Most people who find their way to therapy are carrying experiences the mind has tried to make sense of for years — but the body still remembers. IFS and somatic therapy in Calgary offer a compassionate, grounded approach to healing that goes beyond coping skills or symptom management. Instead, these approaches help you understand why you feel what you feel, how your body has adapted to keep you safe, and how each part of your internal world can begin to soften and trust that change is possible.
Healing doesn’t happen through force.
It happens through curiosity, connection, and safety — inside and out.
🌿 What Are IFS and Somatic Therapy?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a gentle, evidence-based approach that helps you understand the different emotional “parts” within you — the anxious part, the overwhelmed part, the perfectionistic part, the one who wants to disappear, the one who’s tired of holding everything together. These parts stepped in to help you survive overwhelming experiences. In therapy, we learn to meet them with respect, compassion, and genuine curiosity.
Somatic therapy focuses on the body’s wisdom — the tight chest, the collapsing posture, the stomach knots, the numbness, the racing thoughts. These sensations aren’t random; they’re signs of how your nervous system has adapted to past stress and trauma.
When we integrate both IFS + somatic therapy, something powerful happens:
You begin to understand not only what you feel but why you feel it — and your system learns that it doesn’t have to stay in survival mode anymore.
🌿 Why These Approaches Work So Well Together
IFS brings language, compassion, and emotional clarity.
Somatic therapy brings grounding, regulation, and safety.
Together, they help you:
- understand the root of your patterns
- calm your nervous system
- reduce overwhelm and anxiety
- shift long-standing emotional reactions
- reconnect to your body without fear
- cultivate lasting change rather than short-term symptom relief
This combination is especially supportive for people who have tried traditional talk therapy and felt like something was still missing.
🌿 How Trauma Shows Up in the Body (and Why It Matters)
Trauma is not just a memory — it is a pattern held in the nervous system.
You may notice:
- tightness in your chest
- a stomach drop when someone texts you
- jaw clenching
- numbness or disconnect
- sudden exhaustion
- irritability that feels “out of nowhere”
These sensations often reflect parts of you that were overwhelmed long before you had words.
Healing means helping the body and the parts feel safe enough to stop bracing for what has already passed.
If you’d like to explore this further, you can read more in:
- The Body’s Story: How the Nervous System Holds Trauma When Words Can’t
- How to Feel Safe in Your Body After Trauma: A Somatic and IFS Approach
🌿 Common Concerns I Support
IFS and somatic therapy are especially helpful if you’re navigating:
- trauma and PTSD
- anxiety or chronic overwhelm
- burnout
- perfectionism or people-pleasing
- self-criticism and shame
- relationship patterns that repeat
- feeling disconnected from your body
- difficulty setting boundaries
- emotional numbness or shutdown
These concerns aren’t signs that something is wrong with you — they’re signs that your system has been working incredibly hard to keep you safe.
🌿 What Therapy With Me Feels Like
My approach is gentle, warm, and collaborative.
There is no rush, no pressure to “fix,” and no expectation to be any different than you are.
Together, we move at the pace your system can tolerate.
In sessions, you can expect:
- curiosity rather than judgment
- compassion rather than urgency
- space to feel what you feel
- guidance in noticing your body’s cues
- support in meeting your parts with understanding
- a steady therapeutic relationship you can rely on
Many clients tell me this is the first time they’ve felt truly met.
🌿 How Your System May Begin to Shift
With time, people often notice:
- less reactivity
- fewer anxiety spikes
- more emotional bandwidth
- clearer boundaries
- a greater sense of inner steadiness
- compassionate connection with their parts
- feeling at home in their body again
These changes aren’t about perfection. They’re about relief, clarity, and growing trust in yourself.
🌿 Is IFS and Somatic Therapy Right for You?
You might benefit from this approach if:
- you’ve tried talk therapy but still feel stuck
- you want to understand why you react the way you do
- you’re exhausted from holding everything together
- you feel disconnected from your body
- you crave a deeper, gentler path to healing
- you want long-term, meaningful change
IFS and somatic therapy meet you where you are, without pushing or forcing.
🌿 If You’re Ready, I’m Here
You don’t have to navigate this alone.
If you’re curious about whether this approach might support you, you’re welcome to reach out for a 15-minute connection call. It’s a gentle, low-pressure way for us to meet and see if this work feels right for you.