Counseling Services

Family Counseling and Parenting

Schedule an Appointment Call (512) 771-7621

Family conflict doesn’t mean your family is broken. It means you’re a group of people with different needs, perspectives, and communication styles trying to share a life together. When that gets hard, counseling provides a structured space to work through it without the conversations spiraling the way they do at home.

I work with parents, teens, adult children, blended families, and co-parents. The common thread is a willingness to look at your own role in the dynamic, not just what everyone else is doing wrong.

Who Family Counseling Is For

Family counseling requires that all participating members are voluntarily engaged in the process. This isn’t a setting where one person drags everyone else in against their will. It also isn’t a fit for families where counseling has been court-mandated or where there are active protective orders in place. Everyone in the room needs to be open to hearing things they might not want to hear and willing to examine their own contributions to the problem and to the solutions.

If you’re unsure whether your situation is appropriate for family counseling, call me and we’ll talk it through. Sometimes individual counseling is a better starting point, and that’s fine too.

Common Issues in Family Counseling

Parent-teen conflict. Communication has broken down. Your teenager won’t talk to you, or every conversation turns into an argument. You’re not sure if this is normal adolescent development or something that needs professional attention. Teen counseling can also address this from your teen’s perspective.

Blended family challenges. Merging two families is one of the most complex relational tasks people undertake, and most people underestimate how long and difficult the adjustment can be. Divided loyalty is common: children feel torn between biological parents and stepparents, as if caring about one means betraying the other. Teens in particular can struggle with transitioning between homes, managing different household rules and expectations, and feeling like they don’t fully belong in either place. These are not signs of failure. They’re predictable challenges that respond well to structured support.

Parenting disagreements. Disagreements about discipline, screen time, boundaries, academic expectations, and how involved to be in your child’s life are among the most common sources of family tension. Parenting disagreements are also the #2 reason couples seek counseling, right behind finances. If the parenting conflict is primarily between you and your partner, couples counseling may be a more effective starting point.

Co-parenting after divorce. Maintaining a functional co-parenting relationship when the romantic relationship has ended requires a different set of skills. Co-parenting counseling focuses on keeping the children’s needs at the center while managing the adult dynamics that make cooperation difficult. Please note that I do not provide court-mandated co-parenting counseling or litigation/forensic testimony.

Adult children and aging parents. Role reversals, caregiving stress, unresolved childhood dynamics resurfacing, and siblings who disagree about how to handle a parent’s needs. These are real, complex situations that benefit from a neutral space to work through them.

Communication breakdowns. When family members have stopped listening to each other, when conversations are dominated by blame and defensiveness, or when someone has shut down entirely, counseling can reopen those channels in a safer, more structured way.

My Approach

Family counseling with me is active and direct. I don’t sit quietly while family members rehash the same argument they’ve been having at home. I’ll intervene, redirect, and help you see the patterns that are operating beneath the surface.

I use Solution-Focused Therapy as the foundation, which means we focus on what the family wants to look like rather than only analyzing what’s going wrong. I also draw from IFS and CBT to help individual family members understand their own reactions and develop healthier responses.

For families dealing with patterns like criticism, contempt, defensiveness, or stonewalling, I bring in tools from my Gottman Method training. These patterns aren’t limited to romantic relationships; they show up in families too, and the antidotes apply universally.

Virtual Family Counseling Across Texas

All sessions are available via secure, HIPAA-compliant video or telephone for anyone in Texas. Virtual family sessions can actually work in your favor: family members who live in different locations can participate from wherever they are, and the home environment sometimes makes people more comfortable than an unfamiliar office.

Ready to start? Schedule a consultation or call (512) 771-7621.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A: Not necessarily all, but the members most involved in the conflict should be present. Sometimes it makes sense to start with a smaller group and bring other members in later. We'll discuss the best approach during our initial conversation.
A: I work with teens (typically ages 13 and up) and adults. For younger children, I can provide parenting support and refer to a child specialist if needed.
A: Yes. I help co-parents improve communication, establish consistency across households, and navigate the emotional challenges of shared parenting. I do not do custody evaluations or provide court testimony.
A: Yes. All sessions are available via HIPAA-compliant video or phone for families anywhere in Texas. Virtual family sessions work well because everyone can participate from a comfortable environment.
A: Couples counseling focuses specifically on the romantic partnership. Family counseling addresses the broader family system, including parent-child dynamics, sibling relationships, blended family issues, and multigenerational patterns. If the primary issue is between partners, couples counseling is usually the better fit.
A: It can still be valuable. Working with even a few willing family members can shift the overall dynamic. Sometimes one person's refusal to participate is itself useful information to work with. And sometimes, once the process starts and the resistant member sees positive changes, they decide to join.
A: Individual counseling focuses on one person's internal experience. Family counseling focuses on the dynamics between people: how they communicate, how they trigger each other, and how patterns of interaction create problems that no single person can solve alone. Both can be valuable, and some family members may also benefit from individual work alongside the family sessions.
A: Sessions are $200 for 45 minutes. I am an out-of-network provider and provide superbills for potential insurance reimbursement.