Family Therapy
Family counselling for households across St. John's and Newfoundland and Labrador, whether the tension sits between parents and teens, adult siblings, blended families adjusting to new dynamics, or aging parents and their adult children.
Sessions draw on structural family therapy, narrative therapy, and systems-focused approaches, with the option to meet in person at our St. John's clinic or virtually anywhere in NL.
Book a free 15-minute consultation below to figure out who should come to the first session and what you'd like to work on.
Approaches we use in family therapy
Family dynamics are rarely simple, and the people in the room shape which approach works best. Our therapists are trained across the modalities below, and your therapist will adjust based on what your family actually needs.
-
For identifying and shifting the roles, alliances, and boundary patterns that keep families stuck. Particularly useful for parent-teen conflict and blended family transitions.
-
For surfacing the stories a family tells about itself, and rewriting the ones that aren't serving anyone anymore. Helpful when a specific family member has been cast in a role that doesn't fit.
-
For looking at the family as a whole rather than blaming any one person. Focused on how changes in one part of the system ripple to the others.
-
For families navigating a death, an illness diagnosis, or a major identity change together. Sessions can be joint or split into subsystems (parents alone, siblings alone) depending on what's most useful.
How to get started
A free first call
15-minute call, usually with the family member who's initiating. No intake forms, no clinical assessment, no pressure to commit.
Decide who is coming
Based on the call, we work with you on which family members should be in the first session. Not everyone needs to come every time.
Your first session
50 or 80 minutes, in person in St. John's or virtually across Canada. No expectation that anyone has to speak, and no assignments before the session.
Move at your own pace
Weekly, biweekly, or on an as-needed schedule. Sessions can shift between the whole family and smaller groupings as the work evolves.
FAQs
How much does family therapy cost in Newfoundland?
Private family therapy in Newfoundland typically runs between 150 and 220 CAD per 50-minute session, with 80-minute sessions priced proportionally higher. Most extended health insurance plans cover a portion when the therapist is a registered social worker or counselling therapist. If you're looking for lower-cost or no-cost options, the public system through Health and Community Services offers some family counselling, though wait times can be long.
What's the difference between family therapy and individual therapy?
Family therapy focuses on the patterns, communication, and relationships between multiple family members, and the whole family (or subsystems of it) usually attends together. Individual therapy focuses on one person's inner world and personal work. Both can happen at once, and some families do both concurrently, but the goals and format are different. If you're not sure which fits your situation, the free 15-minute consultation is designed to help you decide.