Family life can be messy. We help you build strong bonds.
Shortland Psychology supports families who are having difficulty developing positive and lasting family relationships.
Being part of a family is not always easy or straightforward, especially if family members are living with the aftereffects of early trauma. attachment difficulties or loss.
Perhaps your child (birth, adoptive or fostered) is suffering with symptoms of fear and anxiety, and this is affecting their behaviour and ability to accept love and care. Often these symptoms stem from a past traumatic incident, such as: a car accident; a loss or death; sexual abuse; chronic bullying; life threatening illness or a medical procedure. Although it is natural for their brains to try to protect them from further harm, brains can be overprotective – this keeps the child in a state of high alert even when they are safe.
Sometimes people have difficulty parenting because of their past traumatic experiences, or due to depression. Supporting parents in building strong attachments to their children is also an important part of the help we give to families.
We support the whole family, sometimes all together and sometimes separately.
TYPES OF TREATMENT
Our expert therapist may use attachment therapies informed by Theraplay © or Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). We may also recommend Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help process previous traumatic experiences or loss.