- Individual sessions
- Online worldwide & in person in the Netherlands
- IFS Level II therapist
Internal Family Systems Therapy & Coaching
Understanding yourself from the Inside Out
You know the feeling
A part of you wants to move forward and another part hesitates.
You understand, intellectually, what would help and still something in you resists. This is not weakness or contradiction. It is simply part of being human.
Most of us carry different inner parts. Parts that protect, strive, avoid, doubt or quietly hold emotions beneath the surface.
What often looks like procrastination, overthinking, emotional reactivity or self-sabotage begins to make sense once you understand what is happening underneath it.
Internal Family Systems offers a different way of relating to yourself.
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
A simple way to understand your inner world.
IFS is a therapeutic model developed by psychologist Dr. Richard Schwartz. It is based on the understanding that we all contain different inner parts. Each with its own feelings, perspective and way of trying to help.
Rather than trying to eliminate these parts, IFS helps you build a different relationship with them.
At the center of the work is what IFS calls the Self. A calm, compassionate and grounded presence within you that is capable of leading your inner system with more clarity and care.
A method that works with who you actually are
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is currently the fastest-growing psychotherapeutic method in the world. Developed by psychologist Dr. Richard Schwartz, it works with the understanding that we carry many inner parts — each with its own perspective, history and intention.
The aim is not to silence these parts, but to understand them and bring them into a more balanced relationship with the Self.
IFS is recognised as an evidence-based approach, used in both therapy and coaching worldwide.
APPLICATIONS
Where IFS can support Change
Personal Therapy and Development
For those who want to understand their inner world more fully. We work with parts that protect, parts that carry older emotions or experiences, and the relationship between them.
This is careful, layered work — not oriented toward quick solutions, but toward a deeper and more honest relationship with yourself.
Sessions follow your pace and your process. We may work with a feeling that keeps returning, a pattern in relationships, a reaction you do not fully understand, or an older experience that still shapes how you move through life. What emerges tends to be both illuminating and grounding — and rarely what you expected at the start.
Coaching and Professional Development
IFS is equally valuable outside a clinical context. When something keeps holding you back professionally — in decisions, in collaboration, in how you navigate pressure or conflict — there is often an inner dynamic at play. Naming and understanding that dynamic changes how you respond.
For those who want to understand their inner world more fully. We work with parts that protect, parts that carry older emotions or experiences, and the relationship between them.
This is careful, layered work — not oriented toward quick solutions, but toward a deeper and more honest relationship with yourself.
Leadership Development
Leaders are trained to manage outward — strategy, teams, results. The inner landscape receives far less attention, yet it shapes everything.
IFS offers a precise and practical way to develop what might be called inner authority: the capacity to lead from a place of groundedness rather than from reactive patterns or old beliefs.
How do you respond under pressure? What happens inside you when you carry responsibility for others, or when your values come into tension with what is expected of you?
IFS makes those inner movements visible and workable. This tends to shift things that years of more cognitive or competency-based approaches have not. Many leaders describe it as the first time they have worked on the source of a pattern, rather than its surface.
1
The first session
We begin with a conversation. You share what brings you here, what you notice, what feels difficult, and what you are hoping for. Together we begin to understand your inner landscape and where a natural starting point may be.
There is no fixed agenda. The first session is about orientation, contact and the beginning of a working relationship — which forms the foundation for everything that follows.
2
In the sessions that follow
Each session begins from where you are in that moment. Sometimes we work directly with a part that is present — a feeling, reaction or recurring pattern. Sometimes we slow down and simply notice what is happening internally before trying to change anything.
The work can be short-term or longer-term, depending on your needs and what unfolds over time. I work at your pace. The direction follows you, not a predetermined structure.
3
Between sessions — a written reflection
After each session, you receive a personal written reflection.
Not a transcript, but a thoughtful summary of what emerged, what I noticed, and possible threads to stay connected to in the days that follow. This supports integration and continuity between sessions, and gives you something to return to in your own time.
any clients describe this as one of the most valuable aspects of the work — and it is something most therapists and coaches do not offer.
THE WORK
What makes my approach different
01 Written reflection after every session
After each session you receive a personal written reflection — a thoughtful summary of what emerged and what may continue unfolding in the coming days. It supports continuity, integration and deeper reflection between sessions.
