
At American River Family Counseling, we celebrate all types of families. We define family the way you do! Maybe you see yourself as a traditional family, or a family created by adoption or foster care or your chosen community. Single parent families and couples without children also come to ARFC because they know that our therapists treat each family unit as unique, creating individualized treatment plans that encompass each person’s strengths, diverse backgrounds, and cultural and spiritual identity.




Welcome...
In the last decade, neuroscience has helped to explain the link between early disrupted attachment and a person's ability to form and maintain successful relationships. The attachment bond first occurs in the relationship with our primary caregiver. When our primary needs are met, we learn to see the world as a safe place allowing us to venture into new and trusting relationships. The attachment between the primary caregiver and the infant or young child shapes the brain, influencing how we handle our emotions, developing how we feel about ourselves and our ability to attract and maintain healthy relationships.
When there is trauma and/or other high levels of stress in our early lives, we may find ourselves as adults unable to manage our emotions, impacting the relationships with our spouses or partners, our children and even those we work with.
We believe that healing can and does occur throughout our lifespan when we interact with others in caring, nurturing and responsive relationships. Coming to therapy for the first time can feel a little scary, but you came to this site because you want to make a better life for yourself and/or your family. You have taken the first step to create the change you want to see. Let us help you on your journey toward finding healthy and happy relationships.
Attachment Focused Treatment
The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.
-Carl Rogers