Our sessions will be

  • Personalized

    Our initial sessions will be dedicated to assessing your current wellness and creating a personalized plan to fit your unique needs and goals. We'll also talk about you and explore your life story. Let's talk and see which themes and parts within emerge.

  • Targeted

    We'll collaborate in building a workable roadmap to move forward. Typically, personality assessment tools may give insights into our strengths, personal values and unique coping strategies as well as how we relate to ourselves, others, and our world. We will also connect Self to Part for healing to emerge and to re-establish Self-leadership.

  • Integrative

    Since achieving wellness is more than our internal synergetic system, I’ll be guiding you toward other helpful practices such as self-leadership, mindfulness training, breath work, inner child work , and more.

Counselling empowers people to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

“Not the world, not what’s outside of us, but what we hold inside traps us. We may not be responsible for the world that created our minds, but we can take responsibility for the mind with which we create our world.” - Gabor Maté,.

FAQs

What is IFS?
IFS, or Internal Family Systems therapy, is often referred to as Self-Leadership. This description perfectly captures the essence of IFS because the goal is for your true self to take the lead, rather than being governed by different parts of your mind. If you're curious to learn more, I encourage you to check out this insightful article or listen to my podcast and read my detailed piece on Internal Family Systems.

What is IFS used to treat?
IFS is a versatile therapy approach designed to help with a wide range of mental health challenges. It equips you with tools to regulate emotions and sharpen problem-solving skills, positively impacting many aspects of your life—your relationships, career, and overall emotional well-being. Originally developed to treat trauma and abuse, IFS is also highly effective in addressing addictions, anxiety, body image issues, compulsive behaviors, mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder, and phobias. Whether you're working through specific concerns like career or relationship decisions or recurring patterns, IFS can help you create meaningful change.

Will IFS therapy focus on my family?
Though the word "family" is in the name, IFS therapy focuses on your internal world rather than your family members. The goal is to help you lead your own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs with greater clarity and confidence. While the therapy is not directly about your family, many clients find that the insights gained through IFS naturally improve how they relate to family dynamics and other important communities in their lives—be it work, school, or social circles.

How does IFS relate to my symptoms or condition?
Through IFS, we explore your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, which act as individual parts of your internal system. Like members of a family, some parts cooperate, while others may clash, causing emotional distress. By working with these parts, we can address patterns of thought and behavior that may have been hard to understand before, leading to long-lasting and transformative change.

What is Self-Leadership?
Self-Leadership is the process of guiding and nurturing the different parts of your internal system with compassion and wisdom. With IFS therapy, you learn to lead these parts in a way that is calm, clear, and confident. Whether you're already connected to your inner system or just starting this journey, IFS offers a powerful path to deeper self-understanding and personal growth.

What therapies are similar to IFS?
IFS is a unique therapeutic approach, but it shares some similarities with Gestalt Therapy. Each approach has its strengths, but IFS offers a distinct method of working with the mind's internal parts.

How will IFS help my relationship?
Research shows that one key to improving relationships is learning to regulate your own emotions. The core principle of IFS is about creating personal change from within, rather than waiting for someone else to change. By becoming more emotionally balanced, you’ll naturally improve communication and set a positive example for your partner, which can greatly enhance your relationship.

What if I'm not comfortable talking about myself or my emotions?
It's completely normal to feel uncomfortable or hesitant to share personal thoughts and emotions. IFS is designed to gently reduce feelings of shame and self-criticism from the very start. We’ll begin by getting to know your "protectors," the parts of you that may feel hesitant or afraid to open up. These protectors are valuable, and we approach them with care and respect, allowing you to gradually feel more comfortable as therapy progresses.

What if I feel awkward or uncomfortable about therapy?
Feeling awkward or unsure about therapy is perfectly natural. Even as a counsellor, I experience moments of discomfort when addressing certain issues in my own life. In IFS, we don’t try to push away these feelings; instead, we work with them. Your discomfort is often a sign of your protectors stepping in, and by working with them rather than against them, you’ll start to feel more at ease over time. We move at your pace, making sure your needs and comfort levels are always respected.

How does Self-Leadership help with leadership and management?
IFS can have a wonderful ripple effect for those in leadership or management roles. As you develop the ability to balance and lead your internal parts, you’ll likely experience increased confidence, clarity, and creativity in how you lead others, making you a more effective and compassionate leader.

How long does IFS therapy take?
Every person's journey with therapy is unique. IFS requires some time to build trust between you and me as your counsellor. I typically recommend giving the process one to two months to assess how it's working for you. Some clients feel a positive shift after just one session, while for others, it may take three or four sessions to fully understand and engage with the IFS model. We’ll continually check in with each other to ensure that the modality is meeting your needs, and I always welcome any questions or concerns you may have along the way.

If you'd like to prepare yourself even more, you can read Introduction to IFS Therapy by Dr. Richard Schwartz, though it's by no means required. We're here to guide you every step of the way.