Box Elder Family Support Center

Our Family Therapy Program offers families a more intensive approach to increasing their ability to care for their children. This service is free to families who do not have Medicaid or private insurance. Child care is available during sessions. Our therapist also provides consultations and oversight to our Nursery and Parent Advocate Staff.

Our family therapy approach grew from a need based on the fundamental assumption that adaptive family interactions can play a pivotal role in protecting children from negative influences. Furthermore, by improving the marital and parent/child relationships, family interactions are strengthened thus building protective factors for family success.

Some of the approaches used in the program include:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that was developed by Francine Shapiro to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders caused by exposure to distressing events such as rape or military combat. According to Shapiro's theory, when a traumatic or distressing experience occurs, it may overwhelm usual cognitive and neurological coping mechanisms. The memory and associated stimuli of the event are inadequately processed, and are dysfunctionally stored in an isolated memory network. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering influence and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms.

Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP): PREP guides couples through a series of research-examined skills and tools in order to work towards quality marital satisfaction. The PREP approach is based on 30 years of research in the field of relationship health, with much of the research conducted at the University of Denver, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. The curriculum covers topics such as communication, forgiveness and commitment. The Speaker/Listener technique that is taught works not only with adult couples but has also been successfully integrated into the parenting process used in therapy.

Sand Tray Therapy: Sand tray therapy which was formally developed by Dora Kalff and Margaret Lowenfeld, emphasizes the spontaneous and dynamic qualities of the creative experience itself. The essence of sandplay is non-verbal and symbolic. In what Kalff called the "free and protected place" provided by the tray and the relationship with the therapist, children and adults play with sand, water, and miniatures over a period of time, constructing concrete manifestations of their inner world. When energies in the form of "living symbols" are touched upon in the personal and collective unconscious, healing can happen spontaneously within a person at an unconscious level. As a more harmonious relationship between the conscious and the unconscious develops, the ego is restructured and strengthened. Like EMDR, sand tray therapy integrates the consciousness to personal unconsciousness trauma triggering a healing process to occur.

Neurofeedback/EEG biofeedback: is a non-invasive technique used to help the brain self-regulate. By improving self-regulation of brain activity, we can improve how clients function cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. This applies whether the client is an adult suffering with symptoms like chronic headaches, or a child dealing with more severe condition like autism or epilepsy. This technique can strengthen and stabilize the brain naturally to regain better control and focus. Neurofeedback builds on your strength and focuses on the person as a whole.