Family Therapy for Adult Parent-Child and Sibling Relationships

Sometimes the most challenging period in a parent-child relationship occurs when the child becomes an adult. To the parent, the child may feel unknown, distant, or cold. To the child, the parent may feel critical, unaware, and rejecting.

How can we understand this disconnection?

Ruptures occur in adult parent-child relationships either because the child has developed an identity that is sidelong to that of the family, or because injuries to the emotional bond have not fully healed.

Dr. Guttman’s practice specializes in family therapy for this stage of life. The work focuses on restoring the emotional bond in the family, such that the parent is seen as a source of safety, and the child is able to receive the parent’s caring. Such work can include parents and their adult children; adult siblings; and blended families.

The method of treatment is Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), based in attachment science. The principles of EFFT are drawn from Emotionally Focused Therapy, an intervention that has a 70-75% effectiveness rate for repairing negative interaction patterns between loved ones.

When families engage in EFFT, they learn to restructure their parent-child interactions to become more responsive, engaged, and able to express and hear needs.

To learn more about Emotionally Focused Family Therapy(EFFT), a scientifically-based practice, please schedule a consultation.