Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy
Supporting Families and Leaders Across the U.S.
“The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.”
- Erik Erikson
Building and Managing a Family Business Can Take a Toll
Owning or working within a family business is more than a career—it’s a legacy. But that legacy often comes with complex emotional challenges. The overlapping systems of family and business can bring up conflict, pressure, and confusion, particularly around key decisions like succession, governance, money values and estate planning.
You may be facing:
Emotionally charged decisions around succession
Intractable conflict and poor governance
Disagreements about next-generation preparedness
Conflicts among family members that remain unresolved
These issues aren't just logistical—they're deeply personal. Family Business Therapy can provide a safe forum and skills to resolve conflict and heal disharmony which are necessary to navigate strong emotional terrain and move forward with clarity and consensus.
Managing Conflict Around Succession and Estate Planning
Perhaps your parents built the business and now face retirement. Or you’re a parent trying to determine how to fairly distribute your estate or transition leadership to the next generation. These decisions, if not carefully managed, can lead to major family rifts.
Who will run the business? Who manages the estate? How do you gift children with differing needs? How do you avoid unintentionally creating conflict or resentment?
I work with families to resolve these difficult questions and transitions before they reach your estate attorneys and financial advisors. With thoughtful mediation, you can reach emotionally sound and strategically smart solutions while preserving family bonds.
Trust Is the Currency in Family Business.
Working Together as a Family—Not Just Business Partners: Creating Healthy Boundaries Between Work and Home Life.
The emotional and interpersonal aspects of running a family business can be just as important—and volatile—as the financial ones. Success often comes with unique challenges because it stems from the complex blend of two systems: the family and the business. Without the proper tools, family conflict can become unmanageable and stuck, threatening not only the business but also the health of relationships.
As a executive counselor and family business therapist, I help you get unstuck:
Mediate emotional conversations about power, responsibility, and legacy
Repair communication challenges and strained family relations
Manage longstanding conflicts and interpersonal breakdowns
Facilitate family meetings that move from tension to collaboration
Using proven conflict management and relationship mediation strategies, I create a unique, confidential space where every voice can be heard and difficult issues can be addressed constructively.
Exploring Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy —For Yourself or Your Family.
Support for Navigating Stress, Leadership, and Life.
As a business owner, you're still human. Running your own business can be taxing because you're the one everyone looks to for guidance and solutions. It's not uncommon to feel overwhelmed and isolated during certain times; it’s lonely at the top. Figuring out hiring decisions, dealing with financial issues, and understanding customer needs can become incredibly stressful. And if there are family dynamics in the mix - whether they work at the firm or not - can make everything seem much more complicated, lead to burn-out and create an unhealthy work-life balance.
The so-called soft-issues around relationships are often the hardest.
Seeking help is normal. You gain insight into how to manage difficult decisions and talk through personal concerns business without the fear of repercussions in the workplace or bringing the stress home. Therapeutically-informed Family Business Consulting can help you to better communicate with your team, family members and other stakeholders about the business - in order to mitigate conflicts around differences in values and goals. You can run a business without sacrificing everything else in your life, including your mental wellbeing. This is a private space to express your thoughts and feelings without the fear of judgements in the workplace or repercussions from bringing the stress home.
As a Family Business Therapist and Executive Counselor, I Am Uniquely Equipped to Help You Navigate the Complex Challenges You Face.
My approach is collaborative, structured, and deeply rooted in real-world application. I partner with clients to surface core challenges, make sense of complexity, and co-create solutions that are both practical and sustainable. Each engagement is guided by a clear process, designed to uncover patterns, clarify priorities, and build alignment across stakeholders. Rather than offering quick fixes, I provide tools and frameworks that strengthen long-term capacity for thoughtful decision-making, healthy communication, including:
Research-Based Psychology – Integrating family systems theories and psychological insight with deep business knowledge.
Assessments – Designed to help individuals identify their emotional strengths and uncover areas for growth—both within themselves and in how their families navigate complex interpersonal dynamics.
Conflict Resolution Mechanisms – A structured approach to managing personal and business disagreements before they escalate and disrupt relationships or operations.
Values Definition – Supporting individuals and families in aligning business vision and decision-making with their core personal values and beliefs.
Communication Tools – Practical techniques and strategies to foster transparency, strengthen trust, and prevent communication breakdowns.
Family Constitution Development – Establishing clear decision-making processes and rules to prevent conflict.
I Get It—Because I’ve Been There
I’m Gary Wolf. I’ve spent over 25 years working in and with family businesses. With a background in wealth management, family enterprises, psychotherapy, and conflict mediation, I bring a unique, process-driven and compassionate approach to helping families navigate these critical moments.
I understand the high stakes—because I’ve lived them. I’m here to help you move forward – together.
I regularly provide virtual sessions across the United States. Whether we work together in person or online, confidentiality and professionalism are guaranteed.
For a Business Owner or Executive, a Confidential Space to Think and Talk Can Make All The Difference.
Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy in Kansas City, MO, and virtually anywhere in the U.S., can help you establish a strong connection between money and relationships. With the help of Mental Wealth Counseling, you can avoid allowing money to become a source of conflict and family stress. By addressing these issues together, individuals, couples and families can find long-lasting solutions. If you're ready to start working on building a healthier and stronger relationship with your family, your work and your finances:
Ready to Move Forward with Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy?
Learn More About Me and My Services
Embark on your path to Mental Wealth with Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy!
Executive Counseling and Family Business Therapy FAQs
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I offer these services virtually nationwide or in person in Kansas City, MO, for U.S.-based leaders and families who work together. They are structured as consulting engagements. While I draw on my clinical background, this work does not involve diagnosis or the treatment of acute mental health disorders or trauma.
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If you are seeking licensed, state-regulated counseling or therapy services— such as a diagnosis or treatment of acute mental health disorders or trauma—please visit my other specialties on this website. I provide counseling and therapy to individuals and families in Kansas, Missouri, and New York.
