The Family Institute

The clinical staff at The Family Institute have provided years of dedicated service to children and adolescents in need, along with their parents. We strongly believe in the importance of nurturing the child-parent bond through consistent loving connection and clear communication. Whatever symptom with which the child is presenting, we assist parents in “decoding” and finding strategies to respond to the child’s needs. For the child or teen, our treatment promotes increased self-awareness of the brain/body connection, healthy verbal expression, identifying outlets for release of feelings, and a refined sense of self-direction.

At The Family Institute, we honor and respect each child and parent’s whole being – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is reflected in the environment provided for families at our clinic. You will find a relaxing, homelike environment, complete with a child play therapy room with toys that stimulate imagination and emotional expression. From the moment you walk through the door, your family will be warmly welcomed into the therapeutic process.

What will my child and I learn during our treatment at The Family Institute?

• Learn to transform your family interactions to bring forth the best in all.
• Learn how to communicate clearly with your child to decrease conflict and create connection and cooperation.
• Learn healthy discipline, boundaries and limit setting with your child or teen.
• Learn how to foster your child’s sense of self worth and self esteem.
• Learn about your child’s normal developmental processes, as well as when to expect predictable periods of regression in motor, cognitive or behavioral growth.
• Learn the Connection Parenting skill of “Rewind, Repair, and Replay” to interrupt disrespectful behaviors.
• Learn the secrets of good modeling, your most powerful tool to encourage your child or teen’s social and emotional skills.
• Learn how listening helps children heal emotional hurts, how to cope with the emotional expressions (i.e. tantrums) of your child, and how to help your child find acceptable outlets for releasing feelings.
• Learn the difference between “quality time” and “high quality time.” Make the most of the time that you have with your child.
• Learn how to create a responsive environment for your child or teen’s development.
• Learn the importance of taking care of the needs of the parent.

I am looking for a specialized treatment for my child’s particular needs. What are the areas of specialty at The Family Institute?

Our staff specializes in many areas of child and adolescent development, including:
behavioral concerns, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, child and adolescent mood concerns, separation and school anxiety, eating and elimination concerns, sleep problems, sexual identity development, making adjustment to new environments

What do you offer for parents?

For parents, we offer assistance in:
preparing for parenthood, post-partum concerns, forming healthy parent-child attachment, reconnecting with your teen, family communication skills, promoting healthy blended families, meeting the needs of the parent.

What are the guiding principles of The Family Institute’s Child and Parenting Clinic?

The therapeutic approaches utilized in the Child and Parenting Clinic have roots in the principles of Attachment Parenting, Connection Parenting by Pam Leo, the developmental framework of Dr. Berry Brazelton, and the methodology of Nonviolent Communication by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg.

Before they learn to verbalize their feelings, children communicate their emotional needs and hurts through behavior. When we learn to recognize children’s acting-out behavior as a communication of an unmet need, we can respond to children’s needs instead of react to their behavior. It takes the same amount of time and attention to meet children’s emotional need as it does to deal with behaviors caused by their unmet emotional needs.

Our primary goal in treatment is to re-establish and strengthen the parent-child or parent-adolescent bond. We offer concise, instructive, empowering, practical methods to achieve this goal. We use a positive and proactive approach to parenting within today’s limitations and pressures. The more connected parents are with their children, the more they can trust their own wisdom in knowing how to help and respond to them.