IFS

Internal Family Systems

PLEASE NOTE: DI NADEAU IS A FULLY TRAINED IFS/IFIO PRACTITIONER, NOT A LICENSED CLINICAL THERAPIST.

About IFS: Internal Family Systems is a mental, emotional, and energetic healing model used by non-therapist practitioners like me, as well as licensed therapists. IFS is a method derived from the research and learning of Richard Schwartz, a psychotherapist of 40+ years. IFS is rooted in Indigenous practices, Richard’s long history of experience with clients, and the wisdom of many other brilliant professionals who have willingly been a part of the worldwide growth and expansion of IFS.

In my experience, what lies at the the heart of IFS is the premise that we all exist as grounded, loving, compassionate, and curious beings, but that this true nature of ours can be, or is often, obscured by “parts” of us who hold past wounds, unmet needs, emotional burdens, internalized beliefs about self and other, and perspectives on the best way to get needs met.

IFS practitioners and therapists are trained to identify our clients’ inner parts, understand their internal system of parts, and explore their parts’ concerns, emotional burdens, strategies, beliefs, and interests. The goal is not to diagnose or solve clients’ problems, but to guide clients in the process of unburdening their inner system’s stuck emotions, facilitate their experience of emotional integration, and support them in self-regulation.

About my work: I work with clients of all ages, ranging from Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, Boomers, and the Silent Generation, and I focus on working with individuals whose identities fall outside the established norm, specifically in the following areas:

1) Racism: I work with clients who identify as people of the global majority (PGM)- Black, Indigenous, Arab, Asian, Brown, mixed-race folks who are often labeled as ethnic minorities, but who actually make up more than 85% of the world's population. I work with clients to identify internalized beliefs, identify inherent racially-based strengths, find pathways to repair from the impact of discrimination, and navigate a path forward in this society which functions to give advantage to the 15%.

 2) Ableism: I work with disabled clients to help their systems heal from the impact of ableism, which is the direct, implicit, and cultural discrimination against people with disabilities. I primarily work with people who experience nonvisible disabilities, such as Autism, illness/disease, anxiety, and other nonvisible limitations. I also offer training and consultation for Practitioners and Therapists who work with disabled clients to support them in providing affirming and discrimination-aware care.

3) Genderism: I work with Queer, Trans, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Two Spirit, Questioning, Poly, and all other folks who identify as non-cishet people to help them grapple with the extreme politicization of their identities and the discrimination that accompanies it. I also work with people who identify as women who may be experiencing power imbalances in their lives due to patriarchal and misogynistic sociocultural ways.

4) Romantic Partners: With an extensive background in mediation, my IFIO services offer partnered clients logistical support as well as IFS-informed support in navigating life's difficulties in partnership. I work with monogamous couples, nonmanogamous couples, polyamorous/multi-amorous people, and partners seeking to decouple ethically and compassionately. PS. I love IFIO!!!

5) Boundaries: I have created a process for identifying barriers to and building strength in developing healthy boundaries for clients needing support. Word has been getting out about my process, and clients come to me specifically to learn more about healthy boundaries. I love, love, love working with clients who want to explore their relationship to healthy boundaries!

6) General life challenges/personal growth: I love to work with curious, self-motivated, and self-reflective folks who are seeking to start or continue their journey of personal and/or spiritual growth. I have longtime, extensive personal and professional experience working with a variety of life challenges including family legacy, generational trauma and repair, navigating barriers to opening life pathways, grief and loss, religious/spiritual trauma and healing, loss of connection, social thinning, and community conflict. I've completed years of intensive training in Tibetan Buddhism, and the support I offer often relies on some of these spiritual tenets.

7) Professional Development: I offer coaching, consultation, and training to IFS Practitioners and Therapists on all forms of discrimination, so they can offer safer, more inclusive and affirming services to marginalized clients. If you are working with marginalized communities or want to expand to include a more inclusive client base, feel free to ping me for more information on how to get support!

Important to note: Although I have worked with some very challenging client concerns such as suicide ideology, family trauma, and physical violence, I cannot work with clients who have known/suspected personality disorders or untreated serious mental health histories. I only work within the IFS model and have no training as a licensed therapist, so the scope of my work is limited to working with clients who do not experience some of the more serious presentations. On a few occasions, I have discovered in working with new clients that their needs go beyond my training and expertise, and this makes the working relationship prohibitive. In the few instances where this has been the case, I have relied on clinical consultation to guide me in how to deal with the situation. 

