Local Christian Worker Family
Therapy for individual family members of Christian workers and family therapy
Christian workers and their families have the same struggles that others have--and they also often experience challenges unique to them and to their situation.
Are you experiencing one or more of these challenges?
- You feel like you have to be perfect.
- You wonder if your Christian worker family member cares about everyone else (or the work) more than you.
- Your Christian worker family member struggles with boundaries and it affects you.
- Your Christian worker family member opted into their ministry--did you? How easy is it for your family to talk about this?
- There seem to be inconsistencies between what your Christian worker family member says and does (particularly, in the family context). How do you feel about it? Is it okay to express it in your family? Or anywhere?
- You may feel like you can't be honest about your experiences and how you're feeling because it might hurt the ministry. Keeping things to yourself can lead you to develop surface-level relationships that aren't supportive or meaningful. This can result in loneliness and a sense of isolation or disconnection.
- __ Insert your own experience(s) here.
What possible goals might you have for therapy?
Discover your true self. You'll know when you're operating from a sense of love and who you were created to be. You won't have to question whether you're living according to your values. When you aren't, you'll know and you'll be able to take steps to address it.
Pay attention to your feelings and learn how they reveal important information about your needs, desires, and values. Many people, especially Christians, ignore or avoid their feelings, thinking that they're useless, unhelpful, painful, harmful, or even sinful. We'll explore how your feelings might help you to make better decisions, live a healthier life, and improve your relationships.
Learn how to share your internal experiences in ways that your family members are more likely to hear you. You'll feel heard and respected and your family will be a more effective support to each other (or we'll discover that certain family members might not listen despite your best efforts and we'll explore healthy ways to respond).
Clarify your values as a family and discuss ways to improve your family's sense of togetherness. Highlighting shared values can help you to focus on what's important (and clarify what isn't), soften hearts, assist you in making loving and respectful joint family decisions, and for your family to make meaning together of challenging circumstances in ways that build up the family rather than tear it down.
Understand what challenges you're having and remind yourself that the problem is the problem (rather than each other) and then work to address the problem together as a team. This often gives a sense of camaraderie and reduces isolation, while increasing hope that your shared challenges can be faced together (if not, resolved).