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DIFFERENT DOORS
There is more than one way into healing
You are more than your thoughts, and what you're struggling with rarely lives in only one place. That's why I don't begin with a technique. I begin with you.
HOW WE GET THERE
What you're carrying shows up in the stories you tell yourself, the way your body reacts, the parts that learned to protect you, or in feelings you don't yet have words for.
Together, we pay attention to what's happening and follow what holds meaning. We may talk, notice sensations in your body, listen to a protective part, or slow down what happens between you and someone you love.
I draw from several approaches because they give us different ways to reach what lies underneath. Through all of them, relationship is central.
Healing happens in the experience of being met with curiosity, honesty, and compassion and enough safety to encounter things that were once too difficult to face alone.
The methods are different doors; our relationship is how we walk through them together.
Different doors into the same work
INNER WORLD
Internal Family Systems + IFIO →
RELATIONSHIP
CREATIVITY & IMAGINATION
All held within relationship.
01
Internal Family Systems (IFS + IFIO)
From fighting yourself to understanding what's underneath.
IFS helps us understand our different parts — the critic, the perfectionist, the people-pleaser, or the part that shuts down — as protective responses that developed for a reason.
Rather than trying to get rid of them, we become curious. We slow down an activated moment and listen. As a protective part begins to trust it doesn't have to work so hard, we can reach the hurt, fear, or unmet need underneath.
The goal isn't just controlling reactions — it's helping what carries the pain to heal, unlocking the calm, clarity, and compassion IFS calls Self.
INNER WORLD
"Part of me knows I'm okay, but another part is terrified."
"I don't want to react this way, but something in me takes over."
And in relationships…
IFIO (Intimacy From the Inside Out) brings this framework to couples. When triggered, protective parts collide: one pursues, the other withdraws; one criticizes, the other defends. We slow that interaction down. When you can speak for your vulnerable places rather than reacting from them, your partner can truly meet you.
THE SHIFT
The ShiftSelf-criticism → Compassion
Automatic reactions → Greater choice
Protection → Vulnerability
Inner conflict → Connection
What does the research say?
IFS has a growing evidence base for depression and PTSD, showing promising results for self-compassion and emotion regulation. A randomized controlled trial found significant reductions in depressive symptoms comparable to CBT (Haddock et al., 2017), and a pilot effectiveness study found 92% of participants no longer met PTSD criteria at one-month follow-up (Hodgdon et al., 2021). Research on IFIO as a couples treatment continues to develop.
02
Brainspotting + Somatic Work
When you understand what happened, but your body still reacts.
“I've talked about this for years, but my body still braces every time.”
“I know I'm safe now. My body just doesn't believe it yet.”
Sometimes you tell yourself you're safe, but your body doesn't believe it. Your chest tightens, your stomach drops, or you freeze.
Brainspotting accesses experiences that conversation alone can't reach. It uses focused attention, visual field positioning, body awareness, and therapist attunement. We locate a spot in your vision connected to a bodily sensation and observe what emerges, a shifting feeling, an image, or a memory processing through. You don't have to explain everything perfectly to heal.
Rooted in mindfulness and somatic practices, we may also incorporate breath, grounding, or movement to help you stay present and connected with yourself.
BODY
THE SHIFT
Knowing intellectually → Experiencing deep change
Automatic activation → Regulation
Avoiding feelings → Staying present
Feeling stuck → Space around the experience
What does the research say?
Brainspotting literature explores trauma recovery through visual attention and body processing. Body-oriented approaches broadly show strong promise for trauma symptoms.
03
Imago Relationship Therapy
When you keep having the same fight, even though you love each other.
“We can go months without a fight, and then something small sets it all off again.”
“I know they love me, but in that moment I feel completely alone.”
Underneath recurring arguments about money, chores, or affection is usually something more vulnerable: Do I matter to you? Can I depend on you? Am I alone?
Our closest relationships often touch old, unhealed wounds. Imago helps slow down conflict to discover what is actually happening. Through structured dialogue, you learn to listen without defending and speak so your partner can truly hear you.
Listening isn't agreeing. It's entering your partner's world long enough to understand their perspective. Conflict transforms from a threat into information about where you both need to heal and grow.
RELATIONSHIP
THE SHIFT
Recurring fights → Understanding patterns
Defensiveness → Curiosity
Reactivity → Intentional response
Trying to win → Trying to understand
What does the research say?
Research on Imago demonstrates improvements in relationship satisfaction and partner empathy.
04
Art Therapy + Expressive Arts
Sometimes you know something before you have words for it.
“I couldn't explain what I was feeling, but I could put it on the page.”
“I didn't say it out loud. The image said it for me.”
You don't need to be an artist to benefit. Art gives us another language.
An image, color, shape, or collage can express what hasn't made its way into words. Once an inner feeling is outside of us, our relationship to it changes. Informed by depth and Jungian psychology, we may work with symbols, dreams, or archetypes.
There is no analysis or judgment of your art. Together, we listen to it.
Creativity lets us encounter lost parts of ourselves, access new perspectives, and discover what is trying to emerge.
CRIATIVITY & IMAGINATION
THE SHIFT
"I can't explain it" → Giving form to experience
Overthinking → Experiencing
Living old roles → Discovering who you are becoming
What does the research say?
Art therapy has a growing body of research across trauma, anxiety, and well-being, showing promising outcomes for emotional expression.
DIFFERENT DOORS, ONE RELATIONSHIP
We Follow the Work
You don't have to know which approach you need. Talking may lead to a body sensation, which connects to a part, bringing up an image that unlocks an old memory.
IFS listens to the inner system. Brainspotting listens to the body. Imago and IFIO listen to relationships. Art therapy listens to imagery beyond words.
Relationship holds it all. I bring the training; you bring your experience. Together, we pay attention to where the healing wants to go.
You don't need to know which path you need. We'll discover that together.