Helping Families Thrive Through Life’s Challenges
I am a therapist, yogini, wife, mom and introvert. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I am surrounded by family and believe that these strong family roots led me to become a Marriage and Family Therapist. I love to work with Blended Families and all that comes with that adventure. I have four kids, a blended family, a crazy dog and thrive in chaos.. I look forward to connecting with you soon.
Best-
Sarah
If you are interested in connecting with EQUIP Counseling, click here.
Identify clear family structure: This might seem like a no brainer; you might be shaking your head thinking ‘of course we know who is married to who and who lives with who.’ You would be surprised, if you have little kids they often do not understand the complicated relationships and circumstances that got you to the place you are now. You must clarify- using a picture from of a family tree is a great visual aid. The kids in your family system need this clarity in order to begin forming a confident sense of self.
Clarify and utilize best communication methods: Often there is confusion about personal preferential ways to communicate. These personal preferences must be communicated and in return, honored, in order to best serve the family system.
Recognize each persons individual needs: Each individual experiences love in a different way. During times of change it would benefit each person to think LESS about what they need and MORE about what the family around them needs. This might be the step where you recognize that someone needs outside support.
Identify and embrace outside resources: It is often challenging and uncomfortable to reach outside our nuclear family system for support but this 4th step challenges you to identify and actually embrace a least a few outside resources (close friends, school staff, support groups, spiritual organization, community center, counseling).
Assume the Best First: This step is universal. If we all went into interactions assuming the bestof the other party how different would OUR mood be throughout the day? You can chose to letyour negative thoughts control your behavior OR you can chose to change your thoughts, in turn changing your behavior, in turn change your habits and character.
If you are interested in Booking an appointment with Sarah, a Blended Family specialist click below: HERE
Are you excited? I am. You are reading my first blog post. Over the years many people have told me I should write down some of my most memorable stories in book form. I’d like to think people enjoy my stories because of my wonderful re-telling abilities but it probably has more to do with the fact that I have a full, usually amazing, often chaotic life. I like to think of it as BLESSED. And Blended.
While I’m not quite at the book stage yet, this blog is a great way to share some of those stories, experiences, and life lessons- as well as how they have helped shape my worldview and therapeutic focus. As a Marriage and Family therapist in private practice I have chosen to narrow my scope to focus on work with BLENDED families. If you know our family story you will understand this partially comes from personal experience and I’m sure some of those stories will serve as reference in this blog. But more so, I feel like this population is highly under served.
Marriage and Parenting is hard even when things are going smoothly and harmoniously. What happens when things are acrimonious and unstable? Marriage and Parenting can become downright un-fun. When this happens, we no longer focus on thriving but simply on surviving. This is no way to live.
My goal through this blog is to lighten your load around blended family issues using stories, current topics, evidence based research and education. Sound boring? Don’t worry, it won’t be. My posts will be often but brief as I am aware of each of your busy lives.
Questions:
Q: Is this blog only going to be about blended families?
A: Nope. I’ll be posting about divorce, marriage, co-parenting, kids
Q: Do I have to be in a blended family to identify with your posts?
A: No way. I’ll offer universal parenting, marriage, and personal growth ideas
Q: Does this mean you’ll only see blended families in private practice?
A: No. My scope of practice supports me seeing all forms of clients, blended families is just the sub-set I have chosen to specialize in.
Well, that’s it, folks! I hope you enjoyed my first official blog post. Stay tuned for the next one which will give my top 5 tips for Blended Families.
Be well,
Sarah