Shadow Work & IFS Informed Therapy Sessions

My approach integrates the tools and philosophy of Shadow Work, Deep Process Psychotherapy (DPP), Voice Dialogue, and Internal Family Systems (IFS).

 

These pioneering approaches share a core understanding: we are not a single, unified mind, but a living system made up of many parts or sub-personalities — and this multiplicity is a healthy, natural state.

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These frameworks offer orienting maps, practices and processes that support deep, safe exploration.

 

Together, we work gently yet powerfully to uncover unconscious drivers and soften entrenched patterns, 

moving you towards deep and meaningful therapeutic change.​

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At the heart of this work is a simple understanding: many of the difficulties we experience are not signs that something is wrong with us, but are communications from aspects of ourselves deep inside that are seeking care, attention and relational support.

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These aspects of ourselves that we find ourselves disconnecting from do not simply disappear, they continue to shape how we experience ourselves, influencing our relationships and the world around us in a way that no longer makes sense - leaving us confused or with feelings of shame.

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Rather than focusing solely on symptoms or trying to eliminate difficult thoughts, feelings, or behaviours, we work to understand what is underneath driving these patterns. ​
 

My orientation is fundamentally non-pathologising. I understand symptoms, extreme emotional reactions, protective behaviours or resistance as meaningful responses that developed for important reasons. ​​​

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Underneath reactive or destructive patterns and behaviours is often a vulnerability that is being protected. Often these destructive patterns or behaviours have a protective intention and were adopted in earlier life for very good reason - often as intelligent and skilful attempts to adapt, survive, preserve connection, or stay safe. Without conscious work in later life, these patterns continue to play out even when the original threat to the individual no longer exists. It is these old reactive patterns that become problems for us, making life challenging, complicated and difficult.

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​I do not believe in fighting against aspects of ourselves - Instead, I support you to develop relationship with them. So, rather than turning away from pain or difficulty, we take the opportunity to slow down and turn towards these experiences with care, curiosity, and compassion. 

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Together we explore the parts of you that feel anxious, overwhelmed, ashamed, self-critical, uncertain, defended, avoidant, emotionally flooded, disconnected, or difficult to understand — recognising that these experiences are often gateways to precious parts of ourselves, and deeper wells of authenticity, agency and energy.

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This work is experiential as well as reflective.​ Alongside conversation and insight, I draw on embodied awareness, symbolic process, parts work, emotional processing, and present-moment experience to support deeper access to the patterns and inner dynamics shaping your life.

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The work unfolds collaboratively. You remain in control of the pace and depth of the process, and if fear, resistance, uncertainty, or protective responses emerge, these too become part of the work.

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Resistance is not treated as an obstacle to overcome but as something worthy of attention and respect. Often the places we feel blocked are the places where care, patience, and safety are needed most.

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My work is informed by attachment theory, Jungian depth and archetypal psychology, Internal Family Systems (IFS), developmental and relational perspectives, psychodynamic thinking, contemporary trauma theory, and contemporary neurobiological understandings of nervous system regulation.

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Trauma work is not only about recalling past events or constructing narratives. It involves gently supporting the repair of the physiological and emotional imprints left by overwhelming experiences - the ways trauma continues to live in the nervous system, the body, and patterns of response. My understanding of trauma is primarily informed by the work of Onno Van der Hart, Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, Janina Fisher, and Stephen Porges.

 

​Ultimately, my hope is to support you in developing a spacious yet more connected, compassionate, and trusting relationship with yourself — creating greater freedom, authenticity, resilience, and a deeper sense of aliveness in your life.