How I work
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy
Working with the different sides of yourself instead of against them.
The basic idea
Most people know the experience of wanting two opposite things at once. One side of you wants to leave the job; another is frightened of what happens if you do. One side wants closeness; another pulls away as soon as you get it.
Internal Family Systems takes that experience seriously and works with those sides of you as distinct, each with its own history and its own reason for existing. Despite the name, this is individual therapy, and it is not about your family members.
Why it helps with self-criticism
The side of you that you find hardest to tolerate, usually the critical one, is almost always trying to protect you from something. It learned its job early, often during something difficult, and it has never been told the danger has passed.
Arguing with it doesn’t work. Understanding what it is afraid of tends to work better.
What you may see it called
You will sometimes see this described as “parts work”, which is the shorthand therapists use among themselves. It sits comfortably alongside Brainspotting and EMDR, and I often move between them depending on what a session needs.
Get started
Curious about whether we could be a good fit?
Schedule a free 15 minute consultation. No pressure, and no need to explain everything up front.
Prefer to write? Email sunflowerstridescounseling@gmail.com. I reply within two business days.
Also
Other ways I work
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Trauma and PTSD
Old wounds that still shape how today feels.
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Anxiety
A nervous system that won’t stand down.
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Depression
When everything takes more than it should.
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Life transitions
Divorce, loss, a career ending, becoming a parent.
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Stress and burnout
Running on empty long enough that empty feels normal.
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Self-esteem
The voice that got installed early and never left.
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Brainspotting
A gentle, body-based way of processing what talking alone hasn’t reached.
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EMDR
A structured approach to reprocessing traumatic memory.
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Walk & talk therapy
Sessions outdoors, walking side by side rather than sitting across a desk.
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Online therapy
Anywhere in Wisconsin, from a place you already feel safe.