What is Christian Family Counseling and How Do We Know if We Need It?

Building a strong family can seem like an insurmountable task. Family is the center of our most intense and significant relationships. Yet these relationships can be fraught with conflict, or they can suffer from a lack of closeness or stress from internal and external pressures – all good reasons to take part in family counseling.

We cannot underestimate the importance of building a strong family and strengthening the relationships among spouses, parents and children, siblings, and extended family, yet often we struggle to know how to set healthy boundaries, strengthen bonds, build interdependence, and overcome conflict.

In today’s world, we have more outside influence in our families than ever before. Sometimes, it might feel like we’re living separately under one roof, with everyone distracted by their screens. Maybe we’ve just drifted apart over the years and have lost the rhythms that used to draw us together.

Christian family counseling can provide family support for numerous challenges facing families today, and help build a Christ-centered foundation for your family.

What is Christian family counseling?

Christian family counseling is an approach to counseling that looks at patterns and dynamics within a family rather than primarily focusing on an individual. While individual counseling provides a setting for one person to focus on primarily themselves and their perspective on relationships, family counseling addresses the group dynamic first.

The counselors at Plano Christian Counseling use an integrated approach, combining proven therapeutic techniques with a biblical worldview to help you build a Christ-centered foundation for your family. The goal of Christian family counseling is to help you find holistic solutions for the problems you’re facing.

If you are struggling in any way or simply want to take a proactive approach to strengthen your family, Christian family counseling can be the perfect way to address concerns, strengthen bonds, and prepare for future challenges. We operate from a place of grace, love, and truth as we address the common concerns of those seeking family support.

A Christian family counselor is experienced in counseling families in many different types of situations and struggles and can provide compassionate care and family support as you seek to strengthen your family on a foundation of God’s Word.

Do we need family counseling?

How do you know if your family could benefit from Christian family counseling in Plano, Texas?

Sometimes we feel as though we have to be in crisis to seek counseling. But the truth is, the sooner you seek help, the better. If you’re asking yourself, “Do we need family counseling?” then it’s probably the right time to investigate your options.

At Plano Christian Counseling, we provide numerous ways to explore the option of family counseling to see if it’s right for you. You can browse our online counselor directory to see if you feel like a specific counselor would be a good match. You may want to look through our service pages to see what kinds of topics are frequently addressed in Christian counseling. You can also explore individual counseling to see if that might be a better alternative for you.

And, each initial session with one of the counselors at Plano Christian Counseling is risk-free, providing a perfect way to get to know your counselor and share what brings you to consider family counseling. This can help you see if your counselor is right for you.

If you’re still asking yourself, “Does my family need counseling?” here are some common reasons to seek family counseling that may help you with your decision:

The desire to strengthen your family. Even if your family is not facing a specific crisis or challenge, proactively seeking to strengthen your bonds can make a big difference in your future.

Individual struggles that affect the family. If one member of a family is struggling with a chronic illness, addiction, mental health concerns, an eating disorder, etc., this will inevitably affect the entire family. Taking time for counseling can help each person know how to support the struggling individual, as well as find support for their needs that may go overlooked in a time of crisis.

Grief or loss. When a family undergoes a loss or a traumatic event, family counseling can help with recovery and healing.

Separation, divorce, and blended families. There are many challenges involved in divorce, step-parenting, and similar situations. Counseling can help address the many potential issues that can arise in these circumstances.

Marriage concerns. The relationship between spouses affects the couple, their children, and even their extended family. When marriage issues have affected the family as a whole, family counseling can help everyone shift to a healthier dynamic.

Parenting concerns. Similarly, the relationship between parents and children has an impact on everyone in the family. Whether parents are looking to address discipline struggles or behavior problems, or they simply want to be able to better support their children as they grow and develop, family counseling provides a neutral and supportive place to do that.

Sibling rivalry. This issue can seem minor on the surface, but sometimes there are deeper underlying issues, and family counseling can address those issues before they become more deeply rooted.

Life stress. The busyness and stress of life can push a family farther apart instead of closer together. Family counseling is a dedicated time to cultivate relationships and prioritize them, rather than letting life get in the way long-term.

Outside relationships. Maybe there are issues with extended family, church relationships, friendships, or other relational dynamics that can be addressed in family counseling.

What to expect

The kind of family support you’ll receive in the Christian counseling setting will depend on which concerns are your priority. In your risk-free initial session, your counselor will help identify your priorities for counseling and set goals for the counseling process.

Here are some common topics that are frequently focused on in Christian family counseling:

Developing communication skills. Rather than making assumptions, holding on to resentment, or talking past each other, healthy communication includes validating emotions, truly listening to one another’s perspectives, and tackling the issue at hand instead of attacking each other. These types of skills can be learned and practiced in family counseling.

Learning conflict resolution skills. Increasing the ability to have healthy conflict resolution can help defeat anxious or avoidant patterns and allow each person in the family to feel heard.

Increasing understanding among family members. Feeling misunderstood can lead to one or more family members withdrawing or weakening their bonds with each other. Unconditional love and acceptance also mean seeking to truly understand one another. Understanding doesn’t mean agreeing; it means giving each person’s thoughts and feelings the chance to be heard and understood.

Strengthening family bonds. Healthy attachment is the foundation for healthy relationships. While the idea of strengthening bonds can be intimidating to some, it’s merely an invitation to move away from dysfunction. Strengthening bonds can look like developing family rhythms and routines that regularly invite connection.

Setting healthy boundaries. The ability to set and maintain boundaries, as well as respect others’ boundaries, is a foundational life skill that is first learned (or not learned) in the home. Healthy boundaries promote both individual and family flourishing.

Spiritual development. Though not all members of a family will most likely share identical beliefs, there is likely common ground that can be found, and no matter what, as a follower of Christ you can always grow in your desire and efforts to show Christlike love to other members of your family.

Increasing interdependence. While we know that codependence (a form of overdependence) is unhealthy, and complete independence is unhealthy, interdependence involves a healthy level of dependence on others while maintaining a strong sense of self.

These and similar topics may be part of the Christian family counseling process at Plano Christian Counseling. Feel free to bring up other topics you may want to cover with your counselor. We are here for you.

If your family would like to grow in any of these areas, Christian family counseling may be right for you. Contact our office at Plano Christian Counseling today or fill out our contact form to schedule your risk-free initial session.