Internal Family Systems
Internal Family Systems, or IFS, offers a compassionate way of understanding our inner world.
IFS recognizes that we are not simply one fixed self.
We all have different parts of us that can carry different emotions, beliefs, memories, needs and protective roles.
There may be a part of you that strives for perfection, another that wants to withdraw, another that worries constantly, another that keeps everyone happy, and another that is exhausted from holding everything together.
None of these parts are inherently the problem.
Together, we can become curious about them and understand what they are trying to accomplish.
IFS can create space for greater self-compassion, internal understanding and choice—so that you can relate to yourself differently rather than continually fighting against yourself.
Existential Exploration
Some of the most important questions we encounter in therapy don’t have simple answers.
Who am I?
What gives my life meaning?
What do I actually want?
How do I want to spend the life I have?
What does freedom look like when I also have responsibilities to others?
How do I live with uncertainty, loss, change and the knowledge that life is finite?
Existential therapy makes room for these questions.
It can be particularly meaningful during times when an old way of living no longer feels right, when a significant transition changes your sense of identity, or when you find yourself reconsidering what matters most.
The goal isn’t necessarily to find the answer.
Sometimes the work is learning how to live more consciously with the questions.
Depth Oriented Work
Depth work invites us to look beneath the obvious story.
Our current struggles often have roots in experiences, relationships and beliefs that developed long before we consciously understood them.
We may find ourselves repeating familiar relationship dynamics, responding strongly to situations that seem small, or feeling pulled between competing desires without understanding why.
Rather than simply asking, “How do I stop doing this?”, we can ask:
“Why does this make sense for me?”
What has shaped this pattern?
What does it mean?
What is underneath it?
And what might your life look like if you had more freedom around it?
The body matters too.
Our experiences don’t live only in our thoughts.
Stress, grief, fear, attachment, memories and relationships can all be experienced through the body.
A somatic approach invites us to notice these experiences with curiosity rather than immediately trying to change them.
What happens in your body when you talk about something difficult?
Where do you feel tension, contraction, numbness or energy?
What happens when you slow down enough to notice?
Working with the body can help bring another dimension to the therapeutic process—particularly when words and insight alone don’t seem to be enough.
Bringing it all Together
These approaches aren’t separate boxes.
They are different ways of understanding the same person.
We might explore a recurring relationship pattern through IFS, notice how that pattern shows up in your body, consider where it may have developed, and then explore what the pattern means in the context of the life you’re trying to create now.
The work is collaborative.
I won’t tell you who you are or what your life should look like.
Instead, I’ll help you become curious about your own experience so that you can develop a deeper understanding of yourself and make choices that feel more intentional and authentic.
There is usually more underneath the pattern.
And sometimes, discovering what is underneath is where meaningful change begins.