Embrace every part of you with compassion.
Internal Family Systems Therapist
in Cherry Hill & online across NJ & PA
Are you someone who is tired of talking in therapy or learning coping skills and would much rather go deeper?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy would work well for you if you want to:
Explore different aspects of you.
Better understand the “why” behind your coping mechanisms.
Get to the origin of any beliefs you carry about yourself.
Heal the vulnerable parts of you that have been exiled for years.
Embody who You are at your core.
IFS will guide you in connecting with your true Self as the resource of restoration for every part of you inside. What once felt like tension and conflict now feels like harmony.
IFS can help you in leading parts of you into calm and balance.
You may not know this, but you may have already talked about parts of you. Maybe in a relationship, you’ve said that a part of you wanted to stay, but another part of you thought you should leave. Or, you’ve had afternoons where a part of you knows going to the gym after work is going to be helpful, but another part of you just wants to go home and relax.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy gives us the opportunity to explore parts of us whether out of pure curiosity or even frustration. Each of those “parts” of you is like a member of your internal family, and each has its own personality, needs, and agenda. If you have watched any of the “Inside Out” movies, this is quite similar. You can recognize parts as they come up through sensations in or around your body, making IFS a somatic therapy.
A goal in IFS is for you to recognize and embody who you are at the core; we call this your Self. Your Self has beautiful qualities that no one and nothing can take away; this is where your creativity, confidence, compassion, patience, playfulness all reside.
The more we explore parts and address their needs, the more trust those parts will have in order to allow your Self to lead.
IFS helps you to better understand your emotions, purpose of your thoughts, agenda behind coping mechanisms, and more mindfully. This is such a vital goal of IFS because it is so easy for us to view our feelings, thoughts, or behaviors in a negative light. When we see them from that lens, we will get stuck in judgment and lean further away from the compassion we deserve to give to ourselves (I know how that feels).
The more we aim to learn, hear, and understand parts of us from a non-pathologizing view, the better able we are to heal from wounds.
As a level one-trained IFS therapist, I will guide you through each session with my Self energy present, so that parts of you and your Self can feel at ease. I will hold compassion, calm, and patience, even when it feels difficult for you to do so when exploring parts of you that you once saw as weak or problematic. We will go at whatever pace your parts need, so that they feel heard and seen without any rush.
Together, we will lean into parts of you with curiosity.
How IFS Works
Through this somatic, meditative therapy, you will:
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Notice
how parts of you come up in or around your body.
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Focus
without rushing the process (especially in a world that is fast-paced).
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Understand
why you have certain feelings, thoughts, defensive mechanisms.
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Unburden
parts of you from beliefs that were not meant to be yours to carry.
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Embody
your Self energy, including confidence, creativity, and courage.
All parts of you are welcomed here.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help you…
Develop a deeper awareness of your inner world. You can understand the root of your actions, feelings, and beliefs more clearly.
Work through any internal conflict. Parts, with your help, listen to one another so that the tension and imbalance are reduced.
Improve your view of yourself. You no longer see parts of you from a judgmental perspective, but more so with grace and tenderness.
Repair painful experiences for earlier versions of you that have been wounded. You can get the chance to be there for him or her in a way that she needed someone to be there when the trauma happened.
Empower your Self to lead parts of you. You can learn to separate from overwhelming parts and live a more grounded life.
Together, let’s discover your Self’s ability to provide serenity to all parts of you.
Internal Family Systems therapy FAQs
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Since this is a meditative type of therapy, you take your time in exploring your inner world mindfully. I help you to ask questions in order to understand parts of you. I guide you through the healing steps. It is a slower-paced therapy, but this is helpful, especially if parts need time to trust your Self.
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IFS is helpful if you have experienced a trauma or if you are simply inquisitive about your depression, anxiety, connections with others, or relationships with certain people. Some people also seek IFS if they are curious about physical ailments, not as a way to cure but to better understand if any parts may contribute to symptoms. If you are someone who tends to rush through or suppress uncomfortable emotions, IFS will benefit you in allowing you the space and time to sit in them - because parts may need more of your attention rather than being shun away.
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It depends on the parts of you that we explore. Some parts are ready to tell us their story and for us to begin the healing process in the beginning. But for many of my clients (and including myself as a client), it takes time. This isn’t a bad thing - it will help parts of you to build trust with your Self, which can help increase your confidence, too. By the end of each IFS session, you leave with more clarity and awareness.
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If you are a follower of Christ, we can absolutely invite Jesus into our IFS sessions. I am a Christian and I find it a blessing how we can embody our Spirit-led self and allow Jesus to heal parts of us that have been wounded. The fruit of the Spirit include the qualities we possess at our core.
More questions? Check out my FAQs page.