Since the beginning of time, families have confronted a variety of issues which threaten their familial unity. Some of these issues are relatively intense. One of the most traumatic family issues is divorce, which quite literally tears families apart. Contrary to popular belief, the family members who suffer the most during divorces are not the parents themselves, who know (or should know) what they are getting themselves into, but rather the children, who often blame themselves (rightly or wrongly) for the dissolution of their parents’ union. Another one of the most troublesome family issues (which often requires family help) is death. Whether it is the death of a parent, a grandparent, a sibling, or even a pet, death threatens to throw the family unit into such a profound state of shock and disbelief that many families all but cease to function properly, as individual members withdraw into private traps of their own construction.

Family members who find themselves struggling with these and other family issues are advised to seek advice on family issues from experts who promise to help family problems. These experts are numerous. They include psychologists and grief counselors who like to meet with individual family members in order to discuss how death, divorce, and other family issues affect the stability of the family unit. Although most of these psychologists and grief counselors prefer to meet with their clients one on one in order to give each family member a private space in which to vent grievances against the rest of his or her family, some of these psychologists and grief counselors like to meet with all of the family at once; these psychologists and grief counselors believe that this format more closely approximates the daily dynamic of the family unit into which the psychologist and grief counselor may occasionally intercede as a moderator.

Other experts who specialize in family issues and problems include marital counselors who help married couples rekindle the spark which they first felt when they started dating many, many, many years earlier. These marital counselors provide their clients with a number of romantic ideas that they may try out during their next date night; they also give their clients advise about proper and improper communication. Other experts who specialize in family problems include lawyers who negotiate which partner gets what object (or what child) during the divorce procedure. These negotiations are often extremely messy (which is why they produce the kind of family problems which send so many families to psychologists), and consequently, the lawyers often take months or even years to sort them out. Other notable family issues experts include pastors and schoolteachers, who are often so trusted by families that they can solve many family issues.