Houston Family Counseling & Family Therapy

Dysfunctional families tend to be unpredictable or unsafe and result in short-term or long-term harm to family members. Family dysfunction can negatively affect a family member’s ability to function and thrive in the present and can result in painful scars and maladaptive patterns of thinking and behavior that damage self-worth and impede life success. Left unchecked, dysfunctional family patterns may be recreated in new relationships and passed down from generation to generation.

Below are topics that may be addressed in family counseling.

Family members' struggles
Physical violence
Parentification in which the child takes on the role of an adult by engaging in developmentally inappropriate tasks (running the home, caring for younger siblings, refereeing parents’ fights, and being allowed or expected to make household decisions).
Children serve to meet the physical or emotional needs of the parent (protecting them or cheering them up, for example)
Lack of parental involvement
Neglect of financial or basic physical care
Strong, rigid parental control over children with the expectation of total compliance (religious, financial, or personal values, for example)
Reality shifting in which a family member may deny or contradict another’s experience (re-writing a past memory or denying that something happened, for example)
Enmeshed relationships in which the line between self and others is blurred (lack of privacy or parent sees the child as an extension of themselves, for example)
Conditional love or unrealistic expectations
Children are allowed or persuaded to use drugs or alcohol
Lack of rules or structure for children

It is possible to change destructive family patterns, heal old wounds, and create closer healthy relationships built on authenticity and trust. Family therapy, involving all or multiple family members, can help. Individual therapy with one family member can be helpful too. According to family systems research, when one member of the family system changes, it forces the whole family system to change and adjust.

Therapy to treat family dysfunction may include the below tasks.

Expression and validation of feelings
Conflict resolution
Healthy boundaries and limit setting
Creating structure, stability, and flexibility
Strengthening the support system and building coping skills

At The Resilience Center of Houston, we have licensed therapists skilled at treating family dysfunction to lessen distress and create better outcomes for all involved. Contact us for more information on our Houston family counseling & family therapy, we will be happy to connect you to a caring expert today.

What are the different types of anxiety disorders?

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

Generalized anxiety disorder involves excessive and persistent worry that interferes with daily life. Relentless worry results in physical symptoms, like restlessness, feeling on edge, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, exhaustion, and sleep problems. Topics of worry typically center on everyday matters, like appointments, home repairs, work responsibilities, and family health.

What is Panic Disorder?

Panic Disorder is characterized by recurrent Panic Attacks. Panic attacks present with severe and overwhelming psychological and physical distress, involving some of the below symptoms.

What are the physical symptoms of Panic Disorder?

Rapid heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Muscle tension
Sweating
Shaking
Restlessness
Dizziness
Tightness in the chest
Numbness or tingling

What are the psychological symptoms of Panic Disorder?

Feeling like you’re having a heart attack
Feeling like you’re going to die
Feeling impending doom
Feeling like you’re going crazy
Feeling like you’re losing touch with reality
Fearing you’ll lose control of yourself
Constant worry about when you’ll have your next panic attack
Fear you’ll embarrass yourself

What are Phobias?

A specific phobia involves intense and persistent fear of a particular object, situation or activity that is generally not dangerous. The experienced distress is acute and leads sufferers to go to extreme lengths to avoid what they fear.

What are common phobias?

Fear of driving
Fear of flying
Fear of vomiting
Fear of needles
Fear of confined spaces
Fear of being alone
Fear of leaving the house

What is Agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is characterized by the fear of being trapped or stuck in circumstances in which escape may be difficult or embarrassing, or help might not be easily available. The fear is acutely distressing and interferes with normal daily activities. The person typically avoids the situation, needs a companion, or experiences extreme anxiety.

What are common situations agoraphobics fear?

Trembling
Crowds
Enclosed Spaces
Open Spaces
Public transportation
Leaving the home

What is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder ?

PTSD can develop after a severe physical or emotional trauma such as a sexual assault, natural disaster, or serious accident. Those with PTSD feel intensely upsetting thoughts and emotions connected to their traumatic experience that persist long after the situation happened.

What are PTSD symptoms?

The symptoms of PTSD can be categorized into four areas.

Intrusion – repeated, unwanted thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks of the event

Avoidance – steering clear of people, places, activities, and objects that are associated with the event.

Changes in cognition and mood – loss of interest, distorted thinking, difficulties concentrating, loss of certain memories, negative emotions, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, and anhedonia.

Changes in behavior – social withdrawal, anger outbursts, recklessness, sensitive startle response, problems sleeping.

What is Social Anxiety Disorder?

Social Anxiety Disorder involves excessive discomfort in social situations and a fear of experiencing embarrassment, judgment, humiliation, condescension, or rejection in social situations that can negatively impact work, school, and other daily activities. People with this disorder will try to avoid social situations or endure them with great anxiety.

What are commonly feared situations for those with social anxiety?

Commonly feared situations include attending parties, interacting at work, eating in public, or engaging in unscripted interactions.

What are common Social Anxiety symptoms?

Trembling
Blushing
Sweating
Rapid heartbeat
Mind goes blank
Stomachache
Speaks very softly
Avoids eye contact

What is Separation Anxiety Disorder?

Separation Anxiety Disorder is is characterized by excessive fear of being away from those we are close to, who are also called attachment persons.

What are signs of Separation Anxiety Disorder?

Anticipation of potential separation causes mounting fear
Persistent worry about the negative consequences resulting from separation
Obsessive focus on the multitude of situations that could lead to separation
Interferes with attending important activities, like work or school
Fears of sleeping outside the home and away from attachment persons
Nightmares about separation
Headaches, nausea, or vomiting

What is Selective Mutism?

Selective Mutism is a rare and debilitating childhood condition that involves a failure to speak in certain situations in which there is a natural expectation to speak. A child may talk at home, for example, and be nonverbal at school. The absence of spoken communication can significantly interfere with the child’s academic achievement and can stunt their social development and the formation of relationships with others. It is theorized that Selective Mutism may be an early and specific manifestation of Social Anxiety Disorder.

What are behaviors associated with Selective Mutism?