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IFS therapy Los Angeles sounds confusing at first — but once you understand how IFS therapy works, it starts to make sense fast. This blog breaks it down in real human language so you can see what actually happens in session — and whether it’s right for you.
I’m a dual-licensed therapist in Los Angeles who specializes in anxiety therapy, trauma, somatic work, IFS, and attachment repair. I’ve been featured in TIME Magazine, HuffPost, Verywell Mind, and other major outlets for sharing honest, human insights about what real healing actually looks like.
You know those moments where you do the opposite of what you meant to do? Like you freeze up during conflict, or say yes when everything in you wanted to say no? That’s not just a behavior problem. That’s a part of you — and in IFS therapy, we actually get to meet it.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is based on the idea that we all have different “parts” inside us—protective, reactive, sometimes loud as hell parts—and they each think they’re helping. Even when the outcome is a disaster.
Maybe there’s a part of you that over-apologizes to keep the peace. Or one that numbs out with your phone every time things get too intense. Or one that’s constantly scanning your relationship for signs something’s off, even when nothing is. Most of us walk around thinking we are these patterns. IFS helps you realize — no, you’re the one noticing them. And there’s a reason they’re showing up the way they are.
IFS doesn’t treat these patterns as random. It helps you understand what role they’re playing — and where they learned to do that job in the first place.
In my practice, I hear parts described in all kinds of ways:
We don’t push these parts away. We get curious. Because most of the time, they formed around something real — something overwhelming that your system didn’t know how to handle. And now they’re doing whatever it takes to never feel that again.
When clients first hear about IFS, most of them ask the same question: “Okay but… what do we actually do?”
Fair. Because it’s not like traditional therapy, where you vent about your week or analyze patterns from the outside. In IFS, we go inward. You don’t have to rehash every detail of your past — we start with what’s happening in your system right now.
Let’s say you’re spiraling after a conflict. You come in activated, unsure whether to cry, explain yourself again, or just shut down completely. We start there — not with a deep dive into your childhood, but with the part of you that’s overwhelmed today. The part that wants to disappear, or yell, or fix everything immediately.
I’ll ask you to notice that part. Where you feel it. What it’s saying. Whether it feels young or panicked or just plain exhausted. And we follow the thread — not by pushing or analyzing, but by listening from the inside.
IFS therapy is not passive. But it’s not aggressive either. It’s a slow, respectful process of meeting your system where it is. It works especially well for people who’ve felt like therapy helped them understand things intellectually, but didn’t change how they felt in the moment.
You know the one. The inner critic who’s always on your back. Or the part that catastrophizes every silence in a relationship. Or the one that checks out during intimacy and doesn’t come back online for hours.
IFS helps you separate from that voice without rejecting it. Instead of fighting with it, you get to understand what it’s afraid of — and why it shows up so forcefully.
Here’s what this might look like:
And yes — it might feel awkward at first. That’s normal. But it’s also often the first time clients realize their reactions aren’t random. They’re organized, protective, and sometimes shockingly consistent. IFS gives you a way to work with them — instead of being hijacked by them.
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to me and set up a consultation!
Most of my clients don’t come to therapy saying, “I’d like to meet my inner parts.” They come in saying things like:
IFS is one of the few therapies that doesn’t just try to manage those patterns — it actually helps you understand why they exist in the first place. Instead of just ignoring it and slapping on a coping mechanism, we walk towards the part of you that panics, or checks out, or overexplains everything. Then we literally ask, “What are you trying to protect me from?”
And the answer it gives us is almost never random.
I see this all the time in my practice. Clients come in after years of therapy. They know their triggers, they’ve got the language — but their nervous system still feels like it’s in a constant low-level emergency. That’s usually because no one’s ever helped them get to know the protective parts still working overtime underneath it all.
That’s where IFS overlaps with somatic therapy, nervous system work, and trauma healing. It gives us a way in — one that doesn’t retraumatize you or keep you stuck in your head.
If you’ve already done talk therapy and still feel stuck in patterns that don’t make sense, my approach to IFS therapy might be the thing that actually helps your system feel different — not just think differently.
You don’t need to get rid of those parts. You need to earn their trust.
IFS doesn’t override anxiety, anger, or avoidance — it helps those parts feel safe enough to be seen. We let them know that they don’t have to carry the full weight anymore.
Once that starts to happen? The system gets quieter. Not because you forced it, but because those parts finally feel like someone’s listening.
