Internal Family Systems Therapy in Philadelphia
Compassionate Healing for Your Inner World
As a queer-identified therapist specializing in eating disorders and gender-affirming care, I offer Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to help LGBTQ+ individuals in Philadelphia find healing and wholeness. My approach honors the complexity of your identity while providing a safe space to explore all parts of yourself.
What is Internal Family Systems Therapy?
Internal Family Systems therapy recognizes that your mind contains multiple "parts" or sub-personalities within your internal family, each serving a protective function. Developed by IFS originator Richard Schwartz, this Internal Family Systems model views your internal system as a family where each member plays a unique role in maintaining balance.
Unlike traditional approaches that may pathologize your experiences, IFS therapy honors the wisdom behind even your most challenging behaviors. For LGBTQ+ individuals who've faced discrimination, rejection, or identity struggles, Internal Family Systems offers a non-judgmental framework for understanding and healing all aspects of your internal family.
The Core Self: Your Inner Guide
At the heart of the IFS model lies your Core Self – an undamaged essence characterized by qualities like curiosity, compassion, calm, clarity, courage, confidence, creativity, and connectedness. Through Internal Family Systems therapy, I help you access this Core Self to lead your internal system toward healing and self leadership.
Understanding Your Parts
Your internal family consists of three main types of parts:
Managers protect you proactively by controlling daily life and preventing emotional pain. They might manifest as perfectionism, people-pleasing, or constant achievement – common patterns I see in my Philadelphia clients working in tech, creative fields, or healthcare.
Exiles hold painful emotions and memories, often related to rejection, abandonment, or shame. For LGBTQ+ individuals, these parts might carry wounds from coming out experiences, family rejection, or identity-related trauma.
Firefighters react when Exiles' pain threatens to surface, using extreme roles like binge eating, restriction, substance use, or dissociation to numb emotional suffering. Understanding these parts as protective rather than destructive reduces shame and opens pathways to healing.
IFS Therapy for Eating Disorders
Traditional eating disorder treatment often follows heteronormative narratives that can feel alienating. My Internal Family Systems approach recognizes how different parts of your internal family use food and body behaviors to manage complex emotions around identity, dysphoria, and self-worth.
Through IFS therapy, we explore:
How Manager parts might use restriction to control gender dysphoria
Ways Firefighter parts use bingeing to soothe rejection wounds
Beliefs Exiles hold about worthiness tied to body image
The intersection of queerness and relationships with food
This approach is particularly effective for trans and non-binary individuals navigating body changes during transition, and anyone whose eating behaviors developed as responses to minority stress. Internal Family Systems helps you develop compassion for all parts engaged in these behaviors, creating sustainable recovery that honors your whole self.
Supporting Partners and Families Through Transition
I also use the IFS model to support individuals whose partners or family members are transitioning. Your internal system might contain parts with conflicting feelings – supporting your loved one while grieving expected futures, managing social concerns, or questioning your own identity.
For parents of trans teens, Internal Family Systems therapy helps navigate complex emotions as different parts of your internal family respond to your child's journey. We work with protective fears, celebratory parts, and those managing family relationships, helping you find balance between supporting your child and honoring your own process.
Trauma-Informed Internal Family Systems
Many LGBTQ+ individuals carry trauma from discrimination, rejection, or violence. The Internal Family Systems model offers a gentle, paced approach to treating trauma that respects your protective mechanisms. Unlike approaches that dive directly into painful memories, IFS therapy first establishes safety with your Core Self.
We collaborate with protective parts of your internal family, gaining their trust before approaching traumatic material. Your parts guide the pace, ensuring healing strengthens rather than overwhelms your internal system. This approach effectively addresses:
Complex trauma from ongoing discrimination
Developmental trauma from unaffirming environments
Acute trauma from violence or abuse
Medical trauma related to transition
Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
Integrating IFS with Other Approaches
While Internal Family Systems forms my therapeutic foundation, I integrate complementary modalities to meet your specific needs:
Art Therapy and IFS
As an art therapist, I combine creative expression with IFS techniques, offering non-verbal pathways to connect with your internal family. You might create visual representations of parts, use colors to express Exiles' emotions, or build sculptures representing your internal system. This approach resonates deeply with Philadelphia's creative community.
ERP and Internal Family Systems
For clients with OCD, I combine IFS therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention, helping you understand parts driving obsessive thoughts while building skills to resist compulsions. This integrated approach addresses both behavioral patterns and underlying parts fueling anxiety.
Psychodynamic and IFS Concepts
Psychodynamic principles deepen our exploration of how early relationships shaped your internal system, examining how attachment patterns influence your parts' strategies for connection and protection.
Group IFS Therapy
I offer Internal Family Systems group therapy for LGBTQ+ individuals seeking community healing. Groups provide opportunities to:
Practice self leadership in relationships
Witness others' internal families
Reduce isolation and shame
Build supportive connections
Learn from diverse healing journeys
Group members often recognize their own parts in others' experiences, creating powerful moments of connection and understanding.
What to Expect from IFS Therapy
Free Consultation: Start with a 20-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs and determine if my Internal Family Systems approach aligns with your goals.
Initial Session: We'll explore current challenges, introduce IFS concepts, and begin mapping your internal system. I'll explain how Internal Family Systems therapy can address your specific concerns and what to expect moving forward.
Ongoing Work: Weekly 60-minute sessions provide consistent support for your IFS therapy journey. Some clients prefer 90-minute sessions or twice-weekly meetings for intensive work. Between sessions, you'll receive journal prompts to deepen self-exploration. For OCD treatment, specific ERP exercises integrate with IFS techniques.
Your Unique Process: Every Internal Family Systems journey unfolds differently. Some quickly identify parts while others need time building trust with the IFS model. Your internal system guides the pace and focus of our work together.
Why Choose My IFS Therapy Practice?
As a queer-identified therapist married to a trans woman, I bring both professional expertise and personal understanding to Internal Family Systems work. My unique qualifications include:
Advanced training in eating disorders and gender-affirming care
Expertise navigating the intersection of identity and mental health
Art therapy certification for creative healing approaches
Experience supporting partners and families through transition
Deep commitment to LGBTQ+ community wellness
My relational, experiential approach to IFS therapy differs from traditional CBT methods. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, Internal Family Systems helps you understand and heal the roots of struggles while honoring your full complexity.
Begin Your Internal Family Systems Journey
If you're ready to explore healing through IFS therapy, I invite you to reach out. Whether you're dealing with eating concerns, navigating identity questions, supporting a transitioning loved one, or seeking deeper self-compassion, Internal Family Systems offers a path toward authentic wholeness.
Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ community deserves therapy that celebrates all aspects of identity. Through Internal Family Systems therapy, we'll help your internal family find harmony, with your Core Self leading toward the connected, authentic life you deserve.
Contact me today for your free consultation. Let's explore how Internal Family Systems therapy can support your unique healing journey.
