Building Better Relationships

SUSANNA DEVERELL

My background

I hold a Post-Graduate Diploma in Relationship Therapy and have offered counselling in this area for two decades, 15 of those as a Registered Practitioner for the charity RELATE, as a couple and family counsellor. This included facilitating workshops about the impact that parental conflict has on children in separation and divorce scenarios. I now only work in private practice.

Before this, I worked as a fully-qualified German lawyer. My experience at family courts stimulated my interest in conflict resolution. With my husband and three children, I lived for many years in parts of the world which are deeply troubled by unresolved conflict. These experiences come together in what I offer now.

Thirteen Thoughts about Families:

  1. Family is where you are received with open arms.
  2. We expect too much of mothers.
  3. Generations are closer than before.
  4. Our family imprints us, whether we like it or not.
  5. Fathers are equally important.
  6. Most parents prefer one child to another.
  7. Blood ties are no protection against abuse or neglect.
  8. The happiness of parents is not always the happiness of children.
  9. The attempt to understand eases the pain.
  10. Forgiveness requires maturity.
  11. Often love is buried under deep layers.
  12. There is no ideal time to have children.
  13. What keeps families together: mutual history told truthfully.
Der Stern 2014 - Understanding Families
Susanna Deverell