Internal Family Systems Therapy

In Seattle, Washington and Houston, Texas

You may be feeling like you can’t decide what you want, as if there’s more than one part of you in your mind. I understand, and I’m here to help.

I help people develop a positive relationship with all parts of themselves, even the ones they don’t like.

If you’re ready to start feeling better, schedule a complimentary consultation today.

My approach to Internal Family Systems Therapy

Do you feel like your life is out of control in some ways? You might have a good job or a stable relationship, but you feel trapped. The good job might be demanding, and you carry stress with you even on nights and weekends. Maybe you feel anxious about moving further ahead in your relationship.

These feelings are very common these days, as we try to balance security with happiness. You might even use self-destructive behaviors to cope with your discomfort. Having many needs in conflict with each other can drive us crazy! It can leave us feeling like we don’t know what we want, what we believe, or even who we are.

Part of you might not even want to come to therapy. If that’s the case, then Internal Family Systems might be a helpful approach for our work together. One of the key tenets of IFS is that none of our parts are bad, even if they encourage us to do things we don’t agree with.

As an IFS therapist, I’ll always do my best to accept every part of you that shows up during our appointments. So, if you’re finding that you judge yourself a lot, you at least don’t have to worry about your therapist judging you.

You might be thinking that it sounds like I’m saying I work with people with multiple personalities. It's true that Internal Family Systems is a helpful approach for that kind of work. But I am a firm believer that everyone has multiple parts.

You might not think of them as parts, though. You might think that you’re divided between different feelings, beliefs, or values. That’s completely fine! We can use as much or as little “parts” language as you’re comfortable with. The most important aspect of IFS is that the IFS therapist meets you where you are.

A man contemplates Internal Family Systems while sitting on a cliff and looking out at a mountain range.

As you stop judging the different parts of yourself, you might even begin to integrate them. You can acknowledge your conflicting thoughts or opinions, without feeling upset.

When you can look at your parts with compassion, that usually means your parts aren't taking over. When this happens, you can make decisions based on all the information you have. This information can be both internal and external, based on what you really believe as a whole.

This is what it means to integrate your parts with your Self. It might be one of the biggest goals you can have in IFS therapy.