barefootmind
the
Approach
Cultivate self-compassion. Connect to your inner wisdom. Nurture inner healing.
Seeking therapy can make you feel vulnerable. Brené Brown says "Vulnerability is not winning or losing;
it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.
Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage".
I believe that your are not something to fix - you have within you everything you need.
By providing a calm, safe, supportive, compassionate and non-judgemental space, I guide you
in learning how to turn inward for guidance. I support you as you gain the insight and tools to help you
live a meaningful life in the service of your values.
There is no greater agony than bearing
an untold story inside you.
MAYA ANGELOU
How I can help.
Connect to your own inner wisdom.
You can learn how to live with difficult feelings and thoughts, identify values, and set goals to live a values-based life. Each person comes with unique needs. Therapy is tailored to each individual. By using evidence-based approaches to therapy, I can help guide you on your journey to connecting with your own inner wisdom.
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The following modalities inform my individualized therapy approach.
Internal Family Systems Therapy
A Compassionate and Transformative Approach to Healing.​
IFS is a therapeutic model that recognizes and addresses the different “parts” of ourselves. IFS views individuals as a system of sub-personalities. We all have multiple selves - various facets of our personality that are adaptive in helping us move through the world and learn ways to help us survive and cope. These parts carry emotions, memories, and beliefs and play distinct roles in our lives.
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How IFS Helps
IFS Therapy is based on the belief that everyone has a core Self—your true essence that is compassionate, wise, and centered. However, life experiences can lead to the creation of "parts," which are fragmented parts of your personality that form in response to stress, trauma, or unmet needs. The goal of IFS is to help you access and strengthen your Self, connect with your parts, understand their roles, and foster compassion for all aspects of the self. By doing so, you can nurture healing deep-rooted wounds, build emotional regulation, and increase overall well-being.
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The concept of parts​
In IFS, we welcome all parts, with the understanding that they have good intentions and try to protect our vulnerable parts.
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Common 'parts' include:
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Exiles
The wounded, vulnerable parts of you that carry emotional pain or trauma.
Managers
Protective parts that try to prevent pain by controlling or managing your life. For example, they may show up as people pleasing or perfectionist parts.
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Firefighters
Reactive parts that help you numb or escape emotional pain or distress (such as through substances or behaviours).
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How IFS therapy works
During an IFS therapy session, we work together to:
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Identify Parts – Begin by identifying the different parts of you, including wounded or stuck parts.
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Explore your inner world – Understand the history and role of each part. Recognize how they are trying to protect you or prevent pain.
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Facilitate healing– Work through difficult emotions and experiences and guide these parts toward healing and transformation by unburdening them from past trauma.
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Strengthen Your Self – Rediscover your core Self - your source of courage, wisdom and inner strength.
Benefits of IFS Therapy
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Increased Self-Awareness: Gain deep insights into your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
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Healing Emotional Wounds: IFS is particularly effective for addressing trauma, helping you release old beliefs and painful memories stored in the parts of you.
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Inner Peace and Balance: Find harmony among your parts, leading to a more peaceful inner world.
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Improved Relationships: By understanding your inner dynamic, you can better understand others and enhance your relationships.
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Emotional Regulation: Learn to manage intense emotions and reduce stress and anxiety.
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Is IFS Therapy right for you?
IFS can be beneficial for a wide range of issues, including:
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Trauma and past abuse
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Anxiety and depression
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Self-esteem and identity issues
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Relationship difficulties
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Addictions and compulsive behaviors
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Grief and loss
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If you’re ready to explore your inner world and begin healing from within, IFS therapy might be a powerful tool for you.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps strengthen your responses to problems. What matters to you? What do you care about? What sort of person do you want to be? How do you want to treat yourself, others, and the world around you?
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ACT [ Accept | Choose | Take Action ]
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ACT is based on the premise that you can understand your mind, live with courage, and live according to what you care about.
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Acceptance
The first step is to work on being willing to experience whatever thoughts and feelings we have – those that are pleasant or unpleasant. The good news is you can learn skills to unhook from these difficult thoughts and feelings. You can learn how to reduce their impact and take away their power, so they don’t hook you, hold you back or bring you down.
Choose
You will figure out what is important to you and who is important to you. What you stand for in life.
What strengths and qualities do you want to develop? And how do you want to treat yourself and others?
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Take Action
To face the challenges and solve problems. To move in the direction you want to go. Finding small things that you can do every day.
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What we will work on.
Being present. You may already know the idea of mindfulness – paying attention to the present moment, on purpose, and without judgment. Mindfulness can help us put a space between our big emotions and actions. They help us not get knocked down with big emotions. And when we do get knocked down, they help us bounce back a little faster.
Do what matters.
We talk about what is important to you – your values. You may ask "why would I sit with those difficult thoughts and feelings?".
Your willingness to be with the challenging thoughts and emotions in order to live the life you want. As I said, I can’t make those thoughts and feelings go away but I can help you unhook from them so you can live the life you want.
Being open to all the things that make us living, breathing human beings. All of the joy. And all of the hard stuff. Being able to notice those thoughts, those feelings, those sensations that show up. And then choosing if we want to act and how we want to act.
Mindfulness Therapy
Mindfulness in therapy is bringing and increasing a person’s awareness of the thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, actions, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness is the practice of being open and non-judgemental about what is showing up in the present moment. In particular, mindfulness is part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) where the goal is to create a meaningful life. You can do that by learning mindfulness techniques and taking actions that are guided by your values and being fully present and engaged. Practicing mindfulness helps you to bring more adaptive strategies to difficult situations.
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With Mindfulness practices you can...
Connect with your inner knowing
Appreciate the fullness of each moment in life
Learn more about how you feel, think, and act
Use the skills to influence your responses and behaviour
Enhance resilience
Increase life satisfaction
Narrative Therapy
The Problem is The Problem - People are Not Their Problems.
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Narrative therapy is a respectful, non-blaming approach to counselling people and seeing them as experts in their own lives.
Our lives are multi-storied – usually, when people see a therapist, it is because a particular “problem story” has become dominant.
With Narrative Therapy, we separate the person from the problem and the problem from the person. You have the skills, beliefs, values, commitments, and abilities that will help you shift your relationship with the problem story. Narrative Therapy offers a way to change stories by moving from “problem” stories to alternative and preferred stories of action and identity.
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I Investigate.
I act like an investigative reporter, curious about your life. I ask questions. I learn the role of the problem in your life. I learn about your wants, strengths, forgotten strengths, interests, and what is important to you. I want to know your hopes, dreams, and wishes.
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We collaborate.
Visualize alternate or preferred stories, possibilities, and actions. You create new stories, moving away from the problem story,
moving to a new story or new meaning about your life.
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You create.
Through our conversations, you can understand the role of the problem in your life. We also view how the problem exists in larger contexts. You can take control and change the role it plays. You can move toward your more preferred life.
Take the first step.
Take the first step towards living a life with more ease, a sense of purpose and belonging.
By working together, you will discover your strengths, skills, what is important to you and
what is possible on your journey forward.
It can be a difficult decision to seek therapy and also in choosing a therapist.
I offer a free discovery consultation which allows you to get a sense of how I work, ask questions, and see how we might work together.