Reconnect With Your Family: Better Connections, #1

By Heather Hopkirk

• Do you view family get-togethers with trepidation?
• Does the idea of interacting with family make you anxious?
• Do you want to close a distance that has grown between yourself and a family member?

 

Then this is the book for you!

Suitable for adolescents, teenagers and adults alike, this book lifts the lid on our personal relationships, our feelings and family, and what it all means. Concisely written with real world cases taken from her extensive history of clients, this book is written by Heather Hopkirk, a counsellor specializing in family relationships for over twenty years.

Heather is now here to help you with her book, giving you genuine insight into how to develop stronger bonds with family, make your life better, and your world warmer. Unlike others, Heather's book draws a distinction between close family and extended family, paying attention to each, going over common scenarios and offering practical suggestions that are easy to put into practice.

With all the rich insight contained within its chapters, this book is not only for those with challenging families. Anyone can benefit from Heather's wisdom gained over two decades as a professional counsellor.

This book is ideal, covering all key areas of family life, offering support and empathy with a focus on communication. Its warmth shines through and will touch all those who read it.

Get the book and get a better insight into your family dynamics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Twinklebrain
• Release date: Dec 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393783077

Heather Hopkirk

Heather is a highly accomplished personal life coach who has helped her clients through a range of complex interpersonal issues. Each person she has worked with has gained significant insight into their relationships with others, as well as the ever-evolving relationship with themselves. Now Heather is keen to share her experiences with the wider world and bring it a little more compassion. It is her mission to help as many people as she can to treat others with more understanding, love and warmth, things that we often forget about in our fast-paced modern lives. Heather specialises in helping with relationships, personal issues and family connection, and has been supporting clients for over twenty years. Now she brings that wealth of experience to a series of books that she is writing using notes from actual clients.

Book preview

Introduction

Why family is important

Common things that prevent us from truly appreciating our family

Common excuses we use to avoid family

Extended family vs close family

Disagreements

Resentments

Special occasions

Appreciating family on a daily basis

Family in need

How to accept help from family

Good luck!

Introduction

It sounds simple doesn’t it? But if it is so simple then why do so many of us find it so difficult to actually enjoy our time with our family? Of course there is not one simple answer to this question and there isn’t an easy solution that fits every situation. We all have our own issues going on that impact our relationships with those that we hold dear. I know that it can be difficult to admit that we find it difficult to spend time with your family but the first step is facing up to it. The fact that you are reading this book means that you are ready to put in the necessary work and are willing to make changes for a richer life for you and your loved ones.

As mentioned, there are many reasons why quality time with your family can prove to be a challenge. For some the challenge lies in finding time to devote to loved ones. Modern life means we are constantly plugged in, logged on and available, able to answer calls and emails on all sorts of matters, those that are urgent, and others that are not. Let’s see if this sounds familiar. An email comes through on your phone or tablet. It isn’t urgent but you decide to answer it anyway because you figure it will be one thing less to do during your working hours.

For some of us, we want to make the time to really connect with family, but for one reason or another it just isn’t happening. Perhaps it is a family member, or members, who are resistant, and you see them as thwarting your attempts to spend more quality time with them. If only they would give you a chance and allow a connection to flourish, instead of continuing to resist and deny both of you the opportunity to create a stronger bond that can develop into something meaningful and long lasting.

In other cases all families are impacted by disagreements and squabbles, and I am sure that yours is no different. Family arguments can be one of the most damaging things because the impact can often last years and decades with family members keeping up the resentment, refusing to bury the hatchet, feeling they’ve been disrespected. Each involved party will have their own perspective on the argument, each believing themselves to be the injured party, unwilling to see it from the other’s point of view. The sad thing is that the longer it goes with the involved persons refusing to speak to one another, the harder it can be to make peace and reconcile differences.

This is how it was for me and my family. As an only child I was a keen observer of all those around me and, although still small, my parents would openly have conversations in front of me about their disagreements with their siblings. I would listen while I played with my toys and at even that young age I would wonder what made my parents so certain that they were in the right. Sure, their argument about why they felt slighted and why they were definitely the injured party sounded convincing, but I thought the people they were complaining about would have their own perspective where they saw my parents as the offending party.

Empathy and the willingness to see things from the point of view of others are qualities that a counsellor needs to have if they are going to make an impact on the lives of those that need them. It was my interest in connections between people and considering issues from all angles that led me to pursue a career as a counsellor, but it wasn't my first choice of career. As a younger woman I was initially interested in making documentary films. Again, it was my interest in relationships, but