Families are formative. They are an influential force in forming a mature sense of self. In families we learn to love, relate, think, determine what’s valuable, and analyze and respond/react to our environment. It’s where we learn to manage closeness and distance in intense relationships.
We at PCD assume the family relationship system works the same in healthy and unhealthy families. Individuals can get entangled in the stressed relationships of others in the family. How does one get disentangled?
Family members can cutoff emotionally and from one another to manage the chronic stress or relational tension in the family. How do you reconnect or bridge these cutoffs?
It’s a challenge to define who you are as a unique individual while staying connected to the family of origin. Some families manage these differences well. Others get highly anxious. How does your family manage difference?
Families tend to seek balance, familiarity, and sameness. They can resist threats to what is familiar, even when the familiar does not serve the family well. How does your family manage the unfamiliar and the changes that occur naturally through the family life cycle?
Family patterns can be transmitted from generation to generation. What relationship patterns are you repeating that have been effective or ineffective in previous generations?
At PCD we seek to help people answer these questions. We coach families to support relational connection and affirm individual uniqueness. Sometimes we do this through meeting entire families and sometimes we meet with individuals who want to learn to relate to their families in a more effective way.