Dealing with adolescents can often be trying. It is easy to enter into a negative cycle, despite how much each family member cares. Therapy can focus on shifting the negative cycle to a more positive one. Parents can learn to respond calmly or “flat-line” as I refer to it, and adolescents can feel safe and cared about when limits are set in a respectful and calm way. Emotionally focused family therapy helps the family identify their negative cycle so that family members can relate to each other in a loving and effective manner.

Eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual promiscuity are often the expressions of an adolescent who is struggling with identity issues or trying to separate. Therapy is effective for adolescents individually as well as in the family.