Discover how starting family therapy can support your own journey toward a happier, more fulfilling life.
2 therapists available in Alexandria
With over 30 years of counseling experience, I look forward to assisting you in working through your issues to achieve positive ou...
About
With over 30 years of counseling experience, I look forward to assisting you in working through your issues to achieve positive outcomes.
Mary Alice Fields is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who has 30 years of experience counseling couples, families, and individuals. Mary Alice completed her Master of Education (MEd) at Lindsey Wilson College.
Mary Alice believes most people do the best they can with the knowledge and experience they possess. At times in our lives, our knowledge and experience are not enough to solve problems and live our most productive life. At times like this, collaboration with a licensed professional counselor can help us discover ways to solve issues and achieve our full potential. Changing our perception of issues can be most helpful. By adjusting our thought process, we can begin to see our problems in a new light, and discover solutions to seemingly insurmountable issues.
Again, collaboration with a counselor can assist in this process. Old thought patterns can be replaced with new, healthier thought patterns that help us live our best life. The most important thing necessary to get you on your way to a more productive life is an open mind and a willingness to change. As a counselor, Mary Alice is your partner in ushering in this change. She cannot solve your problems, but she can and will assist you in learning new ways to achieve your goals.
Education and training
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There is hope in every situation and when there is no open door you can always find a window....
There is hope in every situation and when there is no open door you can always find a window.
Letizia Fariss is a Resident in Counseling with 10 years of experience in nursing. Letizia has a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University. Through nursing, she has cared for people with mental health issues including PTSD, addictions, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and palliative and hospice care. Letizia has lived in and traveled to many European and Middle Eastern countries, which means that she’s seen a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities. As a result, she knows that everyone has varying beliefs and values and appreciates that uniqueness.
Letizia is also the wife of an Army veteran and everyone in her family has served or is still serving on active duty. As a result, she is very skilled at handling stressful situations, especially trauma and PTSD. Her personal experiences, coupled with her professional training in trauma, enable her to provide the needed support to her clients.
Letizia has endured many unique and difficult hardships that have equipped her to show profound compassion to her clients and empower them to overcome the challenges of life.
You deserve dedicated time with a mental health professional — it can be life-changing.
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My go-to approach for helping people in family therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy. I find the best benefit in cognitive behavioral therapy because it allows the family to see how they are thinking versus what they are thinking about. It also encourages clients to challenge negative thoughts and reframe them as well.
I teach the following tools in family therapy:
I know a client is making meaningful progress in family therapy when there are increased instances of effective communication.
Clients can supplement their time in family therapy with individual therapy to aid in sorting out individual issues.
To prepare for their first family therapy session, an individual can come in with an idea of what they hope to achieve in family therapy.
Family therapy helps families resolve conflicts and strengthen their relationships. It is led by qualified mental health professionals like psychologists, licensed professional counselors (LPCs), and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) who have extensive training in family dynamics and group communication.
Thriveworks family therapists in Alexandria, VA usually begin by asking what everyone’s goals are for family counseling. Family members may need help with very specific issues or with general relationship functioning. But there are three main purposes in family counseling: to educate, to counsel, and to strengthen. Thriveworks also offers online family therapy and in-person services, so you may all meet in an office together or join a video call from your home depending on everyone’s location and availability.
The most effective form of Family therapy will often depend on the family itself, as there are many types of family therapy for therapists to use as they see fit in order to best meet the needs of their clients. However, one of the most commonly used types of family therapy is structural family therapy (SFT). SFT focuses specifically on family dynamics and interactions, looking at how they shape the relationships and structure present in the family. It can be effectively used to treat a variety of concerns.
This answer often looks different to each family that starts family therapy. However, some signs that your family might need to consider family counseling include frequent fights or misunderstandings, constant tension, experiencing loss, behavioral issues, marital issues, divorce, and blended family issues, among others.
In family therapy, therapists will often start by asking questions and assessing individual and family dynamics. From there, they may employ therapeutic techniques such as structured family therapy, CBT, strategic family therapy, and more depending on the present concerns and conflicts. From there, a therapist will work to open lines of communication between family members and facilitate emotional healing and growth.
Family therapy can be incredibly successful, with some studies reporting a success rate of almost 90% for improving participants’ emotional and mental health, and around 66% for improving their physical health.
Thriveworks therapists in Alexandria, VA offer both online family therapy and in-person family therapy. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
Family therapy is usually short term and solution-focused, with most families accomplishing their goals in 12 sessions or fewer. However, it can also last for longer if the probles at hand are more complex — and that’s okay, too.
There are professionals out there who specialize in helping families through difficult times. These individuals have taken the time and put in the hard work to gain important skills, training, and experience in helping families build better relationships. I
f you are in Alexandria, VA or the surrounding area, consider working with a family therapist or psychologist at Thriveworks Alexandria. Our experts want to help you improve your family dynamic.
The ultimate mission in family therapy is to help family members address the obstacles in front of them, be it diagnosis of a mental illness, the aftermath of a divorce, a rebellious child, or another challenge. Maybe you’re even dealing with all of the above! Whatever the case, a family therapist at Thriveworks Alexandria can help you properly address these problems.
To give a few more specific examples, a family therapist can help:
After reading through the above, do you feel like your family could benefit from working with a family therapist? Maybe you need help with one of the obstacles we mentioned in this list, or maybe there’s something else that comes to mind. We want you to know that no matter what you’re facing, a family therapist at Thriveworks Alexandria will use their expertise to best help you resolve the problem and live happier.
If you know that your family needs or could benefit from therapy, but you’re on the fence about actually scheduling that appointment, it might help to know what to expect from the experience! While we can’t predict your exact journey, as it will depend on the problem(s) at hand, family dynamics, and so many other factors, there are common techniques used to help repair family relationships, including:
The truth is that communication is often a big problem that either causes or exacerbates the problem identified by family members: adjusting well after divorce, parenting well, etc. In summary, your Thriveworks Alexandria family therapist will help you to improve communication lines as well as resolve other issues that are causing your family distress.
Our family therapists will provide you and your family with the help, guidance, and support that you need to live happier. Here at Thriveworks, we strive to provide premium mental health services, including quick, flexible scheduling, innovative technology like advice by phone or email from your provider, and—of course—extraordinary mental health professionals.
If you think your family could benefit from working with a family therapist or psychologist, consider working with a provider at Thriveworks Alexandria. Call us today to schedule an appointment or schedule online for premium mental health services at Thriveworks.
Includes individual, couples, child/ teen, & family therapy
Includes reducing symptoms with medication & management
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