My Approach to Helping
Hello, my name is Rich Audsley, I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and I specialize in working with couples and families. The family is a system, much like the human body. Just as the entire body suffers when one of its parts fails to work in harmony with the rest of the body, the entire family is distressed when one of its members is lost or is "out of sync." Families and couples sometimes need help understanding how their particular system is working or not working.
I work with families and couples in intimate relationships to facilitate and nurture change and development. The various theories of family therapy have a common belief that, regardless of the origin of the problem, and regardless of whether the clients consider it an "individual" or "family" issue, involving families in solutions provides the best results.
The issues of an individual family member are often a reflection of some conflict within the family system as a whole. It would be a pleasure for me to guide you and your family, and/or your partner, to build greater harmony, and fulfillment in your lives.
More Info About My Practice
Beginning therapy can be a big step toward being the healthiest version of yourself and living the best life possible—no matter what challenges you may be facing. Through therapy, you can change self-destructive behaviors and habits, resolve painful feelings, improve your relationships, and more. This is what a typical family or couples session looks like at Evergreen Family Matters:
You will all be together for at least part of the session, both to hear everyone’s view of the problem that brought you to treatment, and to see how you interact with each other and what roles you play in the family and/or marriage. I will attempt to get the perspective of each family member on a number of important dimensions, not just the presenting problem.
I may interview sub-units of the family system separately, like the parents, or the children, or even spend time with each family member individually.
The rules for the sessions will be explained--like confidentiality of information disclosed within the family, or who needs to attend ongoing sessions and perhaps does not. It is sometimes not practical or necessary for everyone to be present.
Too often, especially in the face of a challenge, we seem to discount all of the good things and focus solely on the negative. I want to highlight all of these good things (your strengths, your partner’s strengths, etc.) and share how we will use them as tools to best address the concerns you share.
What Makes up a Problem?
To better understand how family problems arise, you should consider the example of a mobile. When you move any one piece of a mobile, all the other pieces move too. They do not exist in isolation from one another, and "movement" in any one part of the "system" will affect all the rest of the parts of the system.
Individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another -- families are a system of interconnected and interdependent individuals, none of whom can be understood in isolation from the system.
