My work is rooted in the understanding that the human inner world and psyche — our personality and identity — is made up of a landscape of parts, each shaped by experience and driven by a distinct purpose. Some of these Parts do everything they can to keep us from feeling intense emotional pain (e.g., Protectors); others hold all of our most intense emotions and vulnerabilities (e.g., Exiles). When these parts become overactive, they take us over — hijack us — often creating chronic states of emotion or behaviors that we would otherwise not choose, or physical issues that can make life miserable or intolerable. 

The real magic of Parts Work, however, is found in the (re)discovery of one’s core essence, what we call Self and Self-energy, our innate store of wisdom and emotional healing. This is what the Internal Family Systems (IFS), commonly called Parts Work, is all about.

Through Parts Work, I help individuals develop awareness and an understanding for the roles and influences Parts play within. By understanding what Parts believe and fear, and by “unblending” from the intense, dominating energy a person experiences when Parts hijack, they become able to access the energy of Self to calm and live — with themselves and with others — in a new way. In simple terms, this work helps individuals understand why they react the way they do and helps the learn to respond with more calm and clarity.

My role is to guide individual clients to understand their own internal “map” of Parts to learn why their specific Parts emerged in response to their unique life’s experience. This first step outlines the path for what is called Self-leadership, whereby they learn to bring the energy of Self to the forefront of how they manage their own inner world and how they offer themselves with greater peace and harmony to others.