Family therapy · California

For families who love each other and still can’t hear each other.

In a family, no problem belongs to just one person. Family therapy looks at the whole system: the roles, the rules nobody said out loud, and the patterns handed down like recipes.

Sound familiar?

Families come in when

There is constant conflict, or a silence that hurts just as much
A transition has shaken things: a move, a divorce, a remarriage, a loss, a child leaving home
Parents and children grew up in different cultures and live by different rules
Adult children and parents are renegotiating closeness and distance
Parents disagree about how to raise their children
Family is spread across countries, and guilt travels in both directions

Multilingual families

The two-culture household

In immigrant and multilingual families, children often adapt faster than their parents. They translate at the bank, switch languages mid-sentence, and live by one set of rules at school and another at home.

Parents can feel they are losing their children to a culture they don’t fully trust. Children can feel caught between loyalty and belonging. Neither side is wrong. I help families name this gap and build a version of home that has room for everyone.

I know this ground personally and professionally: I have lived in Russia, Portugal and the United States, and worked for fifteen years with international and multilingual communities.

Approach

How family therapy works

See the pattern

Who speaks, who withdraws, who keeps the peace. We map the dance the family does without blaming any one dancer.

Change it live

Family therapy is experiential. We try a different conversation in the room, with support, instead of only describing the old one.

Keep what’s strong

Every family has resources: humor, loyalty, persistence. We build on them on purpose.

Questions

Family therapy FAQ

Who needs to attend family therapy?

Whoever is willing. We decide together who should be in the room, and that can change over time. Useful work can begin even if not everyone joins.

Can sessions be in Russian and English?

Yes, and often both in the same session. It is common for different generations to be most comfortable in different languages, and I can work in either.

What if one family member refuses to come?

That is very common and it does not block the work. When one or two people change how they respond, the pattern in the whole family starts to move.

Is family therapy about blaming the parents?

No. Systemic therapy looks at patterns, not culprits. Everyone in a family is usually doing their best with what they learned, and the goal is to find what works better for all of you.

Next step

Find the words. Start with a short, free call.

English or Russian, your choice. No pressure and no commitment.

Book a free consultation