Also known as Internal Family Systems (IFS), Parts Work is based on the idea that the mind consists of different “parts” or subpersonalities—each with its own emotions, perspectives, and protective roles. These parts develop from life experiences, especially early relationships or difficult events, and influence how you think, feel, and act. You may notice them as inner voices, conflicting urges, or recurring patterns that affect your decisions and relationships. Importantly, there are no “bad” parts—each forms to help you cope, often in response to trauma or stress. Over time, some parts can get stuck in extreme roles that cause distress or self-sabotage.

Parts Work helps you understand and connect with these inner aspects—not by suppressing them, but by exploring their fears, intentions, and needs. When parts conflict—especially those protecting against pain or vulnerability—it can cause anxiety, disconnection, or feeling stuck. In therapy, we create space to meet these parts with compassion and curiosity, allowing internal shifts that restore balance. This process can ease tension, build self-trust, and support a more integrated, grounded sense of self.

To support this, we use creative and reflective tools like guided visualizations, expressive art (collage or drawing), journaling from a part’s perspective, and somatic tracking to sense where parts live in the body. We might also use parts mapping, found objects, or present-moment awareness of thoughts and emotions. These methods help make your inner experience clearer—especially when words aren’t enough—so you can explore it with kindness and curiosity. Parts Work is especially helpful if you feel overwhelmed by internal conflict, repeat painful patterns, or want deeper self-understanding.

As both an artist and a licensed therapist, I bring creative expression into therapy to support deeper self-exploration and honor the many ways we communicate who we are. While I’m not a certified expressive arts therapist, I am a certified SoulCollage® facilitator, and this method is a central part of my work. SoulCollage® invites you to create personalized collage cards that represent different parts of yourself and your inner life. It’s a powerful way to bring intangible feelings and experiences into visible, meaningful form.

I often integrate expressive arts with parts work to help externalize internal experiences. Parts work explores the different identities or “parts” within us, while creative expression makes those parts more tangible and easier to engage with. This combination can help build compassion, clarity, and insight around internal conflicts and patterns. Together, these practices offer a multi-sensory, embodied way of accessing your inner world—beyond words alone.

In addition to SoulCollage®, I incorporate other expressive tools like air-dry clay and various forms of journaling, including poetry and letter-writing. These methods provide flexible outlets for processing emotions and are tailored to your individual needs. Art in therapy can offer relief, self-understanding, and healing through visual storytelling, reflection, and creative exploration.

Existential-Oriented Therapy offers space to explore the deeper questions of life—meaning, identity, freedom, mortality, and connection—that often lie beneath everyday experience. This approach invites reflection on the themes that shape how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, it centers on your internal landscape—your values, fears, and longings—and supports you in meeting uncertainty and the search for purpose with honesty.

To support this process, I incorporate creative and somatic practices. Art-making—such as collage or poetry—helps give form to abstract themes, making them more accessible and meaningful. Somatic work brings attention to how these experiences live in the body, often as protective patterns held in posture, breath, or sensation. These practices help surface what feels vague or unspoken and allow us to engage with it in a more grounded, integrative way.

Together, existential reflection and experiential methods offer a way to engage life’s complexity beyond overthinking. Instead of only talking about what it means to be human, we explore it through image and felt experience. You’re invited to create and feel your way into a deeper acceptance of both the beauty and the difficulty of being alive.

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is a practice that combines mindfulness—the ability to be present with what is—with self-compassion, the capacity to respond to our own suffering with kindness and care. Instead of judging ourselves or pushing pain away, MSC invites us to meet difficult thoughts, emotions, and experiences with the same warmth and understanding we might offer a friend. This approach helps us build resilience, reduce self-criticism, and cultivate a more supportive inner dialogue, especially in moments of distress.

Through practices like gentle awareness, soothing touch, and act of kindness towards the self, MSC helps us recognize our shared humanity—that we all experience pain, imperfection, and uncertainty.

This awareness can soften the harsh inner voice and allow us to face challenges with greater emotional balance. Over time, MSC fosters a sense of connection, acceptance, and inner strength, offering a steady foundation for healing and growth.

Narrative therapy is a collaborative process where you’re seen as the expert of your own life story.

Together, we’ll explore the stories you tell yourself—how they shape your view of the world and influence your feelings and actions. When we separate you from the issues you’re facing, it creates room to explore fresh perspectives and alternative paths forward.

We use a variety of methods to support this process, including:

• Journaling: Writing about your experiences and emotions to uncover patterns and challenge limiting beliefs.

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) reflection: Identifying and dialoguing with the different “parts” of yourself that contribute to your story, helping you understand internal conflicts and find balance.

• Expressive arts: Using creative methods like poetry, collage, or clay to explore your story in nonverbal ways.

• Mindful self-compassion practices: Learning to approach difficult stories and emotions with kindness and acceptance, which supports neuroplasticity and resilience.

• Existential inquiry: Reflecting on meaning, purpose, and values to reframe your story in a way that aligns with what matters most to you.

These approaches help you break down old narratives and create new stories that highlight your strengths, encourage self-compassion, and strengthen your ability to guide the changes you want to make.