// Java Document var quotes = new Array; quotes.push("I therefore … beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

This passage from the Letter to the Ephesians in the Christian scriptures speaks to all of us. While often applied to communal life in the church, it has profound significance for our communal life in families.

There are so many ways in which the burdens of contemporary life affect us, and couple and family therapists work with our clients to help facilitate healing and reconciliation, enabling them to become peacemakers in their own families.

From our article
"Peacemaking in the Family"
"); quotes.push("The purpose of setting healthy boundaries is to develop a good sense of self along with a strong sense of safety and security, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Learning to respect and to love ourselves allows us to become close to others and to develop relationships without the threat of losing oneself, smothering another, invading another's privacy or personal space, or being invaded or taken advantage of by another.

From our article
"Boundaries Not Walls"
"); quotes.push("Substance dependence develops through repeated and prolonged use of psychoactive substances which alter mood and perception of reality. Intense cravings to use and uncomfortable, sometimes life-threatening, withdrawal symptoms keep an individual trapped in a harmful cycle. Psychoactive substances that cause dependency include alcohol, prescription drugs, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, etc.

From our article
"Substance Use Disorders"
"); quotes.push("Here at IFL, psychotherapy is a family affair. We deal with a great variety of clients: some come as individuals, some as couples, some as families; some are Christian, some Jewish, some Muslim, some of other faiths, and some who are not members of any faith community. At first glance, they seem to have little in common except for a desire to improve their relationships through therapy. But our clients have a lot more in common than that. No matter what their issues, or background, or social class, or culture, they all have families of which they are a part. In this issue of Reflections, Dr. Philip Classen, a clinical psychologist and a registered family therapist, describes the work of doing therapy from a family systems perspective.
Diane Marshall, M.Ed., RMFT
Clinical Director

From our article
"Helping Families Heal"
"); quotes.push("Family mediation is a constructive, non-adversarial way to resolve family and parenting issues that inevitably accompany separation or divorce. It can help to reduce the pain, the time, and the expense of finding solutions. A professionally trained, impartial mediator assists you and other involved family members to define new relationships, roles, and responsibilities.

While family mediation is not itself a therapy, it is a therapeutic means of resolving contentious family issues. It provides couples the opportunity to face each other without risk and to identify and address the unresolved conflicts that can get in the way of negotiating a successful post marriage agreement.

From our article
"Family Mediation"
"); quotes.push("How can we ever have any hope of a happy future together?
Will this relationship ever work out?
It feels like we are living like roommates under the same roof?

These comments are often made by people struggling with discouragement and disappointment in their marital or couple relationship. What started as a bright future filled with hopes and dreams of building a life together with their partner, has spiralled into days of co-existence with 'the other', perhaps with limited conversation or arguments, reduced to solving issues via email or with text messages.

Understanding the complexities of couple relationships, which includes the exploration of each individuals attachment style, can be an integral and important part of the work of therapists as we provide support to couples in distress.

From our article
"How We Love as Couples"
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