Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for You – Towards Your Whole, Healthy Self

Mauri Inkinen

Psychologist

I am a licensed psychologist in Finland and have worked with both young people and adults. I have completed the official Level 1 IFS training through the IFS Institute. In my practice, I offer psychological, goal-oriented and therapeutic work drawing on the IFS model and my broader psychological expertise. I am not a psychotherapist and do not offer psychotherapy.

Why IFS therapy?
You have probably already tried hard to think, feel or act differently regarding the difficulties in your life. Yet the same patterns often keep repeating.What if the difficult parts of you are not your enemies after all?
Many of the traits we experience as problems in ourselves have developed to protect us from something even more painful. For example, social anxiety may protect us from the pain of having been abandoned or rejected in the past.Through IFS, we can discover deep reservoirs of strength and love that exist within each of us, and which make it possible to approach such painful experiences in a healing way.
This can help us let go of the lasting effects of those experiences – at our own pace, while respecting all the different parts of ourselves. As a result, our protective traits can also begin to feel safe enough to become naturally less rigid or extreme, without any force or pressure.Examples of themes and challenges we can focus on
• Self-image: Self-criticism, shame, feelings of inadequacy
• Behaviour: Perfectionism, exhausting overachievement, avoidance, excessive or compulsive behaviours
• Difficult emotions: Anxiety, depression, emptiness
• Relationships: Intimacy, withdrawal, boundaries