Family & Intergenerational Relationships
- Do you find yourself caught in old patterns, playing the same roles you’ve tried to outgrow?
- Are unresolved conflicts, miscommunications, or unmet expectations creating a rift that feels impossible to bridge?
- Perhaps there is a sense of obligation or guilt that keeps you tethered, even when the relationship feels draining or unbalanced?
Maybe you struggle to express your needs or boundaries without fear of rejection or backlash. Or you are yearning for closeness but are unsure how to approach those long-standing wounds or misunderstandings. The pain of feeling unseen, unappreciated, or misunderstood by family can cut deeply, leaving you wondering if things will ever change.
Family relationships often carry the weight of generational patterns, unresolved pain, and unspoken expectations. In therapy, we work to untangle the complex web of emotions and experiences that may be straining these connections. Whether it is addressing childhood wounds, navigating toxic dynamics, or processing guilt and anger, therapy offers a space to make sense of these challenges. In partnership, we focus on healing old hurts, establishing healthy boundaries, and finding ways to relate to your family with greater clarity, compassion, and empowerment.
Parenting Today
As parents, today we face the immense challenge of raising connected, grounded children in a fast-paced, ever-changing world. Amid mounting pressures including a rapid influx of information, navigating the constant shift of social and cultural systems and landscapes feels overwhelming and exhausting.
I hear many parents asking this number one question: “How do I support a child to develop emotionally intelligent, resiliency, and be prepared to thrive academically and practically as a human being in this world?”
To me parenting is not about perfection. It is about presence – showing up with humility, curiosity, and the willingness to learn about yourself as well as from and with your child. It is about navigating the tension between honoring your child’s needs while recognizing that not all needs can be met at once. It is about acknowledging mistakes, repairing when needed, and returning again and again with love and intention.
So yes, from my own journey as a therapist and parent, I see parenting as a dynamic ever evolving relationship. Our role is to provide a foundation of safety, trust, and guidance that allows children to grow into their fullest selves – emotionally, intellectually, and relationally.
Addressing the following, I draw from my toolbox filled over the years from my education – in teacher training, Montessori training, Attachment Model, Nonviolent Communication, Developmental, Neuroscience, and Mindfulness trainings, … – and foremost the education my children provided me with over the years.
- creating a safe and empowering physical and emotional environment.
- using effective communication tools to encourage listening and speaking between parents, children, teens, and adult offspring.
- fostering cooperation and teamwork among parents, co-parents, children, teens, adult children, and blended families.
- practicing empathy for the challenges and joys of parenting at all stages, including the unique dynamics with adult children.
- staying present and engaged in the moment.
- maintaining a non-coercive approach to parenting.
- co-parenting effectively across different households.
- cultivating gratitude and celebration within your family.
- balancing the “WE” with the “Me.”
- focusing on strengths while transforming challenges.
- redefining your connection and commitment, especially with adult children.
- expressing emotions (anger, depression, grief, jealousy, etc.) in a way that can be heard.
- encouraging healthy requests without guilt, blame, or shame.
Khalil Gibran from the “The Prophet”:
On Children
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Children.”
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Variant of the last paragraph:
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and She bends you with Her might that Her arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as She loves the arrow that flies, so She loves also the bow that is stable.