Family Dynamics: Changing Roles and Responsibilities Over Time

As family members, we witness and experience ever-changing dynamics across our life span; individuals grow and mature, and inevitably roles shift, and expectations change. For example, the roles of parents and children evolve from ward to steward and then full circle again as generations age and new ones emerge to fill ability gaps. Our psychological flexibility, maturity, learning, and experience often reflect how we respond to these changing demands and roles. Sometimes individuals find adjusting to these new roles and responsibilities difficult and become “stuck” in unhealthy patterns of behavior that are not adaptive and lead to relational difficulties that may become systemic and transmitted transgenerationally.

Together, we can identify and uncover the sources of these seemingly intractable dynamics and create new and more adaptive ones that emphasize compromise, effective listening, understanding, and ultimately, greater satisfaction for the whole family.

In my family therapy sessions, I will listen empathically and identify tools to provide opportunities to enrich the family through acceptance and understanding, built through effective communication.