Ever wonder how tracking your emotions can boost your productivity, relationships, and mental clarity?

Join me this week as we dive deep into the How We Feel app — exploring the science behind it, how it rewires your brain, and why emotional awareness is so important and valuable.

I use research and insights from Lisa Feldman Barrett, Daniel Goleman, Jonathan and Tristan Collins, and Marc Brackett.

In this final episode of the 4-part series on Internal Family Systems (IFS), let’s recap and talk about the things we have learned. Drawing on insights from Richard Schwartz’s and Jenna Riemersma’s work, we can reflect on what we’ve learned about parts, how to get to know them, the use of journaling as a tool for connection, common pitfalls to watch out for, and the powerful role of the Self in healing. Whether you’re new to IFS or ready to take the next step, this episode offers relatable examples and practical tips to
Altogether You: Experiencing personal and spiritual transformation with Internal Family Systems therapyAltogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends

Jenna Riemersma

No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

Introduction to Internal Family Systems

Richard Schwartz

Join me this week for an episode discussing the profound concept of the 'SELF' with insights inspired by the work of Dr. Richard Schwartz and Jenna Riemersma.

Imagine a space within you that's calm, curious, and compassionate. According to IFS, this is the SELF, your authentic essence and natural state. Dr. Schwartz reveals how the SELF is not just a part of us but the very core that can heal and harmonize our internal conflicts. Meanwhile, Jenna Riemersma beautifully describes how embracing the SELF allows us to lead our internal system with wisdom and empathy, creating peace within. She also helps us connect our Self with our God Image.

Join us as we explore practical strategies to connect with the SELF, transform internal dialogue, and cultivate a deeper understanding of our inner world. Whether you are new to IFS or seeking to deepen your practice, this episode offers invaluable insights to guide your journey toward internal balance and well-being.

Eight Cs of IFS

Join me this week for a podcast diving deeper into IFS—parts, parts, everywhere. Identify your parts, name your parts, describe your parts, talk to your parts, and journal about your parts.

This podcast discusses it all with many examples you can use to practice.

Let me know what you think.

Have you ever felt like one part of you wants to do something… but another part completely disagrees?

Maybe you’re trying to eat healthier, but another part of you wants to eat a piece of cake. Perhaps a part of you is excited about a new opportunity, but another part is filled with doubt and fear.

These inner conflicts actually make perfect sense—and they’re not a sign that something is wrong with you, but rather a natural part of how your mind works.

In today's episode, we will discuss a new way to interact with ourselves and others. It's called Internal Family Systems or IFS.

IFS was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, and it’s transformed how we think about the mind. Instead of seeing ourselves as having just one personality, IFS teaches that we all have different parts inside us—almost like an internal family. And just like in any family, these parts sometimes work together… and sometimes, they’re in conflict.

At the core of all of us, beneath the self-doubt, is the Self—a calm, compassionate, wise presence that can heal all our parts.

Today, we will break it all down in a simple, relatable way. In this episode, we will talk about:
✔ What IFS is and how it works,
✔ Why we all have different ‘parts’ inside us,
✔ How to recognize these parts in your daily life,
✔ And how this approach can help you understand yourself in a whole new way.

We’ll also be weaving in real-world examples, insights from Dr. Richard Schwartz and Jenna Riemersma, and practical ways to use this framework in your own life.

Altogether You: Experiencing personal and spiritual transformation with Internal Family Systems

It's been a busy week. I have practiced deep breathing meditation, mantra meditation, and meditation to sleep. I have also reminded myself, "It is here, and it is now." Given all that meditative behavior, I thought I'd do a podcast to remind us of the scientific benefits of mindfulness.

Get a mindfulness practice and do it every day, or more days a week than not.

Thanks for joining me today for an interesting discussion about perfectionism. While striving for excellence can be a positive trait, perfectionism can lead to significant stress and anxiety, impacting our lives and the lives of our loved ones in various ways.

In this episode, we'll discuss how perfectionism manifests in children, adolescents, teenagers, and adults. We’ll explore its causes, symptoms, and effects and, most importantly, how we can help bring balance to the lives of perfectionists. Finally, we’ll look at the long-term consequences, both favorable and unfavorable.

Join me this week and enjoy an interesting podcast conversation with Kylee, Lindsay Regan, and Carson. They talk about their experience attending a high-achieving school and how they saw themselves in this environment. They all seemed to have experienced their own internal buffer from the pressure a lot of others may have felt. Yet, they also had times when they got caught up in the energy of competition and performance.

They talk about what success means to them now and how all their life experiences have contributed to where they are now.

This week let's talk about the challenges many parents face in our fast-paced, success-obsessed world. First, how we as parents might contribute to achievement culture through our expectations and demands. Second, how to help bring balance and reduce the hustle and striving that is so destructive to the mental health and happiness of our children.

From academic pressure to extracurricular overload, kids are increasingly caught in a "more is better cycle." But as parents, how can we provide balance, foster self-worth beyond trophies and test scores, and teach our children that rest, curiosity, and joy are as important as hard work?

Join me and explore the signs your child might be struggling under the weight of achievement culture, practical ways to set healthy expectations, and strategies to create a home environment that values effort, growth, and emotional well-being over constant results. Whether it's rethinking schedules, encouraging downtime, or redefining success as a family, this episode offers actionable tips to help your kids—and you—find balance in a high-pressure world.

Tune in to learn how to raise resilient, well-rounded kids who know they are more than their accomplishments!

In this week's episode, I discuss achievement culture, what it is, who it impacts, and its causes. Using Emily Sohn's article "Perfectionism and the High Stakes Cost of Success: The Hidden Toll on Parents and Kids" in Monitor on Psychology, I talk about the pressures and expectations that can lead to perfectionism, anxiety, and burnout in kids.

Achievement culture, fueled by social media, parental anxiety, and societal expectations, can create an environment where children feel like they're never good enough, which often leads to anxiety, depression, and perfectionism.

Researchers have identified three types of perfectionism: self-oriented perfectionism, a version that describes people who set high self-standards and then strive to reach them; other-oriented perfectionism, which describes the projection of unrealistically high standards onto other people; and socially prescribed perfectionism, which is the perception that other people expect you to be perfect and that you need to meet that demand to get acceptance and approval.

An achievement culture fueled by social media, parental anxiety, and societal expectations can create an environment where children feel like they're never good enough.

We'll examine competitive extracurricular activities, and the pursuit of academic excellence on a child's self-esteem, stress levels, and overall happiness.

Next week, we will discuss what can be done about it and how to build resilience and immunity to the harmful effects of achievement culture.

⁠Perfectionism and the high-stakes culture of success: The hidden toll on kids and parents