Resilient Families - Counselling, Therapy and Mediation for Families
Family Counselling
Our family life is fundamental to the mental health of each and every family member.
If your family is going through a tough time – whether it’s from stress, anger, grief or other struggles -family therapy can make a difference
Family counselling helps family members improve communication, strengthen relationships, resolve conflict, and better understand one another. Sessions may involve parents, children, teens, siblings, couples, or blended family members depending on the goals of therapy. At WJW Counselling and Mediation, family counselling focuses on creating emotional safety, improving communication patterns, supporting emotional regulation, and helping families move toward healthier interactions.
Families often seek counselling when communication has become difficult, conflict feels ongoing, or relationships feel emotionally disconnected. Common reasons families attend therapy include:
Parent-teen conflict
Separation or divorce adjustment
Co-parenting stress
Anxiety or emotional regulation challenges
Blended family transitions
Behavioural concerns
Grief or major life changes
Sibling conflict
High conflict family dynamics
Families do not need to be in crisis to benefit from counselling. Many attend therapy to strengthen relationships, improve understanding, and build healthier communication patterns.
No. Family counselling is often flexible and may include different combinations of family members depending on the goals of treatment. Sometimes therapists meet with parents individually, with children individually, or with the family together. Your therapist will help determine the most beneficial structure for sessions.
Yes. WJW Counselling and Mediation supports children and teenagers experiencing emotional, behavioural, social, school, or family-related challenges. Family counselling can help improve parent-teen communication, reduce emotional escalation, strengthen attachment, and support healthier family relationships.
Yes. Family counselling can support families navigating separation, divorce, co-parenting challenges, blended family transitions, and parent-child relationship strain. Therapy may focus on improving communication, reducing conflict exposure for children, supporting emotional adjustment, and rebuilding trust within family relationships.
Sessions vary depending on the family’s goals and concerns. A therapist may help family members:
Improve communication skills
Understand emotional reactions
Identify unhealthy interaction patterns
Develop conflict resolution strategies
Strengthen emotional connection
Support children through transitions
Build emotional regulation skills
Therapy is tailored to the unique needs of each family.
Yes. Virtual family counselling is available across Alberta for families who prefer online sessions or who live outside the St. Albert and Edmonton areas. Virtual therapy can be helpful for busy families, co-parents in separate households, and individuals living in rural communities.
Many extended health benefit plans cover counselling services provided by registered psychologists, registered social workers, or registered clinical counsellors. Coverage varies depending on your specific plan. Families are encouraged to check directly with their insurance provider regarding eligibility and reimbursement.
The length of counselling varies depending on the goals, complexity of concerns, and family dynamics involved. Some families attend for short-term support around a specific issue, while others engage in longer-term work focused on relationship repair, communication, emotional regulation, or high conflict dynamics.
Yes. WJW Counselling and Mediation works with families experiencing ongoing conflict, emotional reactivity, communication breakdown, separation-related stress, and parent-child relationship strain. Therapists focus on improving emotional safety, reducing escalation patterns, strengthening boundaries, and helping family members communicate more effectively.
This is common. Therapy can still be beneficial even if not all family members are ready to participate initially. Sometimes therapy begins with parents or individual family members before moving into joint sessions when appropriate.
Family counselling focuses on emotional wellbeing, relationships, communication, attachment, and mental health support. Family mediation focuses on helping individuals make decisions and resolve disputes, often related to separation, parenting plans, or conflict resolution. Some families may benefit from both services depending on their needs.
Our goal is to help all families understand problems and make positive changes in their lives as individuals and members of the family unit.
We provide a safe place to talk about difficult topics, deal with conflict and increase respect and cooperation
