this stuff on their own?

Mike wishes his daughter Maria was more actively looking for a full-time job. Instead, she binge-watches television shows during her free time. He had a full-time job after he graduated from college. Why wasn’t she making more of an effort?

Maybe they just need to kick her out! Sink or swim.

And now Piper will be back home soon.

Empty nest? What’s that?

Maria feels pressured.

She likes being back home… for the most part.

Many of her friends moved back home with their parents, too. It’s normal.

Maria doesn’t understand why her dad is so focused on her getting a job and moving out. No one else is. Doesn’t he understand that there are no jobs out there? Well, at least no “real” jobs.

She wants to do something that matters. What if it never happens? What if she has to work at something meaningless for the rest of her life?

The “stuff” that mattered to her parents when they were young isn’t important to her – they just don’t get it.

Piper is anxious.

She says nothing when her friends talk about the excitement of graduating, because she feels fear.

Piper’s graduating at the top of her class, but she still doesn’t think she’s prepared for life after school.

She thinks she could have done better.

She knew she needed to look for a job, but had been putting it off — her resume wasn’t quite finished, and she couldn’t figure out what to wear to an interview.

The jobs Piper sees available aren’t what she pictured herself doing. What if she got a job, and it turned out to be awful?

Families can be wonderful, and wonderfully complex.

Therapy can help navigate the needs and personalities of the individual family members, as well as the family as a unit.

We’ve found that it can sometimes be helpful to have counselors work both individually and as a team with members of the family to help them find optimal outcomes.

We are uniquely positioned to serve your family in this way.

If your family is struggling, call today. We’re here to help.