IFS Therapist in Lafayette, LA

Robyn is a Level 2 IFS graduate offering IFS Therapy to individuals in Louisiana, Arizona, and North Carolina!

What is IFS?

Internal Family Systems (IFS), also known as parts work therapy, is an evidence-based and non-pathologizing therapy approach that recognizes the natural universal experience of sub-personalities or the various "parts" of ourselves. It also recognizes that we are all born with Self, which embodies our inner wisdom and is our source of healing. IFS helps us to understand that the parts that typically show up in our day-to-day are trying to protect or prevent us from painful experiences, often connected to unhealed wounds. IFS helps us to develop a non-judgemental and self-compassionate relationship with these parts to help them heal and take on new, less extreme roles.

Getting to know your parts from a place of Self-energy helps you to build relationships with the parts of you that frequently show up and could be distressing to you. By building an open relationship with your parts from a place of curiosity, we can get to the know the burdens these parts are carrying and understand why they feel they need to show up in your life in these extreme ways. When ready, these parts can give us permission to unburden, offering healing, and give them new roles that feel good for the whole system.

Parts Work in Therapy

As a therapist, IFS requires us to be our own Self-energy when working with clients. This means that we get to be curious and non-judgmental about your parts and truly work from a place of getting to know and understand these parts of you instead of a focus on diagnosis. IFS also helps therapists to work on their own parts that may show up in or out of the session. Therapists that have undergone IFS trainings have experienced what it feels like to get to know and understand their own parts, meaning they can understand what it is like to undergo this process as a client and how to best help our clients.

I have completed Levels 1 & 2 training in this life changing approach making me one of the only IFS trained therapists in Lafayette, LA and one of the few in Louisiana. I have also had my Level 2 IFS & Complex Trauma trainings with Dr. Frank Anderson, one of the experts in both IFS & trauma treatment. IFS changes the way therapy is done, focusing less on diagnosing and pathologizing your symptoms but instead learning more about why you do the things you do. For some people, even after many years of therapy, they still can't seem to stop engaging in behaviors that cause problems or harm in their lives. With IFS, we say that "all parts are welcome". This is because IFS recognizes that our parts, even the ones that cause problems, have positive intentions and truly feel that they are helping. A trained IFS therapist can help you heal the burdens that cause these problematic beliefs and behaviors providing relief to your internal system.

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What can IFS treat?

PTSD
Phobias
Depression
Complex Grief
Anger & Rage
Disordered Eating
Anxiety & Panic

Childhood Trauma
Compulsive Behaviors
Relationship Difficulties
Early Childhood Neglect
Substance Use & Addictions
Unexplained Physical Symptoms
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

What are parts?

IFS recognizes that we all have parts - separate mental states or sub-personalities that are normal aspects of our personality (this is different from individuals with dissociative disorders). Parts take on specific roles within our larger system of being and serve to protect us in some way or prevent us from experiencing pain. They can also hold on to past wounds and interact with other parts within us. There are two categories of parts in IFS — protectors & exiles. Protector parts consist of managers and firefighters. Each of our parts serves a function in our internal world. By understanding those functions we can better understand ourselves. Scroll down for more information on managers, firefighters, and exiles.

Learn More about IFS & EMDR

Protector Parts

IFS recognizes that we all have parts - separate mental states or sub-personalities that are normal aspects of our personality. Parts take on specific roles within our larger system of being. They serve to protect or hold our past wounds & interact with other parts within us. IFS aims to help us get to know, understand, and harmonize the system of parts within each of us.

Self-Energy

In IFS, we talk about the “Self” which is an innate presence that each of us is born with. The self is nonjudgmental and embodies the “8 C’s” or the qualities of self-energy. IFS can help you get to know and access your self-energy to achieve balance & harmony within your internal system of parts.

Getting To Know Our Managers