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- Family therapy
Help for families navigating conflict, a child's or teen's struggles, divorce and blended families, estrangement, and the stress of caring for each other.
Families are systems. When one person is struggling, everyone adjusts around it, and sometimes the adjustments become the problem. Family therapy looks at the patterns between people rather than locating the whole problem in one of them, which is often a relief to the person who's been cast as the problem.
Sessions may include the whole family, parents only, a parent and one child, or siblings, depending on what's needed. The goal is practical: fewer blow-ups, clearer communication, and a family that can support the person who's hurting instead of fighting about it.
What we help with
Family therapy is often part of treating a child's or family member's diagnosed condition, in which case it's typically covered by that person's insurance. We'll explain how it works for your situation when you call.
- Parent-child and parent-teen conflict
- Power struggles, defiance, disrespect, and the sense that you've lost your kid. Includes work with oppositional behavior and the parenting patterns that feed or calm it.
- Family therapy for a child's condition
- When a child or teen has anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma or OCD, involving the family is often the most effective part of treatment. Parent sessions teach you how to respond at home in ways that help rather than accommodate the problem.
- Divorce, separation and co-parenting
- Helping children through the change, and helping parents build a working co-parenting relationship when the romantic one is over.
- Blended and step-families
- Loyalty binds, discipline across households, new siblings, and the slow work of building a family that wasn't born one.
- Estrangement and repair
- Structured conversations for family members who want to reconnect after a rupture, and support for those deciding whether to.
- Families affected by a member's illness
- Support for families living with a member's serious mental or physical illness, including education, communication and limit-setting.
- Faith-based family counseling
- Several of our clinicians offer Christian-based family counseling for families who want their faith integrated into the work.
How we treat it
Our family therapists work from a family-systems perspective and draw on structural, strategic and solution-focused approaches, along with evidence-based parent training for younger children, including parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) with trained clinicians. Family work is often combined with individual therapy for one member, coordinated within our group so that everyone is pulling in the same direction.
When to reach out
- Every conversation turns into a fight
- One child's struggles are taking over the family
- You're separating and want to do it well for the kids
- A step-family is not coming together
- You're grieving or caregiving and the family is fracturing under it
Common questions
Is family therapy covered by insurance?
Often, yes. When family sessions are part of treating a family member's diagnosed condition, they're typically billed under that person's insurance. Family counseling for relationship issues alone, without a diagnosis, is self-pay. We'll explain which applies before you start.
Does everyone have to come to every session?
No. Your therapist will decide with you who should be in the room for each session. It's common to alternate between whole-family, parent-only and individual sessions.
My teenager refuses to come. What then?
Start with the parents. Changes in how parents respond often shift a teen's behavior even before the teen is willing to participate, and many teens join later.
Where to get help for family therapy
Available at every Oceanic® office and through our telehealth team.
Grand Strand
- Carolina Forest215 Ronnie Ct, Suite C, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
- Myrtle Beach1304 Professional Dr, Suite E (2nd floor), Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
- Surfside Beach1508 Azalea Drive, Suite 802, Surfside Beach, SC 29575
- Murrells Inlet11947 Grandhaven Dr, Suite N, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
Midlands
- West Columbia121 Executive Center Dr, Suite 102, Columbia, SC 29210
- Forest Acres1800 Saint Julian Place, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29204
- Irmo7520 Irmo Dr, Columbia, SC 29212
Upstate
- Greenville37 Villa Rd, Suite 508, Greenville, SC 29615
- Anderson132 Broadbent Way, Anderson, SC 29625
Lowcountry
- North Charleston2179 Ashley Phosphate Rd, Suite A, North Charleston, SC 29406
Anywhere in South Carolina
- OnlineSecure video sessions, statewide
- Carolina Forest (Myrtle Beach, SC)
- Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach, SC)
- Surfside Beach (Surfside Beach, SC)
- Murrells Inlet (Murrells Inlet, SC)
- North Charleston (North Charleston, SC)
- West Columbia (Columbia, SC)
- Forest Acres (Columbia, SC)
- Irmo (Columbia, SC)
- Greenville (Greenville, SC)
- Anderson (Anderson, SC)
- Online, anywhere in South Carolina
Diagnostic descriptions on this page are summarized in plain language from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR, 2022). This page is educational. It is not a substitute for evaluation by a licensed clinician, and only a licensed clinician can make a diagnosis.
Ready when you are.
Call us or submit a short intake form. A Patient Account Representative will match you with a therapist, and most new clients have their first appointment within a few business days.