In the first part of this series, I wrote about music, connection, and the ways certain experiences can reshape our implicit memory and nervous system. But, to really understand why those moments mattered so deeply to me, it helps to understand another core idea from Internal Family Systems: we are all made up of different “parts.” IFS suggests that the mind is not singular. Most of us experience this naturally, even if we do not think about it that way. One part of you wants

Music has always been more than background noise for me; it has been a place where something deeper shifts. I vividly remember in the 2010s being just a guy following jam bands up and down the East Coast, standing in crowds with my closest friends and feeling something I could not quite name at the time. Now, as a therapist, I understand those experiences through an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed lens and how those experiences shaped my sense of self. What I understan

One truth I hold deeply at this point is this: everything, and I do mean everything, is political. Who gets safety and who doesn’t. Whose needs are considered essential. Who can violate the law without consequence. Who is treated as expendable. We cannot separate individual decision-making from the political context in which we live. Social justice requires that we identify systems of oppression, cultivate practices of resistance, and strengthen agency at the individual and

For me, in therapy sessions, my goal is to be authentic and to show up as a real person wanting to connect with my client. I believe this is very important in the healing process. When I do therapy, I hold space for showing up as my full self, mistakes and all, and I think that this benefits the relationship that I have with my clients. At times, I will laugh with clients, cry with clients, and sometimes...