Attachment trauma lives not only in the mind, but in the body and in the relationships between our parts. Using IFS alongside somatic awareness, we slow down to listen to protective strategies and the sensations beneath them. As the nervous system begins to settle and parts feel met with compassion, new experiences of trust, connection, and choice can emerge.
In IFS-informed therapy, OCD is understood not as a flaw, but as a system of protective parts working tirelessly to prevent danger, uncertainty, or emotional overwhelm. These parts often rely on compulsions, checking, or mental rituals in an attempt to create safety and control. Together, we work to build a trusting relationship with these protective parts, helping them soften as Self-energy grows, and allowing deeper healing to occur without force or shame.Reactions to trauma can look like:
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and therapy intensives can work together to support deeper healing when protective parts have learned to stay vigilant, guarded, or in control. Through an IFS lens, ketamine helps soften these protections, increasing access to Self-energy and allowing parts that carry pain, fear, or unmet needs to be approached with greater compassion and safety. Intensives provide the time, continuity, and relational presence needed for these experiences to be integrated slowly and meaningfully.
This combined approach can be especially supportive for individuals with complex trauma, attachment wounds, or long-standing patterns that have not shifted through traditional weekly therapy alone. By pairing the expanded access offered by ketamine with extended integration and parts-based work, healing becomes not just insight-oriented, but embodied, relational, and sustainable.