We all have an inner voice—a guiding presence that shapes our decisions, feelings, and interactions with the world. But have you ever wondered if this voice is truly yours, or if it's a mix of old fears, other people’s ideas, social conditioning, and past wounds? Internal Family Systems (IFS) Theory offers a powerful framework for understanding and connecting with your authentic inner self (also referred to as inmost self, core self, or God-image) by focusing on what is known as the 8 C’s.

This is your postpartum brain

You’ve probably heard that becoming a mother changes you. You know it changes your priorities, your family, your schedule, your free time, but did you know it physically changes your brain? Along with hormones pulsing through your body, your brain changes during pregnancy and postpartum in order to better accommodate keeping a new life safe and protected. When we understand what this means and how fully it affects a mom, we can have more compassion for ourselves during this vulnerable time.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem perfectly comfortable with closeness and intimacy in relationships, while others struggle to open up or tend to push others away? The answer may lie in something called attachment styles. As a counselor, I often see how these unconscious patterns, which form in childhood, can show up in adult relationships—especially in dating.

Your freshman year of college is, for many people, one of the most drastic life transitions you have experienced up to this point. It may be your first time without your parents there to be constantly checking in and reminding you to eat or shower. It can be a whirlwind of change, new routines, new friends, new location, new classes, and new choices that can at times be so overwhelming you forget to check in with yourself and really ask: how am I doing?

You’ve dreamed of taking your new baby to the beach or pool, both of you dressed in cute swimsuits, or of strolling around your town with friends and iced coffee. But now that your first summer is approaching with your baby, you feel… scared? Isolated? All of a sudden aware of the risks of heat exhaustion or dehydration and of your postpartum body?