Who comes to the sessions
We work with parents directly, with children and adolescents individually, and with the family together when that is what the work calls for. Our clinicians draw on attachment-based and systems approaches, emotion-focused therapy, and cognitive behavioural methods, and we pay particular attention to helping children feel more connected to their parents.
If your main concern is a child or teen, you may also want our page on child and teen therapy.
Common reasons families come
- Anxiety, school refusal, and mood: for children and adolescents who are struggling at home or at school.
- Behaviour and regulation: behavioural family therapy for emotional outbursts and rigid patterns.
- Co-parenting after separation: planning, communication, and child-focused decision-making.
- Adolescent identity and risk: substance use, peer dynamics, and the developmental work of the late teens.
- Family transitions: new siblings, blended families, illness, loss, and relocation.
- Parent-child and sibling conflict: strengthening relationships and finding ways to talk that reduce conflict.
Our family therapy team
Family and parenting work at VPC is offered by Dr. Jessie Sandhu, Dr. Katrina Milani, Natalie Sweeney, RCC, Emily Reaser, RSW, Dr. Lisa Ferrari, and Dr. Gail Krivel-Zacks, RCC. Our care team will match your family with the clinician whose experience fits your situation and your children's ages.
Common questions
- Who needs to attend?
- It depends on the goal. Sometimes the work starts with parents only, sometimes with a child or teen individually, and sometimes with the whole family. Our care team will help you decide where to begin.
- Can family therapy be done online?
- Yes. Sessions are available by secure video across BC, and most of our family clinicians also see clients in person at our Mount Pleasant office.
- Is family therapy different from therapy for my child?
- Yes. In individual therapy the work is with your child. In family therapy the focus is on the relationships and routines the family shares. Many families use a mix of both.