Couples session. I specialize in IFIO (Intimacy From the Inside Out).
It is an experiential model of relationship therapy (for couples, families, professional relationships, etc.) that is primarily based on IFS. The process focuses both on the needs of each individual and on the needs of the relationship itself.
IFIO helps couples understand the true nature of their recurring conflicts. Through this new understanding, a different way of communicating gradually develops—one that is more empathetic, safe, and functional—helping to dissolve the reactive patterns that had been maintaining conflict and disconnection between them.
The model also incorporates elements of psychodynamic theory, systems thinking, neuroscience, and mindfulness practices.
Healing from the Inside Out
Like IFS, IFIO is based on the understanding that we all have a core inner resource—an innate vital energy that we call the “Essential Self” or “Self.” When we create the conditions for this vital energy to emerge from within, it provides us with qualities such as calm, clarity, compassion, courage, perseverance, confidence, and more.
This healing work focuses primarily on reconnecting with this inner energy or state of awareness as a central source of healing for the parts within us that have been wounded or carry the burden of painful experiences and emotions.
In IFIO, we help each person access this inner source so that they can heal their wounded or vulnerable parts. This allows each individual to relate from a more centered and less reactive place, communicate in new ways, and learn how to navigate and negotiate the necessary disagreements that naturally arise in our closest relationships.
What issues does an IFIO professional address?
IFIO is a powerful approach for addressing a wide range of difficulties that people may experience in their relationships, whether they are romantic, family, professional, or friendship-based.
These difficulties may include communication problems, challenges in accepting each other’s differences, a loss of mutual understanding, conflicts around decision-making, difficulty reaching agreements, feeling misunderstood or unloved, heated arguments, concerns about intimacy and sexuality, frustration because the other person is not changing, boundaries not being respected, challenges related to addictive behaviors, relationship breakdowns, betrayal, and more.
The IFIO practitioner pays particular attention to repetitive patterns that block healthy and constructive communication, helping each person develop greater inner awareness so they can remain calm and clear while maintaining an empathetic and meaningful connection with the other person.
A healthy relationship according to IFIO.
For IFIO, a healthy relationship is one in which two people who share a certain level of intimacy or closeness—whether in a romantic, family, or professional relationship—are able to remain regulated and connected with one another while having difficult conversations.
They are also able to cooperate in meeting each other’s needs and, when one person has caused harm to the other, make a sincere and meaningful repair whenever necessary, thereby maintaining a healthy, stable, and loving bond.
IFIO facilitates the learning and development of the skills needed to build and sustain healthy relationships.
