Gemma Keaney – Internal Family Systems (IFS) and IFIO Couples Therapy Practitioner

My name is Gemma Keaney. I am a Hackney based Internal Family Systems (IFS) and IFIO Couples Therapy Practitioner.

Additionally I work with meditation and body-based therapeutic processes including The Sedona Method, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Adult Play.

I’m based at Space To Be You Therapy Rooms in Hackney, London E8.

IFS is a powerful evidence-based model of psychotherapy. It’s known to be effective in treating a wide range of experiences including overwhelm, anxiety, depression, addictions, shame, anger, attachment injuries, OCD and traumas.

Importantly, IFS is non-pathologizing.

Dr Bessel van der Kolk, the pioneering leader in trauma treatment and author of the essential reading ‘The Body Holds The Score’ states IFS is ‘the treatment method that all clinicians should know to treat clients effectively.’

The results include not only relief from symptoms but also a deeper sense of Self knowing.

For me, IFS is the bridge between a wide range of more classical therapies and the deepest ancient spiritual wisdom – the knowledge of who we are.

Who we are is not what we think we are. But we tend to live as a version of ourselves that can cause confusion, anxiety, addictions – in short, all suffering.

We tend to identify with the mind. The mind is naturally comprised of parts. We know this – we speak in these terms, ‘A part of me feels this, a part of me feels that…’. This is the normal structure of the psyche.

Our parts are organised internally as ‘Protectors’ to protect us from experiencing the pain of our histories, woundings, burdensome beliefs and traumas, which are held by our parts.

Often parts are at war with each other, and with the people around us.

Yet what we essentially are is not the parts. We are the Self.

It’s the client’s own Self which knows how to heal and how to integrate the parts.

So what is Self?

It’s what we are. We recognize Self as expressing in any of the following ways: curiosity, courage, clarity, calm, compassion, creativity, connectedness, presence, persistence, perspective, playfulness and patience.

IFS is a relational process. It aims to develop connection between Self and parts. As we do this internally our attachment traumas can heal and our outer attachments can also evolve.

Guiding the client I hold the space of Self energy and help the client to recognize, familiarise and establish themselves as their true Self. This is where the healing can happen.

No prior knowledge of IFS is required. It’s the client’s own system that guides the process.

IFIO is the “Intimacy From The Inside” approach to couples therapy, a modification of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model into a relational setting. The approach focuses both on the growth and healing of the individual and the couple.

Couples often function unaware of the forces that influence the complex dynamic of their relationship. IFIO aims to support each partner communicate more skillfully so that the needs of both partners are more likely to be met. IFIO also helps each partner to turn the focus internally to address past wounds and traumas that are showing up in the present day relationship.

Couples therapy is conducted within a structured programme. Please enquire for more details.

I spent most of my career enjoying a wide range of professions including academia, corporate and technology start up businesses.

But about 14 years ago there grew a deeper longing:

To know myself and be free.

So I’ve spent these years exploring extensively a broad range of teachings, modalities and trainings to understand who and what I am. Who and what we all are.

These explorations include primal therapy, trauma release breathwork, bioenergetics, Self Enquiry, The Sedona Method, somatic awareness, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), Havening, classical meditation, Family Constellations, and couples therapy.

Importantly I’ve encountered many of the blind spots that keep many of us stuck in suffering.

IFS, in particular, has brought into the light many subtle avoidance strategies, including spiritual bypassing.

With the clarity of Self energy, it’s been possible to finally ‘meet’ the trauma which has silently fueled suffering for decades.

IFS has allowed me to finally be with and allow ancient traumas to move through my system with gentleness, compassion and gratitude.

As Self, I can help direct the client’s own clarity, insight, wisdom and compassion to gain a greater sense of freedom – so the client can lead a more Self-led life.

Appointments are offered at Space To Be You Therapy Rooms in Hackney (E8) and via Zoom.

Initial Zoom or telephone consultation (30 minutes): Free

Individual IFS Session (50 minutes) – £70 Zoom, £85 in-person

IFIO Couples Therapy Process – please contact me for details

Individual Sedona Method Session (50 minutes) – £70 Zoom, £85 in-person

Adult ‘Playshop’: Please enquire

CONTACT ME:

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