This is why IFS is so effective for complex trauma, chronic survival mode, and burnout — especially in clients who’ve always been the “strong one.” If you’ve felt emotionally responsible for other people since childhood, or you’re constantly scanning your relationships for signs of threat, you’re probably not just “anxious.” Your system might still be stuck in protection mode.
IFS helps you connect with the parts keeping you stuck there — so you can actually start healing from the inside out. It’s also why I integrate it into my holistic therapy approach — because healing isn’t just mental or emotional, it’s systemic.
IFS therapy isn’t just for people who’ve been through something “big.” Most of my clients aren’t coming in after a single event — they’re dealing with years of accumulated stress, relational exhaustion, and survival patterns that no longer work.
They’re the ones who…
Many of these clients don’t describe themselves as anxious — but their nervous systems are stuck in go-mode. Anxiety therapy in Los Angeles helps address the surface-level symptoms. IFS helps you work with what’s actually driving them underneath.
IFS works especially well for high-functioning adults who’ve been stuck in hyper-independence, people-pleasing, or emotional caretaking roles for so long that they don’t even know what they need anymore. They’re not trying to “fix” themselves — they’re just tired of living on edge, in their own heads, and feeling like there’s no off switch.
For clients navigating the long-term impact of attachment wounds, family dynamics, or patterns they can’t explain with logic, parts work gives them a way to understand themselves without shaming the survival responses they’ve been living in for decades.
IFS isn’t the only thing I use in sessions — but it’s the framework that makes everything else more effective.
When we combine IFS with somatic therapy, we’re not just talking about the part — we’re feeling where it lives in your body and tracking its shifts in real time. That’s often where things click. Because the part of you that’s been overperforming or over-apologizing probably didn’t learn that strategy in a conversation. It learned it through your body, your relationships, and your nervous system.
Same with trauma. If you’re dealing with long-term activation, emotional flashbacks, or shutdown, IFS lets us work gently and precisely with the trauma response itself — not just the story around it.
And for clients who’ve been carrying complex trauma for years, C-PTSD therapy often overlaps with this work. IFS gives us a way to meet the parts that are still in survival mode without having to relive the past.
If you’ve been through therapy before and still feel like something’s stuck inside — something anxious, avoidant, reactive, or just flat-out tired — IFS therapy in Los Angeles might be what finally helps you feel different, not just think differently.
In our work together, we don’t just analyze patterns or manage symptoms. We connect with the parts of you that have been working overtime behind the scenes — and help them finally let go.
I’m Cheryl Groskopf, a dual-licensed therapist in Los Angeles who specializes in IFS therapy, nervous system work, and healing for high-functioning adults who feel stuck in survival mode.
Whether your patterns show up in anxiety, burnout, or relationships that feel one-sided, my job is to help you understand what’s actually happening underneath it — without judgment or shame.
I’ve helped hundreds of clients reconnect with the parts of themselves they’ve been at war with for years.
If you’re ready to stop analyzing and start healing from the inside out, you’re in the right place.
Nope. Most clients show up saying things like, “I don’t think I have parts,” or “I’m not sure I’m doing this right.” That’s expected. You’re not supposed to already understand your system — that’s literally what IFS therapy is for.
That’s actually a part, too — often one that’s protected you for a long time. In IFS, even “I feel nothing” is something we get curious about. It usually means a part of you learned it was safer to shut down. And when we approach that part with respect (not pressure), things start to shift.
Yes. A lot of my clients haven’t had one major trauma — but they’ve lived in burnout, people-pleasing, overfunctioning, or emotional responsibility for years. That’s chronic stress. IFS helps you finally understand what’s been driving it all underneath.
Way more common than you think. One part wants closeness, another wants to disappear. One wants to get shit done, the other wants to stay in bed. IFS doesn’t try to make them agree — it helps you build trust with each one so you stop getting yanked in every direction.
Nope. IFS is present-focused. If something from your past shows up, it’s usually through your parts — not from dragging yourself through a retelling. That’s especially helpful for people with complex PTSD or emotional neglect, where the wounds live in your body, not a story.
Somatic therapy helps you notice what’s happening in your body. IFS helps you figure out who inside you is doing it. I blend both in my work — so if somatic therapy got you part of the way, this is often the layer that makes it all click.
Totally normal to feel weird about it at first. But parts work isn’t about reciting lines — it’s about getting to know what’s already happening inside. Most people are interacting with their parts every day. IFS just helps you do it on purpose.
If you’ve got one part that wants to rest, another that panics when you do, and a third already planning next week — you’re ready. You don’t need to feel “healed.” You just need to be curious about what’s going on inside.
Virtual sessions available across California, especially for clients in LA who can’t commute!
