Family Therapist for Parents and Teen Daughter
My husband and I would love to sit down with a therapist and our 15 year old daughter to get to the bottom of all her anger towards us. She angrily told me that she has no relationship with me and all I am is a chauffeur. It was very painful to hear her say that, especially given that I stayed home full-time for the 6 years of her life and went back to work part-time so I could be there when she was out of school. After giving it much thought, I realized she is right. I spent the first 12 plus years of her life doing activities with her and backed away when I became less cool to hang out with and gave her privacy when she was holed up in her room. We have developed a pattern of me driving her to her different social activities and never doing anything together. Her anger towards her father is also at an all time high and they just can't see eye to eye on any issues without getting into a screaming match. I don't want to lose whatever relationship I have with her and am willing to work at repairing what I may have damaged. Any referrals to a family therapist in Oakland or Oakland/Berkeley border would be much appreciated.
Parent Replies
I would recommend David J. Frankel, PhD in Berkeley. My husband, 13 year old daughter, and I had a couple of sessions with Dr. Frankel earlier this year when we were searching for a therapist for our daughter. We had tried someone who our daughter didn't click with so we set out on a new search. We all loved Dr. Frankel. He is very gentle, and we could have easily had great success working with him. Ultimately, our daughter chose a different therapist (a female, who it turns out that her BFF at school is also seeing) but we did like David Frankel very much and would wholly recommend him for your family. He is in Berkeley, near University and Milvia, and his number is (415) 927-7067.