"Fix my kid!"

When a minor in your family seems to be struggling and is showing worrying symptoms, it makes sense to send that person to therapy, right? Yes, but - your minor child isn't struggling in a vacuum. 

S/he lives in a home with family, and together that system has worked to get the minor to his/her current state. This means that you will have to work together to reach health. 

Sometimes, this means that your child or teenager may begin to set boundaries and to act differently, and that you'll have to adapt. In some cases, your therapist may need to see the client and parent(s) together in order to work on the problem. If this is the case, don't expect to simply tell your side of the story and then watch the treatment happen. You may have to learn a new skill, too. 

In many families, the person who is referred to me (the identified patient) isn't the person who has the biggest problem, they're the one whose problem became obvious first. Other members of the family also struggle, but they might be better at hiding it, or they may have more socially-accepted ways of dealing with it. 

You're probably familiar with this in your family of origin, but it can be harder to see when it concerns your own child. That's part of my job, and it's something we can work together to identify. 

I like to see the parent and child/teenager together for part of the session so that I can get all sides of the story, and usually I'll ask the parent to join us periodically. So if you want me to help your kid, come ready to help yourself, too!