Family Counseling Services in Brighton and Plymouth, MI.

Family therapy is at the core of McCaskill Family Services.

Your family is struggling to get along. This is not at all how you imagined things would be and everything you have tried does not seem to work to get things back on track. Parental conflict, separation or divorce has caused your family’s foundation to crumble. Differences in parenting styles with your partner, strong-willed child(ren) or behavior problems, are causing tension and frustration in the home. Perhaps you are trying to balance work and caring for your elderly parent(s) at the same time.

Each day you try to improve your situation, but each night you go to bed exhausted and hopeless that things will ever get better. In fact, you see them worsening by the minute and wonder where things are headed or if you can even get through it.

Online Counseling Services Available For Patients Throughout Michigan

Meet with a licensed psychologist by phone or video

Teletherapy is safe and private & follows all HIPPA guidelines

We are out-of-network with insurance companies; however we are a recognized out-of-network provider with BCBS of Michigan. Patients are expected to pay at the time of service. Receipts are provided so patients can submit them to their insurance company for possible reimbursement.

Visit Our Teletherapy Page

Family Therapy & Counseling Services | McCaskill Family Services - counseling-services-family-therapy

Family therapy could be the solution to the struggles your family faces.

At the initial consultation appointment, our expert clinicians will listen to your concerns and, through a series of questions, will determine if family therapy is a modality that can work to improve your situation. We may meet individually with each member of the family in order to determine the most effective, solution-focused treatment. We get excellent results with family therapy and not all members of the family have to be willingly on board in order for us to improve your situation. Even one person making a change forces others to change as a result. If you keep doing the same things that you have always done, you will keep getting the same results you have always gotten. Through our empirically-proven family treatments, which offer practical advice and direct solutions, we will help you to make changes to get positive results.

Types of Family Conditions That We Treat:

Couples Counseling

Your relationship with your partner is not what you hoped it would be. Perhaps you are struggling with communication, feeling unheard or unsupported, or have different views on major topics such as finances, intimacy or parenting. Conflict between couples is a normal part of any relationship, but when things have been unresolved for too long, you may feel like things will never improve or feel trapped in your current situation. This can lead (or perhaps has already lead to) infidelity, separation or divorce. You are not alone and we are here to help. Couples counseling or marital therapy, if done correctly with an expert, is a very effective treatment for struggling relationships at any level. It is never too early or too late to seek help.

If both you and your partner are willing to come in for an initial appointment, please take that first step now. Our couples counseling specialist will meet with you confidentially to discuss your concerns and ask questions to determine which therapy approach would best help to improve your situation. If your partner is not willing to come in to meet with us at this time, it is perfectly okay (and quite common, actually) for you to come to the initial appointment by yourself. We will work with you to figure out the best way to proceed so that things can improve.

We have a long history of successfully working with couples at every level of distress. We have been developing and implementing specific plans based on empirically-supported treatment approaches to help each couple improve communication, trust and collaboration in their relationship.

For more information about couples therapy click here.

Parenting Help

When parents live in separate houses and are raising children, it can be challenging to co-parent effectively. Perhaps you are living in the same house but have very different parenting strategies, making co-parenting your children challenging. We specialize in parenting and offer many options for how to improve things so that the distance or differences between the two of you do not negatively impact your child(ren). Your child’s wellbeing and adjustment is very tied into how well you and your parenting partner communicate and collaborate to make things as consistent and predictable as possible for your child. Since we are child psychologists, we know the stage of development your child is in and what is the best approach for your child. This information, along with your parenting styles and preferences, will help us to come to a consensus on how to co-parent effectively. Therapy is typically short-term and can be done in private sessions or small group format.

Divorce

If you are going through a separation or divorce, your main concern is likely, “How is this going to affect my child(ren)?” In fact, maybe this is why you stayed in the marriage as long as you have. Protecting your child(ren) is the highest priority, but you may not know how to do this effectively.

You are not alone and we are here to help. We have been working with children to help them get through the separation or divorce of their parents for over 25 years. By working directly with your child, they learn that their therapist is not on “Dad’s side” or “Mom’s side” and that they are truly right in the middle with them. We do not do custody evaluations or provide information to attorneys or courts. We feel by keeping ourselves out of the legal system, we are better able to work with your child completely confidentially without the fear that what your child says to us in confidence may be exposed in open court. Through this approach, we find that your child will grow to learn and trust their therapist to help them get through this difficult time.

Sibling Conflict

As a parent, is it extremely difficult to watch your children (who you love more than anything in the world) not get along. The fighting, arguing, name-calling and tattling has taken its toll on you. You want more than anything to have a peaceful home and for the children to get along so that you are not constantly drawn into their fighting. It may be affecting your relationship with your spouse and you may have different ideas (or no ideas!) for how to handle it. Perhaps you are even an adult and struggling with your own relationship with your brother or sister!

Sibling conflict is a very common problem among many families. Many people say, “they will just grow out of it” or “hang in there, it will get better.” We do not believe in the “wait and see” approach. Many times, the conflict between the children permanently affects the marriage or may continue into adulthood when you wish your children would watch out for or take care of each other when you are gone.

We can help! With empirically-proven strategies for improving the relationship between siblings, you will see dramatically reduced fighting, less rivalry and a more loving/caring connection. The first step is to schedule an initial consultation appointment for parents or adults only. Through a series of questions, we will determine the best approach for improving the sibling relationship. Behavioral treatment is often short-term and highly effective.

Strengthening Your Family

Your family is the most important aspect of your life and you want all members of your family to support each other and be there for each other at all times. When everyone’s schedules are so busy or when the kids are fighting constantly, you may be concerned about the strength of your family unit to stick together and face life’s challenges. Perhaps you have a special needs child or a strong-willed child who requires more time and energy but it is difficult to balance out the needs of all members of the family. Maybe you are caring for an adult child who is not ready to leave the house or elderly parents living in your home and the family dynamics have changed or shifted. We often put so much time into sports, school, work and other activities, that the time devoted to strengthening the family is often very minimal.

We live in the same fast-paced world trying to juggle everything all the time. We understand the idea of trying to get through the day and collapsing with pure exhaustion in the evening. We also are well aware that if you want something to improve or strengthen, you must put time and attention into it.

At McCaskill Family Services, we offer family-based sessions focused on strengthening the family. By setting aside designated time for your family to work together with one of our family specialists for just 45 minutes one time per week, we can help improve and strengthen your family unit. Each person feels safe and supported. Communication and collaboration improves and conflict is resolved quickly and calmly as a result of interventions and guidance from the therapist. We believe very strongly that the strength of almost all families can be improved in some way, and we are happy to help you wherever you are in the process. We don’t want you to look back 10 years from now and wish you had done something when it may be too late. You will never regret putting time and energy into your family now, as the benefits for the future are tenfold.

Our main mission at McCaskill Family Services is strengthening the family and we have effectively used empirically-supported approaches for decades. This is what we do best!