Family Systems

Individuals do not exist in isolation and are intricately connected within the complex web of family dynamics. I believe that understanding these intricate relationships and patterns is crucial for promoting healing and awareness of how your family of origin, family dynamics and upbringing, have influenced you today.

Everybody had or has some form of family, whether you born into it, choose it, or found yourself in a situation with others that essentially represented a family. I use the Systems approach to change the perception of who you are and why you do the things you do by looking at how you were shaped and influenced by the people in your lives as you developed. We were all set up to think and believe and act the ways that we do because of those around us as we developed.

I am trained in family systems (Bowenian) approaches to therapy. By examining the patterns within the family and across generations, we can bring insight into behaviors that may be holding us back. This approach is especially useful in communities of color given our desire to maintain strong multi-generational kinship networks.

I use a style that focuses on the things and relationships in our lives that bring meaning. Here we look at what brings us joy and what brings us distress. This helps us see what we have used to create meaning and purpose in our lives.

Taking a look at generational patterns that have been passed down. Understanding a client's family of origin is extremely helpful in understanding the client on a deeper level.

I approach therapy and explore one's identities and relationships through a parts framework from family systems. In my studies and practicing clinical work, I facilitate and collaborate with the client throughout the process of connecting emotions, sensations, thoughts, and actions, which through exploration the client can find insight, understanding, or themes that pop up. What messages do internal voices, statements, and mirrors reflect on you, and where do they come from?

Family Systems therapy looks at how each individual is connected to their family, community, culture and spirituality. People are wonderfully complicated and how you end up as you is a combination of many things, relationships and events that have happened throughout your life. True healing can begin when all these parts of you are looked at and healed through love, compassion, understanding and setting healthy boundaries.

We explore the patterns and structures present within the family that impact relational patterns that can lead to individual behavioral and emotional struggles, as well as communication challenges. We work to build healthier patterns of interaction, and reinforce healthy structure within the family to improve the function of both the individuals and family as a whole.

Family systems theory is the foundation of my education and training. For all clients, including individuals, I look for relational patterns that often inform the direction of therapy.

Family systems training and perspective is a core part of my training as an MFT- in graduate school, I completed 60+ credits, primarily focused on family/couples therapy.

As a systems based therapist I see clients from an ecological perspective. Individuals are seen as part of a system of interactions and relations to others in their environment, rather than individuals being autonomous entities independent of their surroundings and context. By addressing breakdowns within a system and the relations and communications within its contextual setting, problems can be addressed in a greater holistic manner.

I've worked with families for the past 11 years and have experience with foster/adoptive, racial minority and LGBTQ families, adult children and families experiencing major life transitions.

My degree from LIOS/Saybrook University includes a focus in Systems Therapy. The Family Systems we are exposed to during our development informs how we look at the world, our sense of ourselves, and how the two interact. Our Family System especially informs our behavior, and learning more about how that works, and how to change our interactions with and perspectives on our family unit helps lead to change in our own behavior.

I work with families dealing with communication challenges, attachment difficulties, issues of self esteem, school and social difficulties, anxiety and depression, grief and loss, traumatic experiences, family dynamics and changes in family structures. My job is to learn about the dynamics and about the goals you have. From there, we will together find a way that gives you the best results.

Dr. Babinski serves individuals, couples, teens, and families. When meeting with any of the patients mentioned, she believes that our problems do not occur in a vacuum. We are social creatures and it is often in our relationships with others, or even our relationship with ourselves that issues arise. Discussing these different relationship systems builds a foundation for creating awareness, coping skills, and solutions for the unique challenges people want to overcome in therapy services.

Everybody had or has some form of family, whether you born into it, choose it, or found yourself in a situation with others that essentially represented a family. I use the Systems approach to change the perception of who you are and why you do the things you do by looking at how you were shaped and influenced by the people in your lives as you developed. We were all set up to think and believe and act the ways that we do because of those around us as we developed.

Systems Theory is not necessarily about doing therapy with an entire family (who has time for that?). A look at your family system is like seeing the inner workings of a clock. We have much more information about how and why you are the cog shaped the way you are shaped, when we look at the functioning of the entire clock. What's magical is, by changing how you are shaped, or how you behave, you can't help but affect the shape (behavior) of all the cogs in your family, workplace or community!