Internal Family Systems Therapy
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) is a type of therapy that sees the self as a series of parts. We use this language all the time— “a part of me feels like this, while another part of me wants to do that.” From the perspective of IFS, we all have parts of us that have different roles within our inner world. Some parts of us hold vulnerable emotions or traumatic memories and are triggered when a life event brings up old emotions, fears, and beliefs about the world. Other parts of us protect us, keeping us from making mistakes at work, helping us appear bubbly in social situations, and standing up for ourselves and others. This type of therapy aims to bring acceptance, curiosity and compassion to all of these parts inside in order to bring healing to the inner system.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidenced-based approach to working with trauma that helps alleviate distress associated with symptoms of PTSD and helps the brain to restructure and reprocess traumatic memories in order to heal the whole system. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation either using eye movements, tapping, or alternating listening in order to stimulate a brain state that is similar to REM sleep. In this state, the brain is able to rework past experiences in order to lessen emotional disturbance and create new, more adaptive neural pathways in the brain.
Somatic and Attachment focused EMDR
Mindfulness means simply paying attention to what is happening in the moment in a nonjudgmental way. It sounds simple, but how often do we actually do this? Often we spend so much of our lives focusing attention outward; it can be somewhat revolutionary to turn inward and pay ourselves a visit. Oftentimes I will utilize mindfulness in therapy through pausing and asking clients to notice what is happening in their bodies and minds. Through mindfulness, what is happening inside can be explored with curiosity instead of with judgment. Through seeing clearly what is happening and bringing attention to the emotions, body sensations and thoughts that most need love and nurturing, we can bring healing.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a type of therapy that focuses on building skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. I have often thought of these skills as having a tool box for when life truly gets difficult.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to help clients separate from distressing thoughts and beliefs (such as “I am a bad person”) and relate to challenging emotions with acceptance in order to live according to values.
Sand Tray Therapy
Sand Tray Therapy supports individuals in expressing and processing unconscious material through creative expression and use of images. Before language, our thoughts only contained images. Images can be a powerful way to process and understand the internal world. In sand tray therapy, individuals use small figurines to make a picture in the sand and then the picture is discussed and processed in therapy.