Family Therapy

The Family Challenged by Change

Normative (e.g., the youngest child goes off to college) as well as atypical (e.g., a parent gets laid off; a child dies) events stress the family unit and may interrupt the emotional balance and stability of the relationships between family members. Interestingly, “positive” events can impact the family as much as, or even more than, negative events, introducing significant new challenges for family members who may not be eager or prepared for change.

Systems Theory

In my family therapy practice, I have been heavily influenced by systems theory, a perspective which argues that groups of people (e.g., couples, teams, families, etc.) are emotionally and behaviorally organized around role assignments, norms, boundary structures, and well-patterned interpersonal styles and dynamics.

Systems theory suggests that when events or stressors occur, the system seeks to assert and reinforce these characteristic elements. There is considerable pressure in families to “keep things as they are” rather than accommodate to changing circumstances and new realities. This resistance compromises the psychological health and development of the family-as-a-whole, as well as its constituent individual members.

Many child difficulties and ongoing, unresolved conflicts between family members are often the result of multiple and mutually-reinforcing factors which resist natural demands for systemic change and for the reconfiguration of roles and norms that change necessitates. For these situations, family therapy is an invaluable treatment option.

The Benefits of Family Therapy

Family therapy supports the family-as-a-whole by mobilizing the system to accommodate to events and emerging circumstances in a way that is progressive rather than regressive. The systemic elements of the family, not any one family member in particular, is viewed as “the patient,” and I attempt to intervene upon the system to help it become more malleable. Clinical attention typically directed toward the “identified patient” (the one family member perceived as having the most significant problems) often does not yield positive treatment outcomes, so I redirect our focus to the often unintended ways by which each family member contributes to difficulties. Improved communication, newly refined roles, reduced levels of conflict, closer interpersonal connections, and more effective routines and norms are often achieved through quality family therapy.

Visit Dr. Tobin's Office

15615 Alton Parkway
Suite 450
Irvine, CA 92618

Hours
Monday: 8am - 8pm
Tuesday: 8am - 8pm
Wednesday: 8am - 8pm
Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed