Internal Family Systems operates out of the belief that we are all made up of multiple parts. No one is one singular way all of the time. Rather, all of us have different parts that get activated by what the environment is bringing up in us, what our own history is, and how we have learned to adapt and adjust over the years. A particularly important and key component of IFS regarding these parts is that they are all well-intentioned. Based on our experiences, our parts have taken on roles and jobs to help protect us from difficult emotions, even if we don’t always feel like they are the most helpful upon reflection afterwards, or even in the moment.

One of my personal favorite parts of using IFS is helping clients understand the parts of themselves that they find the most challenging (i.e. anxiety, difficulty in relationships, shame, depression, self-medicating behaviors, anger, etc.). There is an absolute magic that fills the therapy space when clients are able to see these parts of themselves more clearly as not a shameful part of them, but as a beautiful and brilliant adaptation to their life’s circumstances. IFS is an incredibly powerful, culturally-sensitive modality that has been hugely beneficial to my clients.

Feel free to check out more information about this model on the IFS Institute's website.

EMDR is a powerful treatment method that helps clients reprocess disturbing memories and experiences at a deep level. When using EMDR, therapists guide clients in utilizing bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping, sounds, etc.) while also recalling traumatic or otherwise difficult experiences that have made an impact on their present day functioning. Through doing this, EMDR helps us reprocess these difficult memories, lower the emotional intensity that is paired with them, and pair an adaptive resolution with them.

For many people, EMDR can be an eye-opening experience of how their brain and body have been holding onto these past experiences in an incredibly profound way. EMDR is a modality that can provide lasting relief and healing; both on its own, and when paired with other treatment modalities, such as IFS.

For more information, check out the EMDR Institute’s website.

AEDP is a highly relational method of therapy that is focused on inner healing. The goal of therapists utilizing AEDP is to develop a safe, secure connection that can be the base to unlocking brilliant, untapped resiliencies. AEDP has a focus on undoing aloneness and experiential deep processing of traumatic or otherwise difficult experiences, both emotionally and relationally. By creating safety in the room in the relationship with client and therapist, the client is supported in facing and expressing some of their most difficult emotional experiences, both verbally and somatically, and thus processing them to get to the resiliency that lies within.

For more information on AEDP, check out the AEDP Institute’s website.

ERP is a highly effective treatment method for OCD and phobias. When using ERP, your therapist will gradually expose you to the fears of your OCD and phobia and help you refrain from engaging in compulsions. This helps clients learn that these feared stimuli don’t necessarily equate to the intense fears that they have held over the years and helps to begin to shift their relationship with their OCD or phobia.

This is a gradual process that your therapist creates a plan for with you. This is important to note. While we are certainly confronting scary things, your therapist is also being careful not to flood you so your brain can take in the the benefits of this type of therapy. I personally like to include clients in the process and planning of OCD and/or phobia treatment to empower clients while they are confronting these fears to help build confidence in the process.

I have experience working with preteens through adults on their OCD and phobia symptoms.

TANT is a type of exposure modality for trauma processing and reducing intrusive PTSD symptoms. It helps clients confront their traumatic experience in a way that allows them to be exposed to the narrative and images that go along with their traumatic experience so that their brain is able to effectively piece back together the shattered pieces of the memory that continue to trigger them in the present. This is a shorter term trauma processing modality.

For more information about TANT, check out their website.

NMT is not necessarily a type of therapy, but a way that therapists can conceptualize the whole person based on their experiences throughout their lives. Dr. Bruce Perry, the creator of this model, trains clinicians to understand how difficult and traumatic experiences at different developmental periods in a person’s life can alter their brain. This model also suggests different ways for clinicians to help clients create therapeutic opportunities for their brains to get what they have missed. This is a neurobiology-informed, trauma-informed, and developmentally-sensitive way to approach clinical issues. NMT can be an extremely helpful model for parents to understand their foster or adoptive children better so as to reduce issues such as power struggles in the home and other behavioral issues.

For more information about NMT, check out Dr. Perry’s website.