Is family therapy right for your household?
Families in The Meadows and across the Coppell area often wonder whether their struggles are “bad enough” for family therapy. A better question is whether the same problems keep coming back despite everyone's efforts. Ask yourself:
- Do conversations at home turn into arguments more often than not?
- Is one child taking up most of the family's energy, leaving others overlooked?
- Have the parents stopped agreeing on rules, discipline or screen time?
- Has a recent change, such as a move, divorce, illness or death, left everyone on edge?
- Does someone in the family seem to be carrying a secret or a weight they will not discuss?
- Do you feel more like roommates managing logistics than a family that enjoys each other?
If you answered yes to even one, family therapy may help. Dr. Audrey Kteily provides it entirely online, through secure, HIPAA-compliant video, so your family can meet without anyone driving across town.
How family therapy differs from individual therapy
Individual therapy focuses on one person: their thoughts, feelings and choices. Family therapy treats relationships as the focus. Here is what that changes in practice:
- The problem is a pattern, not a person. A teen's anger, a parent's worry and a sibling's withdrawal are viewed as connected pieces rather than separate issues.
- Everyone has a role in change. Small shifts by several people often work faster than big changes by one.
- The therapist sees interactions in real time. Instead of hearing about an argument secondhand, Dr. Audrey can notice how it starts and help redirect it.
- New skills are practiced together. Families rehearse listening, validating and problem-solving with coaching.
Dr. Audrey often combines both formats. A teen might have individual sessions alongside family meetings, or parents might meet alone for strategy while children join later. Her PhD in Family Studies makes family systems counseling the core of her approach.
What happens in the first weeks of family therapy?
Session one: the parents' view
Dr. Audrey usually begins with parents or guardians. She asks about the family's history, the current concerns, each child's personality and what has already been tried. This gives adults space to speak candidly without children listening.
Sessions two and three: hearing everyone
Children and teens join, sometimes all together and sometimes one at a time. Each person describes what home feels like to them. Younger children may share through simpler conversations, while teens get some private time. Kids often notice things adults miss.
Session four and beyond: working on patterns
With a full picture, the family sets two or three goals. Sessions then focus on the specific moments where things go wrong, such as homework time, mornings or weekends with a co-parent, and on what each person can try differently. Dr. Audrey brings in Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, in which she is C-DBT certified, to help everyone manage strong emotions during those moments.
Between sessions
Much of the real change happens at home. Dr. Audrey may suggest a short weekly family check-in, a new way to handle the bedtime or homework routine, or a phrase parents can use when a child is upset. These are small, specific experiments rather than big assignments. At the next session, the family reports back on what worked, what fell flat and what felt awkward, and the plan is adjusted.
Families sometimes worry that therapy will mean airing every grievance at once. In practice, Dr. Audrey keeps sessions focused and balanced so no one leaves feeling ganged up on, and she will pause a conversation that is getting too heated.
For a broader look at this role, read what a family counselor does for Coppell families.
Goals families in The Meadows often work toward
- Calmer conflict. Disagreements that get resolved instead of escalating or going cold.
- Consistent parenting. Two adults, or two households, presenting a united front. See how parent counseling improves parenting skills.
- Better support for a struggling child. Understanding anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism spectrum differences or self-harm, and responding in ways that help. Dr. Audrey's adolescent issues work and her post on teen counseling for Coppell adolescents describe this further.
- Healing after a hard event. Grief, a trauma, a parent's addiction or domestic violence can leave each family member coping differently. Dr. Audrey also treats PTSD, complex PTSD and other concerns listed under other specialties.
- Adjusting to a new shape. Divorce, remarriage, a new baby or an adult child moving home.
- More warmth. Simply enjoying each other again.
Families interested in the research base can explore systematic reviews of family-based interventions in the Cochrane Library. The American Psychological Association and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy offer family-friendly overviews, and the National Association of Social Workers publishes resources on family wellbeing.
Why online family therapy fits The Meadows
Life in the Coppell area moves fast. Between Coppell ISD schedules, sports and activities, and parents commuting or traveling through DFW Airport, finding one hour when everyone can be in the same car is hard. Online sessions remove that barrier. A parent can join from the office, a teen from upstairs and a college student from campus, as long as each person is in Texas, New Jersey or New York at the time.
Meeting from home also gives Dr. Audrey a more realistic picture of family life, and many children are more relaxed on their own couch than in an unfamiliar office. Privacy is another benefit: in a close neighborhood, no one needs to know your family is in therapy unless you tell them.
How sessions work for Texas families
Dr. Audrey is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, licensed since 2001 and a supervisor since 2004. She can work with anyone who is physically in Texas during the session. Texas sessions follow Central Time and are scheduled flexibly around school and work.
Each participant needs a device with a camera, a quiet space and a stable connection. The secure link opens in a browser with no download. Families can gather around one screen or join individually. Dr. Audrey has served the DFW metroplex for more than two decades from a long-standing Coppell practice, and all sessions are now online.
Family therapy is not a crisis service. If anyone in your family is in immediate danger, call or text 988 or 911.
About Dr. Audrey
Dr. Audrey Kteily holds a PhD in Family Studies and a bachelor's in psychology from Texas Woman's University and a master's in counseling from Dallas Baptist University. She is a Texas LPC-S, a New Jersey LPC and a New York LMHC, a Certified Family Life Educator through the National Council on Family Relations, and C-DBT certified. She is a published author on family dynamics with more than 20 years of clinical experience, and her practice is LGBTQ+-owned and affirming.
Learn more on Dr. Audrey's bio page, see how her online practice is organized, or send a question to Ask Dr. Audrey.
How to get started
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider and provides a superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Check your plan's out-of-network mental health benefits before the first session.
Request an appointment through the home page form or the secure request form on this page, and Dr. Audrey will reply within one business day. You can also text or call (917) 905-3183; texting is easiest, and please keep health details out of texts.