My therapeutic approach prioritises safety & uses a Trauma Informed & Person-Centered framework as a foundation for all our work together.

As an experiential & transformative therapeutic approach IFS (Internal Family Systems) has changed my own life & helps us to cultivate a profound Self understanding & Self-compassion. That's where healing happens. It's an approach & skill set we can cultivate in our own lives, everyday.

We all benefit from the support of others. We are social animals that need to be seen, heard & loved to be whole. IFS allows us to give ourselves the Compassion & Clarity, as a daily practice, that lays the foundation for our Creative & Compassionate relationships with others. Connecting with others from a place of wholeness is our responsibility & in turn invites their full selves to show up and collaborate, dance & play through the hardest & most joyful of times.

When we experience overwhelming pain, fear, sorrow & shame we tend to shut the vulnerable parts of ourselves away. Sometimes the parts that are too joyous, free & creative are exiled too. What's often left are the hard core critical or striving parts that are struggling to hold it all together & the ‘fuck it all’ parts that swear to do ‘whatever it takes’ to keep us from feeling that pain again (by bingeing, distracting, numbing or raging). 

These patterns keep us from being the full expression of ourselves that we long for & that could offer the most to the people we love. Welcoming all our parts in a safe, systematic & Compassionate way opens a new level of integration & authenticity. This is what IFS offers us.

More on IFS

Nearly 5 years ago I was fortunate enough to stumble across a YouTube video of the wonderful Richard Schwartz, founder of IFS, explaining & modelling this unique approach to therapy. I have since undertaken many trainings, practice & my own therapy in IFS. I want to share both the map & lantern that this model offers to take with us into our inner worlds, to explore those places where we might be feeling overwhelmed, confused & stuck. IFS opens the door to all those aspects of ourselves that we have hidden, ignored or been disconnected from. It guides us to Connect with an incredibly resourceful internal state called Self (ironically the close equivalent of the Buddhist concept of ‘no Self’) a way of being that is mindfully Compassionate & free from the agenda driven, stress laden, insecure & uncentered ego or personality we learn to think of as ourselves. From this wise, Calm, Compassionate & Curious place we can welcome all our parts. 

This promises a new way of knowing & bringing ourselves to wholeness. It is transformative & can be used as a life practice beyond & independent of our work with a therapist so that we begin to live from a place of Self leadership. As a model, it is evidence based with research demonstrating it’s efficacy in the treatment of Anxiety, Depression, PTSD & even Rheumatoid Arthritis..