Family Therapy in Malibu
Family Therapy in Malibu with Julie Klamon, LMFT
When a family is struggling, you can feel it in every room of the house. Conversations turn into arguments. Someone stops talking altogether. The tension becomes the thing everyone is trying to manage, and nobody is doing it well. Family therapy in Malibu gives your family a structured space to address what is actually going on, with a licensed professional who knows how to keep the conversation productive instead of destructive.
As a licensed marriage and family therapist with over two decades of experience, family dynamics are at the core of what I do. I have worked with families dealing with everything from chronic conflict to crisis situations. What ties all of that work together is the belief that families can change how they relate to each other when they have the right support.
My office in Agoura Hills is about 25 minutes from Malibu via Las Virgenes Road and Malibu Canyon Road. Virtual family sessions are also available for families located in California.
Family Therapy for the Malibu Community
Families in Malibu deal with stressors that are specific to the area. The Woolsey Fire and subsequent fire seasons have tested families in ways that go beyond property damage. The process of evacuating, losing a home, rebuilding, and living with the ongoing threat of it happening again puts enormous strain on family relationships. Parents and children process that stress differently, and without a way to talk about it, those differences can create distance instead of closeness.
There are also the everyday pressures of life in a community where expectations run high. Parents working long hours in entertainment or running businesses. Kids attending SMMUSD schools where social circles are small and the stakes feel large. The cultural emphasis on privacy can make it hard for families to ask for help, even when they know they need it. My Agoura Hills office provides that help in a location that is close enough to be convenient but far enough to feel private.
My Approach to Family Therapy
Family therapy works differently than individual therapy. Instead of focusing on one person, we look at the relationships and patterns between everyone in the family. Often, the issue is not that one person is causing all the problems. It is that the family has developed habits of communicating, or not communicating, that leave everyone frustrated and unheard. My role is to help you see those patterns, understand where they come from, and start replacing them with something that actually works. You can read more on my family therapy page.
Sessions may include the whole family or different combinations of family members, depending on what we are working on. I keep things practical and focused. The point is not to rehash every disagreement from the past five years. It is to build new ways of talking to each other so the next five years look different.
How Family Sessions Are Different
Family therapy is not the same as having each family member come to individual therapy separately. When I work with a family, I am paying attention to what happens between people, not just inside them. The way a conversation escalates, who shuts down first, how decisions get made or avoided. These patterns are often invisible to the people living inside them, but they become clear in a therapy session. Once a family can see what they are doing, they can start doing something different. That shift is where real change happens.
Who I Work With
Children (8+)
Teens
Adults
Seniors
Frequently Asked Questions About Family Therapy in Malibu
Family therapy in Malibu addresses communication breakdowns, parent-child conflict, the impact of divorce or separation, behavioral concerns in children or teens, blended family dynamics, and the collective stress of shared experiences like wildfire displacement. Every family comes in with a different situation, and I shape our work around your specific concerns.
Yes. Shared trauma like the Woolsey Fire affects each family member differently, and those different responses can create misunderstanding and tension at home. One person may want to talk about it constantly while another shuts down. Children may act out while parents try to hold everything together. Family therapy creates a space where everyone can be heard and where the family can begin to heal as a unit rather than as individuals pulling in different directions.
Not necessarily. Some sessions work best with the whole family present, while others are more productive with just the parents or with a parent and one child. I adjust the format based on what we are working on at any given point. The goal is always to improve the way your family functions together, and sometimes that means meeting with different combinations of family members.
Confidentiality is built into everything I do. What is discussed in session stays in session. My office in Agoura Hills is located outside the Malibu community, which provides a degree of separation that many families appreciate. You will not bump into neighbors or school parents in the building. Virtual sessions are also available for families who prefer to meet from home.
Individual therapy focuses on one person's experience. Family therapy looks at the relationships between family members and the patterns that have developed over time. Often, the issue is not that one person is the problem but that the family has fallen into ways of communicating that leave everyone frustrated. Family therapy helps you see those patterns clearly and replace them with something that works better for everyone.
Yes. When a child is acting out, it is usually a signal that something in the family system needs attention. That does not mean anyone is to blame. It means the child is communicating through their behavior because they do not have another way to express what they are feeling. Family therapy helps identify what is driving the behavior and gives every family member the tools to respond differently.
In-Person and Virtual Family Therapy Near Malibu
My office in Agoura Hills, CA 91301 is convenient for in-person family therapy near Malibu. I also see families from the surrounding communities, including Agoura Hills, CA, Calabasas, CA, Westlake Village, CA, Topanga, CA, Woodland Hills, CA, Thousand Oaks, CA, and Oak Park, CA. Virtual family sessions are available for families located anywhere in California.
If your family is stuck in patterns that are not working, there is a way through. Schedule a complimentary phone consultation and we can talk about what your family is dealing with and how I might be able to help.
CONTACT
Offering Both Virtual And In-Person Sessions