Conflict, the prime catalyst for change, is often the reason why adolescents seek Miller's guidance. She said that families often fall into patterns and when one person's behavior changes, the entire group is affected. When there is a drinker in a family, for example, the family may come to blame that person for a lot of the unhappiness. If the person makes an effort to change that habit, then the rest of the family has to change along with it. Miller said that once the word got out about Transitions, adolescents started coming to see her of their own volition, unaware of the necessity for parental permission, not to mention the practical matter of payment.
Social strata creates a lot of pressure.
But kids are resilient. They do adjust. Sometimes their families identify a problem with the child, and that's why they come to see me, but it's really a family problem manifesting itself in the child. So my work becomes teaching the child to teach its parents to parent it properly. Miller said that people are secretive and families often become like a society within a society.