Family Counseling

Family incubates the origins of all human life, and family counseling in Frisco supports this idea. Whether we remain with the family of birth, or perhaps are adopted or raised by others, God created the connections we have come to know as family. He intended it to be a safe, womb-like space to root relationships that feed, fuel, and make fruitful His Kingdom purposes. That collective interdependence reflects how the Triune God abides as Father, Son, and Spirit, unified yet nuanced with unique roles and expressions.

While God planned for families to thrive throughout the ages, they have experienced threats from without and within. Genesis previews humanity’s ever-unfolding drama of family crisis, requiring godly intervention and support.

Sin in Eden gave rise to such conflict, breaking the fellowship between the first humans and their Father, Creator, and Counselor, God Himself. The consequence of sin further disrupted relationship, revealing discord in Adam and Eve’s bond. Sin poisoned the roots of the human family tree, repeating strife in the next generation.

Their sons, Cain and Abel, experienced the strain of rivalry that resulted in Abel’s death. Cain rose against Abel, ceasing to be his brother’s keeper, defense, advocate, and champion. This family needed to avail themselves of God as Counselor, given the range of issues and emotions they presented.

We witness the assault on family in scripture and in present-day society, relating to the trauma and tension peppering the Bible’s pages. Many of us have experienced similar depths of searing pain within the context of our own unique connections, and we have need for family counseling in Frisco to support and sustain the health of our families.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

This verse evidences the need for family counseling. As our Father, God places us in families to embrace and express His love, in the giving and in the receiving. He models the compassion of Counselor, providing gifts and grace even in partnership with mental health professionals, who facilitate emotional wellness in families.

God sets the solitary in families.

Psalms 68:6a NKJV

It is essential to distinguish what family counseling in Frisco is and is not. Let’s examine some of the barriers to its effectiveness, while spotlighting its benefits. Finally, we will outline expectations for what you and your family may likely encounter in counseling as well as pinpoint next steps to consider in your own process.

For generations, many have negatively viewed the practice of discussing their family matters with outside parties, such as counselors. Therapy, by its distinct nature, necessitates openness, countering what many have considered norms for their group, believing that “what happens at home, stays at home.”

However, this belief around what families “should” or “should not” do, as it pertains to their viability, undermines the fruitfulness of what family was intended to be. Sometimes, outside help is an effective prescription to diagnose and remedy what ails. Families who want to preserve the longevity of their connections can detonate looming obstacles of fear and ignorance with some insightful truths.

Family counseling in Frisco is not a blame or blast session. It is not designed to scapegoat one or broadcast the faults of a few. It is not an opportunity for your therapist to judge your family history, parenting practices, children’s behavior, or life choices.

An empathetic counselor will listen to all parties and seek to engage and incorporate members’ perspectives and voices into a shared dialogue. They will build on the strengths of the family and champion them toward noticing their individual and collective assets, while applying healthy approaches to specific areas in need of growth.

When we don’t avail ourselves of the help God has furnished through our family members and partnership with therapists, we can undermine our family’s attempts to thrive. Such neglect damages relationships and destroys bonds. Can we really afford to reject the God-sent champions who guide us into navigating the trauma and transitions impacting our family?

When we are deeply entrenched in family challenges, we may benefit from a fresh, objective perspective. No matter what form the enemy seeks to eclipse and overthrow what God intended, family counseling in Frisco can foster concurrent individual and joint healing when we consider the following:

• Perhaps, God has provided a solution and strategy outside of the family unit to compassionately restore what has been hidden inside.
• God employs counseling to declaw the monsters holding family generations hostage to a history and culture of secrecy.

God wants to dissolve shame that has calcified around our resistance to request and reach for supportive intervention.

Countering the Attack on Family

Christian family counseling in Frisco can be a powerful weapon to forge against the attack on family unity and connectedness. When it is proactive, family counseling does not wait for a problem to arise to address areas where the family can improve its overall health and well being. A joint counseling experience allows for family groups to work together with a therapist concerning the known and not-yet-discovered issues impacting one or more members.

When family counseling is considered a healthy response to the surfacing of an unhealthy matter, it can be effective in:

• Diagnosing the source of an issue
• Addressing destructive attitudes and actions
• Uprooting and disrupting perpetual cycles of dysfunction from the family tree
• Building and planting healthy systems of communication and interaction that benefit the entire family immediately and over a longer span of time

While an issue or transition may directly impact one particular member, it indirectly affects all. This is why the therapeutic experience has its most profound and enduring impact when shared with all members of the family grouping.

Counseling may disrupt the homeostasis of a family, but it will help to establish healthier relational patterns. It will serve to fortify the well being of its members, thereby strengthening and stabilizing the entire family structure.

Topics and Expectations in Family Counseling

A variety of issues lead families into the decision to pursue therapy at Frisco Christian Counseling.

At Frisco Christian Counseling, we support and champion families facing the following examples of challenge and change:

• Illness
• Care giving responsibility
• Household relocation
• Economic status and/or job loss
• Addiction
• Abuse
• Trauma
• Death
• Impacts of aging

Whether you note your own family’s issue in this list, there are many other reasons why people seek counsel. Family therapy at Frisco Christian Counseling will support you and your family network with working through changing family dynamics, which are further impacted by difficult emotions and experiences. Therapy will help you to recognize patterns in your family, learn and utilize healthy communication practices, resolve conflict, and develop the sensitivity to be present and mutually meet each other’s needs, when and where applicable and appropriate.

Next Steps

The reasons that people seek family therapy at Frisco Christian Counseling are as diverse as the families themselves, yet they retain some universality. Motivation to seek family counseling in Frisco may include unpleasant incidents and life transitions. Consequently, the idea of family counseling may not be well-received by all at first, but both the process and results can be beneficial.

• Broach the topic with your family members, with an open mind and heart, considering that progress is process-oriented.
• Listen to and respect what other members want and need in the search for a therapist and from the counseling experience.
• Remain committed to nurturing the overall and long-term health of your family, even if it means that you begin small without unanimous investment at the outset.
• Start where you are, even if with just a handful on board who are willing to work their parts to shift, support, and sustain a shared thriving family legacy.

At Frisco Christian Counseling, your therapist will guide and support you and your family members, those present and those who may join the journey, with inching or leaping into what is ahead for you and yours, through the gift of family counseling.