Approach
Internal Family Systems
The part of you that manages everything isn't the problem. It's doing a job it took on a long time ago.
Internal Family Systems, or IFS, works from the idea that the mind is made up of parts, each with its own role, and that underneath all of them is a core Self that's calm and capable in a different way than the managing you knows how to be.
Managers, Firefighters, Exiles
Managers are the parts that plan, perform, and keep everything running. Firefighters step in when a manager can't hold the line, often through overwork, numbing, or urgency. Exiles are the younger or more vulnerable parts carrying pain that got pushed aside because there was no room for it at the time. Most of us are led, most of the time, by managers and firefighters, without much awareness of the exiles underneath.
Why High Achievers Meet Their Managers First
If you're a physician, an attorney, an executive, or a therapist, your managers are likely excellent at their job. They got you through training, through a demanding career, through motherhood on top of it. In our work, we usually meet those managers first, with respect, not with the aim of getting rid of them. Only once they trust that things won't fall apart can the exiled parts they've been protecting come forward.
What This Looks Like in Session
We talk with your parts rather than about them in the abstract. You might notice a part that's anxious about slowing down, or a part that's furious on behalf of something that happened during a birth or a hard season of parenting. We get curious about what each part is protecting, and from Self, with steadiness rather than urgency, we help those parts unburden what they've been carrying.
This work tends to suit women who are tired of managing and want to understand why parts of them keep taking over even when they know better intellectually.
A Conversation First
The consultation is free and there is no pressure in it. We talk for a short while, you ask what you want to ask, and you decide afterwards.