The Marcus Family

Jonathan loved his children. He loved them a lot. But he was angry with them, so angry that he was having doubts about saving anything for their future (and consequently for his own). 

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He came to me wanting to explore where he had ‘gone wrong’, to understand why they were so ungrateful and lazy. He was rightly very proud of his own work ethic and his own path of building himself up from very little. 

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We explored what that meant to him, the sacrifices he made to provide stability and safety for his children that he had never had. 

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Then we moved to explore why it was so important to him that his children shared the same ethic and why seeing how they lived their lives made him so angry … and fundamentally scared. 

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He uncovered not only how afraid he was that they did not have the necessary skills to survive but also how much he resented the amount of work he had to put in every single day. 

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Our time together led Jonathon to feel proud that he had provided enough to make sure his children would be okay; that they would not need the survival skills he was forced to develop.  We also addressed his relationship with work and found ways to diminish the stressors he faced. This meant he had more time and patience for his children; rebuilding their relationship and understanding his role and value in their lives as so much more than bringing in the money.

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