What is parts work?
Parts work — clinically, Internal Family Systems — starts from the idea that you aren't one voice. There's the part that wants to text back immediately, the part that says don't be needy, and the part underneath both that's simply scared. Instead of picking a side, we get them talking to each other. Underneath all of them is what IFS calls Self: steady, curious, and never damaged. Meeting that is the actual work.
How is this different from therapy?
Therapy often looks backward to explain how you got here. Coaching looks at what you're building now. We use the same clinical frameworks — attachment theory, parts work, nervous system regulation — pointed forward. Plenty of my clients do both at once.
Are you a licensed therapist?
No. I have ICF-accredited coach training, over a thousand hours facilitating group therapy, certification as an NLP Master Practitioner, training in Internal Family Systems, attachment theory and nervous system regulation, ordination as a sacred healer, and graduate-level counseling coursework in a CACREP-accredited program. This is coaching, not therapy or medical care. If what you need is clinical treatment, I'll tell you plainly and help you find it.
Who is this work for?
People who have already done a lot of the work. You've read the books, you've been to therapy, you can explain your attachment style better than most professionals — and you're still having the same argument with yourself at 2am. That isn't a knowledge problem. It's that the part of you that knows and the part of you that's terrified have never actually met.
Do I need to know anything about attachment theory or IFS first?
No. You'll pick up the language as we go. Bring the pattern you're tired of — I'll bring the map.
What actually happens in a session?
We start with whatever is live for you that day. From there it's part conversation and part somatic — slowing down enough that your body can follow, finding the part that's running the show, and getting curious about what it's protecting. Most people leave calmer than they arrived, and clearer about what they're actually dealing with.
Is this safe if I have a trauma history?
Yes, and it's a fair thing to ask. We move at the pace your nervous system sets rather than the pace of a curriculum. Nothing gets forced open. If something calls for clinical care, I'll say so.
Can I start with just one session?
Yes. Start with a free 30-minute Virtual Coffee — a real conversation, and no pitch at the end. If you'd rather go deep in one sitting, The Invitation is a single 90-minute intensive.
What's the difference between the group program and working one-to-one?
One-to-one is your pattern, at your pace, entirely. The group program is six weeks with a small cohort doing the work alongside you — which offers something individual work can't: you watch other people meet their parts, and it stops feeling strange.
Emily Barrow
David Hauser
Cassandra Truax