The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy, developed by Richard C. Schwartz, LMFT, guides much of the work I do with my clients. IFS is based on the notion that we all have multiplicity. If you have ever found yourself thinking, “a part of me…” you can begin to understand your multiplicity. While we all do this, usually we do not have a developed awareness of our “parts.” My job as an IFS therapist is to help you to become familiar with your parts, and in the process deepen your capacity for your own healing. I may be a guide along the way, but the beauty of this work is in the clients’ ability to lead the process. Read more about IFS: www.selfleadership.org.
As a family therapist, I appreciate and know my clients in the context of their lives, which means that my perspective comes from understanding that, as humans, we live and learn in a relational context from the time we are born. Those early lessons profoundly impact the development of our parts, and are also important for understanding our current relationships. Very often the change that calls us into therapy has to do with relationships and their inevitable conflicts: family, couple, friend, and even work related relationships.
I will work with you, individually, and/or together with the others with whom you are in relationship, helping all concerned to understand the multi-dimensionality and complexity of yourselves and the issues that emerge from your relationship. Conflict, especially in intimate relationships, does not need to be a problem. When we learn to manage our fears and explore and develop understandings of our conflicts, we also create fertile ground for deepening our connections with those who are most important to us.
My experience as a yoga instructor and a massage therapist enhances my ability to see my clients, and their parts, more comprehensively not just as individuals communicating their pain and difficulties with words, but in their fullness as spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual beings living full lives on many levels.
Call or email me to schedule a session.