As a result, I have declined to offer or have ended services with clients who present with personality disorders or serious mental health histories, as they require more intensive care than I can provide. I will do my best to provide a referral, but since I am not trained to diagnose, it may be hard for me to offer the best options. If at any time I believe we are not in a beneficial working connection, I will discuss the matter with clients, however, if I am experiencing the impact of any harmful behavior, I will end services effective immediately and communicate it through email.

My love for this modality lies in its close proximity to my own personal beliefs and practices, my longstanding Buddhist and conflict resolution ways. I have been using IFS for myself in my own growth since 2014 and have found it to be a profound method of deep and lasting healing for me as an individual and a “marginalized” member of our global sociocultural community.

Fees for IFS Sessions

Advantage Tier: $125 per 50-min session $145 per 80-min session

Social Support Tier: $115 per 50-min session $135 per 80-min session

Repair Tier: $105 per 50-min session $125 per 80-min session

IFIO

Intimacy from the

Inside Out

IFIO Intimacy from the Inside Out is a relational healing model that is founded in the tenets of IFS. The cornerstone of IFIO is tracking partner interactions to uncover the ways each person’s IFS parts become activated and reactive. Tracking allows for more awareness within conflict and communications. Having a greater awareness of one’s own parts and of one’s partners’ parts can allow for more grounded interactions, easier joint decision making, and deepened connection. IFIO brings compassion to the surface and creates the spaciousness necessary to create and foster conscious and meaningful relationships.

I have been working with poly-partners for many years. It is not unlike working with IFS individuals or IFIO coupled partners, in that we are always only working with parts of ourselves that are holding emotional burdens. The IFIO model does not currently train practitioners to work with multiple partners, but having lived experience as a poly-partner, I understand many of the issues that arise in relationships and have easily applied IFIO to multi-partnered dynamics. After my own IFIO training, I connected with three of my fellow training cohort members and created an IFIO poly practice group.

When working with more than two partners, my cohort buddies and I practiced ways to help clients become aware of the different IFS parts within each other’s inner systems, holding each person’s inner systems with care and understanding. We found that this allowed for more care, trust, compassion, and patience. This helped us to find easy ways to simplify what seemed like complex conflict and challenge. Through the use of two IFIO/IFS methods, tracking and unburdening, we found that these conflicts and challenges become less charged, and client were able to bring home new skills for navigating complex dynamics.

When financially feasible, it is best to start off with 80-minute sessions for at least the first three sessions to allow for the space necessary for us all to gain a clear mental map of each persons’ inner parts systems. However, it is not required, and there are ways to work within the 50-minute timeframe, such as bringing home some parts work exercises to practice together.

Working with couples is no less complex than working with poly partners. Our inner systems hold their burdens, and the level of complexity is always determined by the complexity of the inner system. To that end, I work similarly with couples as I do with poly partners, getting to know each person’s inner parts, tracking, and unburdening. Couples I have worked with over the years have grown in understanding, compassion, and patience through partswork.

Whether working with poly partners or coupled partners, there are always some sessions in which we may center more on one partner’s inner system as a means to provide support to the overall dynamic. Other times, we weave back and forth between all partners. I always ask for consent from partners if and when one person’s system seems to need more time or attention within a session. I also make sure to balance the attention given to all partners from session to session.

Sometimes it’s necessary for partners to have individual IFS sessions with me, again with the goal of benefitting the entire relationship dynamic. If I meet with one partner, I always make sure everyone is in consent and offer to meet with other partners individually.

There are times when one partner does not want to engage in relationship work. In this case, IFS with one partner can almost always support movement within the relationship situation, but there will be limitations on the work we can do without another partner present to speak for themselves.

fees for IFIO Sessions for POLYPARTNERS

Advantage Tier: $60 per partner 50-min $75 per person 80-min

Social Support Tier: $50 per partner 50-min $65 per person 80-min

Repair Tier: $40 per partner 50-min $55 per partner 80-min

Fees for IFIO SESSIONS FOR COUPLED PARTNERS

Advantage Tier: $130 per 50-min session $165 per 80-min session

Social Support Tier: $115 per 50-min session $145 per 80-min session

Repair Tier: $100 per 50-min session $125 per 80-min session

For more information, or to schedule a free 15-minute initial consultation, click the button below.