Inner conflict is not a problem to eliminate. It is an opportunity to lead. Learn how to recognize polarized parts and respond with clarity instead of reaction.

When you’re defensive, hurt, or reactive, it can feel like there’s no choice. This step-by-step guide shows how to unblend from burdened parts and regain agency.

Joe is a respected leader who does everything right when a crisis hits — managing his reactions, solving problems, and holding it together under pressure. Yet the harder he tries to stay in control, the more reactive his world becomes. This story explores how curiosity, rather than control, opened the door to deeper clarity and more sustainable change.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is increasingly used outside of psychotherapy, raising important ethical questions. This article explores why IFS can be used ethically in coaching when the coach supports the client’s innate capacity for healing rather than assuming responsibility for it.

A story from an IFS coaching session exploring appreciation, responsibility, and what happens inside when parts feel unseen, followed by a gentle journaling exercise..

What is codependency? Is codependency an addiction? How do you recover from codependency? In this article, I hold two of my marrriages up as examples of codependency and one marriage as an example of recovery.

Before exploring parts with the Internal Family Systems model, permission matters. This article explains why negotiating the use of IFS creates safety, trust, and more effective healing for clients and practitioners alike.

Feeling stuck isn’t always a motivation problem. Sometimes it’s an internal log jam, with parts pulling in different directions. This article explores internal conflict through the lens of Internal Family Systems.

What happens when expressing preferences isn’t safe? This article explores how early shaming around wanting leads to disconnection, resentment, and confusion about desire, and how awareness can begin to restore inner guidance.

A simple reflection on two questions that helped me clarify what I’m up to in 2026 and anticipate the challenges ahead, along with a worksheet you can use to explore the same questions for yourself.

I want to share a personal story that taught me an important lesson about healthy communication in relationships. I found myself in a situation where I needed to navigate a conversation with my wife about something I wanted to do. Initially, I felt conflicted, unsure how to bring it up without seeming selfish or inconsiderate. But as we talked, I was reminded of how important balanced, thoughtful communication is in building a strong and supportive relationship.

This meditation guides you through an unblending process, helping you notice and observe the influences of different parts within you, such as your breath, energy, thoughts, emotions, impulses, and actions. By doing so, you can build trust between your authentic Self and your parts, allowing for a more balanced response to challenging situations.

This is the story behind the True You Groups. It describes how my earliest group experiences shaped the way I understand safety, belonging, and inner leadership, and how decades of recovery, group facilitation, and IFS training led to the creation of the True You approach.

This meditation, written and narrated by Bill Tierney can be used to open group and individual explorations using the IFS model or any other method for accessing your internal world.

Choosing the right kind of support can make growth more sustainable. This article explains coaching readiness, the role of healing, where group coaching fits, and how to determine which form of IFS-informed support is the best match for you right now.

When capacity feels low, it’s often because parts of us are already working hard to manage what’s happening inside. Through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS), we can begin to understand how this inner management uses energy that could otherwise support presence, creativity, and connection. With compassion and Self-leadership, that energy becomes available again.

We were beginning to drift apart, though neither of us had said it out loud. A tense anniversary trip became the wake-up call we needed to start talking about what was really happening between us. From that conversation came a weekly practice built around six simple prompts that help us stay connected, honest, and compassionate — even when things get hard.

Living from the Authentic Self isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning to lead your life with compassion, curiosity, and courage. This final article in the Authentic Self Series shows how the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model turns healing into everyday living.

Healing through IFS is powerful, but you don’t have to do it alone. Learn how coaching supports the recovery of your Authentic Self and when it’s right for you.

Protectors guard us from the shame and pain carried by exiles. In IFS, healing means pausing, witnessing, and unburdening — reclaiming the Authentic Self.