Family Systems

The early years in which we are developing physically and emotionally are some of the most important years of our life. Because we usually spend this time with our families, family systems have a big effect on our future lives. Family systems work can happen with individual people processing their family of origin, with people in relationships with different family histories which are influencing their present actions, and with families who come to therapy together.

Families are complex systems with unique dynamics. At Relationships For Better, we specialize in understanding these intricacies, taking a practical approach to help families communicate better, resolve conflicts, and strengthen their bonds. Our method is holistic, considering each member's perspective while working towards a harmonious family environment, equipped with actionable solutions for everyday challenges.

I am trained in family systems (Bowenian) approaches to therapy. By examining the patterns within the family and across generations, we can bring insight into behaviors that may be holding us back. This approach is especially useful in communities of color given our desire to maintain strong multi-generational kinship networks.

My degree from LIOS/Saybrook University includes a focus in Systems Therapy. The Family Systems we are exposed to during our development informs how we look at the world, our sense of ourselves, and how the two interact. Our Family System especially informs our behavior, and learning more about how that works, and how to change our interactions with and perspectives on our family unit helps lead to change in our own behavior.

We all view the world through a certain lens. How we were raised in our family of origin affects how we view ourselves and others around us. It affects how we show up in the world and we interrupt our world. When we are aware of how the environment we grew up in affects us we can learn to grow from the ways we are living that are harmful to us or that are detrimental to our growth and fulfillment.

There are many different parts of you that protect you, that manage internal crises, and carry the emotional damage of our past traumas. I work with you to understand your full self, create an appreciation for yourself, and work to give yourself permission to be your true self.

I've worked with families from many different backgrounds and I find that addressing issues relating to the family and one's role in the family is some of the most important work we'll do. Stress and transitions often bring wounds and experiences from the past to the surface so exploring family patterns and family functioning will help you gain clarity from the past and also how it impacts the present.

As a systems based therapist I see clients from an ecological perspective. Individuals are seen as part of a system of interactions and relations to others in their environment, rather than individuals being autonomous entities independent of their surroundings and context. By addressing breakdowns within a system and the relations and communications within its contextual setting, problems can be addressed in a greater holistic manner.

Claudia was trained at the Ackerman Institute for the Family with a specialization in family systems theory. Claudia's approach to family therapy begins with a look at intergenerational patterns, and includes her expertise in trauma recovery.

Family systems training and perspective is a core part of my training as an MFT- in graduate school, I completed 60+ credits, primarily focused on family/couples therapy.

I enjoy helping clients process how they impact and are impacted by systems. Spanning ancestral, societal, interpersonal and intrapersonal contexts, we can discuss how you relate. I acknowledge that compassionate relationships to the whole comes with building capacity for accountability, boundaries and acknowledgement of power differentials.

I am adept with working with in family and the complicated patterns of behavior that can exist between members. I am particularly adept at help adult parent/adult child estrangement - helping the parent understand why a child would choose estrangement, and working towards healing that relationship.

I graduated with distinction from my Master's program in the study of family systems. Where traditional psychology looks inward towards the individual, family systems says the individual cannot be known until we know what systems they belong to. These systems start with the family, but also expand into community, state, country, and all manner of cultural systems. Exploring through a systems lens can often help an individual understand their identity in a stronger way.

Family systems therapy, the family works individually and together to resolve a problem that directly affects one or more family members. I've been working with family systems therapy since 2016 when made aware of the benefits at the University of Southern California (USC).

I use a style that focuses on the things and relationships in our lives that bring meaning. Here we look at what brings us joy and what brings us distress. This helps us see what we have used to create meaning and purpose in our lives.

General systems theory emphasizes that a group, family, or even individual cannot be wholly explained by looking at just one part or one angle of influence. We are not simply a combination of our circumstances, the same way that it is limiting to consider a single perspective. Yams is trained in considering the intersection of identities, communities, and overall society on the issues that arise in therapy and helping you navigate that web.