TRINITY FAMILY COUNSELING CENTER
  • Home
  • Areas of Specialization
    • The Counseling Process
    • Christian Counseling
    • Anxiety and Depression
    • Self-Care
    • Relationships and Marriage
    • Grief and Loss
    • Family Counseling
    • Divorce
    • Remarriage and Blended Families
    • Parenting Counseling
    • Children and Adolescents Counseling
    • ADHD Counseling
    • Counseling for First Responders
    • Grief Group - Free to the Community
  • Our Counselors
    • Tonya Ratliff
    • Deb Toering
    • Wendy Warner
    • Liza Hinchey
    • Dave Papandrea
    • Sherrie Darnell
    • Shelley Kruszewski
    • Brian Perry
  • Fees for Services
  • LLC Supervision

Family Counseling

Picture
Our problems with others rarely exist in isolation. Many times, we come to realize that the interaction within our family unit itself is what is not working well.  Maybe there are unresolved misunderstandings from the past? A lack of sufficient boundaries in family relationships? Or cycles of conflict that keep recurring? There are also generational differences and alliances that develop within a family that can result in hurt feelings and long-held resentments.

A competent family counselor can help family members begin to sort out and “own” their piece of responsibility for the family dysfunction. Our counselors at Trinity have experience working with families to assist them in identifying their cycles of dysfunction. We can offer an objective perspective about the overarching patterns of interaction at the center of the problems. While commitment to the process is a necessary feature of successful family counseling, often times simply gathering in the same room—at the same time—to talk about their challenges with an objective third party can in and of itself—be healing.

Counseling Insights and Articles About Family Counseling:

Is it Close Family or Enmeshment?, by Shelley Kruszewski
Will You Be Using Anyone’s Name Today?, by Sherrie Darnell

​Let’s Be Nicer to Each Other. You Go First., by Wendy Warner
Communication For Successful Relationships, by Dave Papandrea
A Lapse In Relational Logic, by Sherrie Darnell
Humble Listening = Productive Communication, by Wendy Warner
Acceptance Versus Comparison, by Wendy Warner
Can A Pandemic Bring About Positive Change?, by Wendy Warner
Try a New Approach with Family This Holiday Season, by Wendy Warner
Parents: What Are You Sowing And Reaping?, by Wendy Warner
Boundaries: Your Emotional Property Lines, by Tonya Ratliff
How Does Family Counseling Work?, by Tonya Ratliff
Family Of Origin: We Don't Get To Choose, by Tonya Ratliff
Gratitude Transforms The Thanksgiving Table, by Deb Toering
Conflict Is So Hard At Times!, by Wendy Warner
Please Listen to Me, Don’t Dismiss Me, by Wendy Warner
Spring Cleaning, by Tonya Ratliff
Family Holidays: Havoc Or Harmony?, by Wendy Warner

Family Of Origin: We Don't Get To Choose

1/13/2019

 
by Tonya Ratliff, LPC, ACS
Picture
Tonya Ratliff is the Owner and Director of Counseling Services for Trinity Family Counseling Center. In addition to her individual, couple, and family clients, Tonya is also the lead facilitator of the Walk With Me® Grief Support Group, an aftercare program sponsored by Wm. Sullivan and Son Funeral Home in Utica, MI.
We are born into a healthy, loving, committed marriage, or a chaotic, unstable, and dysfunctional relationship... or more likely, somewhere in between these extremes. The point is, we don’t get to choose.
 
Our family of origin experiences have an enormous impact on the trajectory of our lives.
 
Fathers teach sons how to love a woman and how to lead a family... or they don’t. Fathers teach daughters what they deserve from a man — love, respect, and partnership… or they don’t.
 
Mothers teach sons to recognize and honor the love of a woman; the importance of her voice of reason and her comfort... or they don’t. Mothers teach daughters how to love, respect and encourage a good and honorable man... or they don’t.
 
We take what we learn from these experiences into our future as we test the waters of our adult relationships. If we are able to recognize and admit that we are falling short, we often struggle to understand the role of those early influences.
 
The challenge is to recognize those early influences and to comprehend the impact they have had on our current choices; to be able to identify and choose a different course of action than might have been modeled by those whose behaviors initially influenced us.
 
The guidance of a caring mental health counselor can provide the safety and opportunity to explore the impact of the family we grew up with on our thoughts, values, and beliefs about ourselves as individuals and as partners.


Comments are closed.
Copyright © 2024 Trinity Family Counseling LLC
  • Home
  • Areas of Specialization
    • The Counseling Process
    • Christian Counseling
    • Anxiety and Depression
    • Self-Care
    • Relationships and Marriage
    • Grief and Loss
    • Family Counseling
    • Divorce
    • Remarriage and Blended Families
    • Parenting Counseling
    • Children and Adolescents Counseling
    • ADHD Counseling
    • Counseling for First Responders
    • Grief Group - Free to the Community
  • Our Counselors
    • Tonya Ratliff
    • Deb Toering
    • Wendy Warner
    • Liza Hinchey
    • Dave Papandrea
    • Sherrie Darnell
    • Shelley Kruszewski
    • Brian Perry
  • Fees for Services
  • LLC Supervision