02 Therapy and coaching, integrated
IFS works equally well in both therapeutic and coaching contexts. Depending on what you bring, we may work with emotional depth, practical direction or both at the same time.
There is no need to choose between insight and movement
03 Level II trained IFS therapist
I have completed Level II training in Internal Family Systems. This allows the work to move beyond introductory application into more layered inner systems and deeper protective structures — held with care, experience and grounding.
04 30+ years of experience
My work is rooted in decades of experience across psychology, organisational development and personal transformation.
That breadth shapes how I listen, what I notice and how I stay present with complexity.
05 Integrative by nature
IFS does not stand alone in my work. Where relevant, I integrate mindfulness, somatic awareness, nervous system regulation and other psychological approaches.
The work is relational, psychological and embodied — always shaped around the person in front of me.
THE WORK
What makes my approach different
01
A SINGLE SESSSION
A good starting point if you want to experience what IFS work feels like, or if there is a specific theme you want to explore.
02
A FOCUSED TRAJECTORY
(4–6 sessions)
A focused process around a particular question, pattern or transition — with enough space to go deeper without requiring a long-term commitment.
03
AN ONGOING TRAJECTORY
For those who want to work more gradually and thoroughly over time. The pace and duration follow your process.
Not sure where to begin?
A discovery call is a relaxed and no-obligation conversation to explore what might fit your situation best.
APPLICATIONS
Naomi Stubbé
PSYCHOLOGIST, IFS THERAPIST, COACH, AUTHOR
I am a psychologist, IFS therapist, coach and author with more than thirty years of experience supporting professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders in their personal and professional growth.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) has become one of the most transformative approaches in my work. By helping people develop a compassionate relationship with their inner world, I support them in understanding protective patterns, healing emotional wounds and reconnecting with their authentic Self.
I work in both Dutch and English, online worldwide and in person in the Netherlands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a non-pathologising, experiential psychotherapy model based on the multiplicity of the mind: the understanding that the mind is naturally made up of different inner parts rather than one single voice. Each part has its own feelings, beliefs and role, and many developed to protect you. IFS does not label or try to eliminate these parts. Instead, it helps you understand them and relate to them from your core Self, with greater calm, curiosity, clarity and compassion.
Is IFS therapy evidence-based?
Yes. In 2015, Internal Family Systems was formally recognised as an evidence-based practice by SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. An independent review rated IFS effective for improving general functioning and well-being, and promising for anxiety, depression, physical health conditions and personal resilience. More recent studies have reported encouraging findings for PTSD, chronic pain and self-compassion, although further large-scale research is still needed for specific clinical conditions. Beyond mental health treatment, IFS is also widely used for personal development, coaching, relationships and leadership, helping people understand protective patterns and develop greater self-awareness, inner balance and Self-leadership.
How widely is Internal Family Systems (IFS) used internationally?
IFS is one of the fastest-growing psychotherapy models today. It is practised by an expanding international community of psychologists, therapists, coaches and other professionals, supported by a growing network of official IFS training organisations across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
How is IFS different from traditional talk therapy?
While much traditional talk therapy explores experiences through conversation and analysis IFS uses conversation but is primarily experiential and non-pathologising. Rather than treating inner conflict, self-criticism or emotional reactivity simply as problems to eliminate, it explores the protective parts behind these patterns with curiosity and compassion. You turn inward, unblend from a part and relate to it from Self. Protectors are listened to rather than confronted or bypassed. With their permission, the work may reach a vulnerable exile carrying pain or limiting beliefs from the past. As the exile is witnessed and unburdened, protectors can relax their extreme strategies and take on new roles, creating lasting change within the inner system.
Do sessions happen online or in person?
Both. Naomi Christina offers individual IFS therapy and coaching online to clients worldwide and in person at her private practice in the Netherlands, approximately 25 kilometres from Amsterdam. Sessions are offered in English and Dutch.
Who is IFS therapy for?
IFS therapy can support people experiencing inner conflict, self-criticism, perfectionism, emotional reactivity, decision-making blocks, recurring relationship patterns or the effects of trauma. Naomi works particularly with professionals, entrepreneurs and individuals who may function well outwardly but feel blocked internally, as well as those seeking deeper self-understanding, personal growth and greater Self-leadership.