Patient Resources
What Is Family Counseling?
Sessions where the relationships are the subject, not any one person's diagnosis. Here is what happens in the room, and what it is not.
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Written by the Health Service Alliance care team. Updated September 2026.
The subject is the relationships
In individual therapy, one person works on their own experience. In family counseling, the conversation between people is the thing being worked on: how a household communicates, how conflict goes, how a change everyone is living through is landing.
Nobody is on trial. A counselor is not there to identify who is at fault, and a family arriving convinced they already know the answer to that usually leaves with a more useful question.
Counseling, therapy, psychiatry
- Counseling and therapy are largely used interchangeably: talking work with a licensed clinician, individually, as a couple or as a family
- Psychiatry is medical. A psychiatrist can diagnose and prescribe, and often works alongside a counselor rather than instead of one
- Behavioral health is the umbrella term covering all of it, which is why you will see it on the sign rather than any one of the words above
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What people bring it to
Common reasons include a teenager nobody can reach, a separation or a new blended household, a death in the family, a member managing addiction or a serious diagnosis, or simply the same argument on a loop for years.
It also does not require a crisis. Some of the most useful work happens in families who are functioning and want to stop repeating something.
Starting when not everyone is willing
Start anyway. It is common for one person to come first, and a counselor can work usefully with whoever is in the room. People often join later once it is clear the sessions are not a trap.
Our centers offer talk therapy and medication management alongside medical care, so a family can begin without assembling a new set of providers. Appointments are made by phone. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911, and for mental health crisis support call or text 988.
We accept Medi-Cal, Medicare, and most plans
No insurance, or not sure what you have? You are still welcome, and our team helps you apply for Medi-Cal.
Sliding-fee scale available based on household income.
- Medi-Cal and Medicare welcomeAlong with IEHP and most major plans.
- Free coverage checkWe confirm your plan on the phone, at no cost.
- Sliding-fee scaleCosts adjusted to your income when you are uninsured.
- We help you apply for Medi-CalFree enrollment and renewal help, at any center.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to the questions we hear most. Anything else? Call us during business hours.
Does the whole family have to attend?
No. It is common to start with whoever is willing, and for others to join later once they see what the sessions are actually like.
Is family counseling covered by Medi-Cal?
Behavioral health services are covered by Medi-Cal and most commercial plans. We can confirm what your specific plan covers before you book, at no cost.
What is the difference between a counselor and a psychiatrist?
A counselor does talking work. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can diagnose and prescribe. Many people see both, and our centers provide talk therapy and medication management.
Your family deserves good care, close to home.
Call us to get seen, or check which plans we take. Medi-Cal and most plans accepted, and nobody is turned away for inability to pay.