Little Dove Psychology offers virtual family therapy in Austin and across Texas for parents and teens stuck in the same conflict, including co-parent sessions over video when parents live in two households.
You woke up this morning still carrying the fight from the night before. The kind of fight that does not really end, just pauses. You can still hear the sharpness in his voice. You can still feel how your own voice sounded, defensive, tight, trying to hold a line you were not even sure how to explain anymore.
It is the same fight. It keeps being the same fight. How to handle your son's anger, or your daughter's anxiety, or the homework battles, or the screen time, or the consequences, or the college kid who is struggling and you cannot agree on how to help. He thinks you are too soft. You think he is too hard. And there is your kid, somewhere in the middle of it, the very young person you are both trying to help.
You love your kids. You love your partner. You used to feel like the two of you were on the same team, even when things were hard. Now it feels like you are on opposite sides of something, and your kid's behavior keeps being the thing you cannot stop pulling at. Each of you so sure you are right. Each of you a little less sure with every fight.
The stress is everywhere now. It is in the air at dinner. It is in the way you brace before you bring something up. It is in the way your kid has started watching the two of you, learning that something is wrong, even when no one is yelling. The whole family is feeling it.
Underneath the fights, something else is still alive. The fact that you both still care this much. The fact that you are both fighting because you love this kid, not because you do not. The fact that you are reading this means some part of you still believes the two of you can find your way back.
You can.
Little Dove Psychology is a small group practice. The work described on this page is provided by our three clinicians: Dr. Kristin Kroll, Dr. Meghan Kraenbring Comerford, and Antonette Anuwe. Meet our team →
The work is grounded in evidence-based approaches: parent coaching, behavioral interventions tailored to your kid's specific needs, family communication work, and skills-based tools. In practice, that usually looks like:
This is not about deciding who was right. It is about getting both of you back to working with each other instead of around each other.
Often, yes. Our clinicians are in network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, and Optum/UnitedHealthcare (including Oscar plans administered by Optum). Family therapy has its own billing codes, for sessions with the family together and for sessions with parents alone, and we bill them where your plan covers them. Coverage for family sessions varies from plan to plan, so we check whether your plan covers family sessions on the free consultation and tell you the expected cost before anything is scheduled. When a family session is not covered, we talk through the options, such as individual therapy for your teen with parents joining part of the session, or the self-pay rate. We do not accept Medicaid or CHIP. Sessions are online across Texas, with evening and weekend appointments available. Details are on our Fees & Insurance page.
A few pieces from our blog that parents ask about most:
Often, yes. Our clinicians are in network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, and Optum/UnitedHealthcare (including Oscar plans administered by Optum), and family therapy codes are billed where your plan covers them. Coverage for family sessions varies, so we check whether your plan covers family sessions on the free 15-minute consultation and tell you the expected cost before anything is scheduled. We do not accept Medicaid or CHIP. For other plans, we provide superbills you can submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement, and HSA and FSA funds apply.
Yes. Sessions are over video, so each parent can join from their own home, and we frequently work with separated, divorced, or never-married co-parents, including parents who are not on speaking terms. The work focuses on (1) building a co-parenting communication system that does not require warm conversation (often through written communication tools or parallel parenting structures), (2) helping the kids move between two households without becoming messengers, and (3) coaching each parent on what is age-appropriate to share with their kid about the family’s changes. Our page on therapy for kids going through divorce covers the child’s side of this.
Family therapy treats the family as a system rather than focusing on one person in isolation. The work focuses on communication patterns, conflict dynamics, and how the people in a family affect each other. A first session usually includes the participating family members together, with a focus on current dynamics, history, and what each person hopes will change. After that the structure varies: sometimes everyone meets together, sometimes parents meet alone, sometimes a teen meets one-on-one. At Little Dove Psychology, family therapy tends to alternate between parent coaching sessions and full family sessions, depending on what is most useful in a given week.
Teenagers rarely open up on demand or during direct interrogations. What tends to work better: low-pressure environments (car rides, side-by-side activities, walking the dog), patience with silence, asking specific small questions instead of big general ones (“how was the test?” rather than “how was your day?”), and not reacting strongly when something hard finally comes out. If your teen has been pulling away for weeks and your small attempts at reconnecting are not working, family therapy can help. Sometimes the issue is not that your teen will not talk; it is that the pattern between you needs a third party to help reset.
Some signs that family therapy could help: the same arguments keep replaying with no resolution, one or more family members has gone silent or emotionally withdrawn, a major life transition (divorce, blending, relocation, illness) has changed the family dynamics, your child is showing behavioral changes that you suspect are connected to family stress, or you find yourself walking on eggshells around certain family members. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from family therapy; preventive family work is some of the most effective.
Sessions are 60 minutes. Most families work with us for 3-6 months on a specific transition (divorce, blending, school crisis), or 9-12 months for deeper systemic patterns. We track progress with measurable outcomes. Usually you will feel real shifts within the first 4-6 sessions, and at 8-12 sessions, the family’s overall communication patterns start to look different. Family therapy here is not open-ended; we are working toward specific goals, and we will discuss with you when the work is approaching natural completion.
Sometimes, briefly. Family therapy often surfaces conversations the family has been avoiding, which can feel intense in the short term. The clinician’s job is to make those conversations productive rather than destructive: naming patterns, slowing down reactions, modeling skills, and giving each family member room to be heard. As the underlying tension gets addressed, arguments at home tend to lose some of their heat.
We can still help. Often we start with the willing parent in parent coaching, building skills they can use at home and in their interactions with the other parent, and that alone can shift the dynamic at home. As things shift, the second parent sometimes becomes more open to joining. We can also work directly with the child or teen, and many families find that the kid’s clinical work eventually pulls both parents into the picture.
Not in the traditional sense. What we offer is parent-focused work for couples who are co-parenting and have hit a wall on a specific issue with their child, teen, or college student. The work is centered on the kid.
Our team works with families of kids from elementary school through college. The dynamic between parents matters at every stage, and parents of a struggling college student who disagree about how much to step in are one of the most common reasons families reach out.
Yes, we are a virtual practice and all family therapy sessions are online. Many families find this works better than in person because it eliminates childcare, transportation, and missed work. Each parent can join from where they are, kids often feel safer in their own space, and we can include people across distances when needed (a college student away at school, a grandparent, a step-parent in a different city).
If there is any concern about safety in your home, please reach out to a domestic violence hotline (the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233) before scheduling therapy. If your fights are tense and frequent but not unsafe, that is exactly the kind of dynamic this work is built to shift.
Take the first step with a free 15-minute consultation. Call (512) 240-2633 or contact us online.
“As a fellow mental health professional, I have had the privilege of collaborating with Dr. Kroll on several cases, and I cannot recommend her enough. She brings an exceptional level of expertise in child psychology, paired with a deep sense of empathy and professionalism. Her therapeutic interventions are evidence-based.”
“We cannot recommend Little Dove Psychology highly enough. They take the time to truly listen, helping clients feel understood and supported: thoughtful, evidence-based care tailored to each person’s needs.”
“Kristin is a very caring, compassionate and thorough therapist. She engages on a 1:1 level with varied age groups to better suit their individual needs. Professional, approachable, and respects privacy.”
