Kids & Parents

When One Person Is Struggling, Everyone Feels It

When one member of a family is struggling, it can affect everyone. Family therapy focuses on how the whole family connects, communicates, and supports one another.

Let’s Talk About Your Child +1 212 730 7400

Two parents and their young child laughing together at home

When family therapy helps

  • A child’s anxiety has become the axis the whole house turns on
  • A parent and a child are caught in the same conflict, again and again
  • Parents disagree about how to respond, and the disagreement has become its own problem
  • Siblings are affected, or have gone quiet
  • The family is navigating separation, divorce or another large transition
  • Communication has broken down and nobody can hear anyone else

The goal is the pattern, not the culprit

The goal isn’t to figure out who is at fault. It’s to change the pattern.

The work is CBT-based and practical: clear goals, change you can see at home, and structure that outlasts the therapy.

Who actually comes to sessions

Family therapy does not mean every family member attends every session. The combination changes with the work — sometimes parents only, sometimes one child, sometimes everyone.

And sometimes the better plan is individual therapy for your child alongside parent support, rather than family therapy at all. We will say so if that is what we think.

Who you would see

Dana Rhule, PhD

Child, Adolescent & Family Psychologist

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy · Parent coaching · Anxiety and selective mutism · Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) · Classroom consultation and teacher coaching · LGBTQ+ topics

Accepting new clients

Questions

What people ask

Does the whole family have to attend every session?

No. The combination changes with the work — sometimes parents only, sometimes one child, sometimes everyone.

Can we come if the teenager refuses?

Yes. Parent-only work changes the family system and is often how a reluctant teenager eventually agrees to come.

Let’s Build Bravery Together

Tell us what keeps happening in your household. We will help you work out whether family therapy is the right starting point.

Let’s Talk About Your Child Rates & Insurance