Families are where we first learn who we are, how to love, how to argue, how to ask for what we need, and what happens when we don’t get it. That means families can be the source of our deepest support and our deepest wounds, sometimes at the same time.
When something is off in the family system, whether it’s a conflict that won’t resolve, a teenager pulling away, the aftermath of addiction or loss, or simply years of accumulated hurt that no one knows how to talk about, it affects you in ways that are hard to put down. The tension shows up at the dinner table. In the way you avoid certain conversations. In the conversations that never quite happen.
My name is Ceci Addams, and I’ve been working with adults on family-related challenges for over two decades. I work individually with you on the family relationship patterns that are affecting your life. The positive changes you make in your relationships often have a positive ripple effect through the rest of your family in ways that you may not expect.
Ready to talk? Call me at 949-431-0497.
Who This Work Is For
I work individually with adults, typically between the ages of 25 and 70, who are navigating family-related challenges. I help you to explore your own role, your own patterns, and what you can do from your side. Many of my clients come to me because:
- They’re parenting a teen and want support, even when their teen isn’t ready to participate
- They’re navigating a difficult relationship with an adult child
- They’re working through the impact of a difficult parent or family generational trauma patterns
- They’re holding the family together through a major life event or loss
- They’re processing the long ripple effects of growing up in a household with addiction, illness, or instability
- They’re navigating the complexity of a blended family from their own perspective
This is not family therapy where everyone sits in the room together. This is your work, on the family relationships and patterns that have shaped your life. The positive changes you make often change the dynamics of your relationships in ways that have a positive effect on the rest of the family.
What Family Counseling Can Help With
Family Conflict
Every family has conflict. The question is whether the conflict leads toward understanding, repair, and growth, or whether it just cycles, leaving everyone more entrenched than before. Family counseling helps you understand your own role in the patterns and what you can do differently from your side. I help you feel genuinely heard and validated, and from that foundation we begin to work on something more healthy and sustainable.
Parenting a Difficult Teen
The teenage years can feel like someone replaced your child overnight. The withdrawal, the conflict, the sense that nothing you do is right can be exhausting, overwhelming, and heartbreaking for many parents. I work individually with parents during the adolescent years, helping you stay connected to your child while also caring for yourself.
Adult Children and Aging Parents
Some of the hardest family dynamics arrive in midlife: an adult child who has pulled away or is struggling, a parent who needs more care than you can give, a sibling dynamic that flares up around every family decision. The work we do together helps you understand your part, set the boundaries you need to set, and stay connected to what you value as your family changes.
Blended Families
Blended families carry a particular kind of complexity: the layered loyalties, the grief that often hasn’t been fully processed, the dynamics between step-parents and stepchildren that nobody has a perfect map for. I work with adults in blended family situations to understand the dynamics and the role they play within their particular family system.
Grief and Loss
When your family loses someone or something (like a marriage, a home, or a way of life), then you may grieve differently from other family members. We create space for your grief, on your timeline, without managing or rushing the process.
The Impact of a Loved One’s Addiction
Addiction doesn’t only affect the person struggling with it. It ripples through the entire family system, changing roles, eroding trust, and creating patterns of caretaking and survival that eventually harm everyone. We work on understanding what has happened to you in that system, establish healthy boundaries, and begin the healing process, regardless of where your loved one is in their journey.
Communication and Disconnection
Sometimes families just stop talking to each other in any meaningful way. The conversations are surface-level or logistical, and there’s a low-grade distance that everyone feels but no one names. We work on understanding what you want from those relationships and what you can do, from your side, to begin closing the distance.
My Approach to Family Counseling
I see a family as a living system. When one part of the system changes, everything else shifts. That means the work we do together isn’t just about you in isolation. It’s about helping you see your place in the system clearly, and from that clarity, choosing what you want to do differently.
I hold you and your family members with equal care and respect, even the ones who have hurt you. Everyone has a story. Everyone has a perspective worth understanding, even when their behavior is causing pain. My job is to hold the space carefully enough that you can really feel heard, and to help you find your own ground within a complex system.
Online Counseling Across California
All of my sessions are currently held online via secure Zoom video, which means you can work with me from anywhere in California. Many people find that being in their own space makes the work easier, especially when what we’re talking about is family, where the privacy of your own home matters. Because I’m licensed in California, I can work with anyone who is physically located in the state, whether you live here full-time or are temporarily here for work, school, or visiting family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you do family therapy with everyone in the room?
No, I usually work with one adult at a time. This is one-to-one counseling about family relationships, dynamics, and patterns that are affecting you. The work happens between us, and what you discover often shifts how you relate to the people in your family.
Can family counseling help with a difficult teenager?
Yes, when it’s the parent who’s doing the work. I work individually with parents of teens, helping you understand what’s happening beneath the surface in your relationship with your child, where your patterns of response come from, and what you can do differently. The work doesn’t replace family therapy that includes your teen, but it can be deeply useful on its own, especially when your teen isn’t ready or willing to participate.
Can family counseling help if someone in the family is struggling with addiction?
Yes. Addiction affects the entire family system, and individual counseling is an important part of healing for everyone touched by it. I work with adults whose lives have been shaped by a loved one’s addiction, helping you understand the patterns that have developed around the addiction, establish healthier boundaries, process the grief and anger that often accumulate, and begin to find your own ground.
What if not everyone in the family wants to be involved?
This is common, and it doesn’t stop the work. Even if some family members aren’t willing to participate, working on yourself can create meaningful change in the family dynamic. When you shift how you show up, it affects everyone around you, including those who never set foot in a counseling session.
How is family counseling different from individual therapy?
In my practice, family counseling is individual therapy, focused specifically on your family relationships, dynamics, and patterns. Where general individual therapy might focus on your inner experience and personal growth more broadly, family counseling zooms in on the relationships you grew up in and the family you’re in now.
How long does family counseling take?
It varies depending on what you’re working on. Some people make significant progress in a short series of sessions. Others benefit from working together over a longer period, especially when there’s deep family history to work through. We figure out together what’s right for you, as we go.
Where are your family counseling sessions held?
All sessions are held online via secure Zoom video. Because I’m licensed in California, I can work with anyone who is physically located in the state, whether you live here full-time or are temporarily here for work, school, or visiting family. My official office location remains at 23201 Mill Creek Drive, Suite 220, Laguna Hills, CA 92653, though I do not currently see clients in person there.
When You’re Ready to Begin
Family work is some of the most courageous work a person can do. You don’t have to know what to say. You just have to be willing to start.
Call 949-431-0497
We can figure out the next steps together.
Related: Women’s Counseling Laguna Hills, Marriage Counseling Laguna Hills, About Ceci