IFS UK Bookings

Sheila (IFS trained)

Sheila has come to counselling and psychotherapy later in life and brings with her a wealth of lived experiences. Always following her life-long passion for holistic health care, Sheila worked as a naturopath for over 30 years before eventually developing her career in psychotherapy.

Sheila combines her love of art within her practice and will often incorporate art therapy in her sessions. Using the ‘Internal Family Systems’ (IFS) model, Sheila believes that when an individual has an opportunity to meet all their own individual parts with compassion and curiosity, then hope emerges and acceptance brings one to a path of true healing.

She will work beside you and throughout your sessions, will offer support and guidance, never doubting your own innate, inner wisdom to find the optimum way of bringing the lost and often hopeless parts of yourself back home to the warmth of acceptance and self-love.

Sheila has completed Levels 1 & 2 in IFS with the IFS Institute USA, as well as the training to be a program assistant. She continues her life-long journey in learning and is forever on a wait-list for some form of IFS and art training.

After hours and weekend sessions available via telehealth.

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Our IFS Therapist

Training

Sheila is Level 2 trained in IFS. She is grateful to have been trained by Lead Trainers Kay Gardner and Cece Sykes, two of the better known pioneers in the field from the USA.

Sheila is a brief moment away from qualifying as IFS certified therapists, which requires a minimum of two years experience using the model, regular consultation with an IFS supervisor, an abundance of hours using the model and participation in extra trainings. As a fun fact, her incredible supervisor has worked with the likes of Bessel van der Kolk of 'The Body Keeps The Score' fame.

"The more you get to know and appreciate all parts of yourself, the more you experience inner harmony and peace."

- Dr Richard Schwartz

Get To Know Us

Sheila

What drew me to IFS?

‘No Bad parts’. That statement drew me to IFS. From there I learnt so much more and I continue to learn (and I love everything I learn). To move from a position within myself where I thought I had so much wrong with me that needed to be changed to the concept that I had no bad parts and just needed to understand them better was transformative and life changing for me both personally and professionally.

Professionally I struggled with the concept of encouraging people to ignore their feelings as well as with the idea that if you stopped drinking, using etc. you would solve the problem. In addiction, the step to drink, use drugs or whatever the addiction may be was just the last step, and I really wanted to get in as far back as I could in the first few steps of addiction for clients to see if change could be affected there.

It turns out that this approach isn't just for addressing addiction but for any pattern in our lives that causes concern. It's also about getting to know ourselves better and discovering hidden skills and talents by learning how to harness the positive intent of our internal protectors and parts, instead of letting them keep our 'exiles' tucked away. Now, I feel excited before each IFS session instead of dreading what might come up. I know it will provide me with more insight into who I am, helping me cultivate compassion and love for myself, and ultimately become the best and happiest version of myself.

What kind of therapist are you?

This is a difficult question to answer. I might approach it with what kind of a therapist I am not. I am not a therapist who seeks to apply a pathology to my clients. I am not a therapist who seeks to provide psychoeducation to my clients. I am not a therapist who looks to ‘fix’ something ‘broken’ in my clients. That leaves me with being a therapist who seeks to explore and support my clients to make meaning of what is happening in their world. I see myself as someone who has a compassionate curiosity and who offers guided support to my clients as, together, we find a way towards making meaning and achieving a space of balance and harmony within.

I can never know you better than you know yourself, however, my training and my own lived experience enables me to offer you professional and compassionate guided support as you navigate your way through different times in your life.