Family Solutions Group Services
FAMILY NEEDS CONSULTATION
Many families can rise to the challenge and do what needs to be done to begin restoring equilibrium and balance to a family system rocked with conflict and discord. The key element here is the phrase "do what needs to be done." That is the stumbling block, the obstacle to moving forward. We are referring to "knowing what needs to be done." The problem is not in the doing. The problem is more in the knowing. In order to provide families with the opportunity to discover the answer to the question, "Now what can we do?" the Family Solutions Team created the Family Needs Consultation.
The Family Needs Consultation is a solution and action focused approach providing parents (and their lawyers) with clinical educational feedback plus specific feedback about appropriate dispute resolution interventions for their particular situation. The process takes approximately three hours during which time 2 or more team members engage the parents in a child-focused family interview while other team members observe from behind the one-way mirror. The team consults on occasion during the consultation. Prior to meeting the parents, they complete intake materials that the team reviews and discusses before the consultation.
The full team meets briefly at the end of the process to formulate, based upon our collective knowledge of and expertise in the family dispute resolution field, suggestions about the most appropriate services and solution-oriented interventions to address the family's particular impasse and needs. These conclusions are shared verbally with the family and then followed up by a brief written report.
The Family Solutions Team is available to work with the family and implement services and interventions. We are also available to refer the family to other individuals or groups capable of providing similar services. In either case, it is our hope that the parents l leave the consultation with a clearer idea of their children's needs, how to focus better on these, and about what needs to be done, how, and by whom.