Our Ethos – a point of difference:
At Connection Heals we believe that an IFS therapist/practitioner must “walk the talk” of the IFS Model.
IFS is not a therapeutic modality that can be learned through theories and training alone. The cornerstone of the Model is that “The Self Heals”. For us to offer deep and lasting healing to clients we must first have offered that healing to our own system. It must be experienced from the inside out.
To this end, all of our staff have a minimum of 100 hours of their own IFS therapy, additional to the training and supervision they have undertaken in the IFS Model.
We seek to bring healing to our own parts so we can lead a truly Self-led life, both in the therapy room and in our broader lives.
Additionally, Stephanie provides consultation and additional training to all staff at Connection Heals, and all IFS practitioners on the team are expected to complete additional IFS training each year, with Lead Trainers at the IFS Institute.
We are excited to be offering this point of difference to our clients.
Stephanie
- Internal Family Systems Therapy – Level 3
- Graduate Certificate of Family Systems Therapy
- Certificate in Transactional Analysis (3 years)
Stephanie Mitchell is a Level 3 Certified IFS Therapist, psychotherapist, teacher and supervisor. She specialises in working with complex trauma and experiences which often get labelled as ‘mental illness’.
Stephanie is interested in how healing and change occur in the human to human relationship, within spaces of safety and acceptance and outside the constructs of diagnostic labels.
Stephanie’s primary focus for all therapeutic work is on creating a safe space where all parts of a person are welcomed and valued, and the pace of therapeutic exploration is set by the client.
Stephanie works from a deeply compassionate place that believes that all patterns of behaviour, thought or feeling come with important and valuable, hidden meanings, and that as the client and therapist work together to listen to the parts who hold these important and previously unknown meanings and offer them a space to be heard, witnessed and deeply understood, that deep change and inner transformation is stirred up.
Stephanie’s initial training included 3 years of advanced studies in Transactional Analysis and she has since trained in Open Dialogue, Family Systems Therapy, Person Centred Therapy and Yalom Group therapy, before moving over to working exclusively with Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). Stephanie is trained to Level 3 in the IFS Model and has undertaken extensive supervision, additional training and personal work within the Model.
Believing that a therapist can only take a client as far as they themselves have travelled Stephanie has undertaken her own long journey of healing from significant childhood trauma over many years of psychotherapy and human loving.
She states: “My healing work with an Internal Family Systems Therapy Practitioner has offered me a profoundly life changing experience – something that years of work with other therapy models has not offered me”.
Stephanie is also a passionate advocate and activist for social and systems change towards non-pathologising and compassionate approaches to mental distress and is involved at national and international levels around mental health reform.
Stephanie has over 500 hours of her own personal therapy in the IFS Model and is deeply acquainted with her own parts, embodying the model from the inside out.
Stephanie offers IFS Consultation for IFS Therapists and Practitioners who work with complex trauma, clients diagnosed with ‘psychosis’ or BPD and new IFS therapists who are seeking to gain nuanced skills in attuning to their clients in the IFS Model.
Stephanie is recognised by the IFS Institute as a Certified IFS Therapist. Most workshops offered at Connections Heals are are eligible for CEU points with IFS Institute for therapists and practitioners who are seeking certification or re-certification.
Special interests include:
- Complex Trauma
- Childhood emotional neglect
- People who get diagnosed ‘Psychotic’
- People who get diagnosed ‘BPD’
- Training and mentoring therapists
Sandy Macken
- Master of Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy (PACFA)
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 2
- Bachelor of Health Science
- Graduate Diploma in Education
Sandy is a Level 2 IFS Therapist and psychotherapist. She specialises in working with complex trauma, addictions and experiences of loss.
Sandy’s therapeutic approach is client-led, trauma-informed with appreciating the innate healing potential and capacity within each person. Sandy is interested in creating a comfortable and safe enough space where individuals can explore their inner world with curiosity, compassion, and care.
Through IFS Therapy, she helps clients cultivate a deeper connection with this healing power, fostering long-term resilience and emotional well-being.
Sandy’s Master in Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy was through the Jansen Newman Institute / Torrens University, specialising in trauma-focused therapy, before training in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy.
She has gained experience in facilitating group therapy at South Pacific Private Hospital, one of Australia’s leading co-dependency and addiction treatment centres, before moving into private practice.
Sandy continues to engage in ongoing personal IFS therapy, clinical supervision and training as part of her commitment to care of her clients.
Special interests include:
- Complex Trauma
- Addiction
- Grief and loss
Kathryn
- Bachelor of Health Science, Masters of Occupational Therapy
- Internal Family Systems Online Circle
- IFS 48 hrs Foundation Skills with Stephanie Mitchell
Kathryn Jury is an Occupational Therapist practicing in the mental health space, specialising in the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.
Upon completing her training in Occupational Therapy, Kathryn worked in both public and private psychiatric hospitals and smaller private practices. It was here she discovered her profound passion for understanding the essence of human nature, the true path to healing, and the influence of larger systems on the healing process. This curiosity propelled her into extensive training in yoga, meditation, and various spiritual practices, including six week-long silent retreats and over 500 hours of teacher training. Kathryn is an avid reader, often found engrossed in books on healing, psychology, and spirituality.
Kathryn’s spontaneous encounter with IFS with her own therapist rekindled her dedication to therapy, integrating her diverse experience and training into her work with clients. She approaches therapy with deep empathy and compassion, creating sacred spaces where there really are no bad parts.
Kathryn emphasises the inherent wisdom, value, and purpose of even the most challenging inner parts, drawing from over a decade of personal self-exploration. With an understanding of IFS, shaped by her own healing journey, Kathryn is adept at holding space for the full spectrum of human experiences, regardless of their intensity.
She has a particular interest in working with issues related to sexual assault, same-sex relationships and sexuality, matrescence and the postpartum period, childhood emotional neglect, and attachment styles.
Kathryn is inspired by IFS not only as a therapeutic model but also as a spiritual path, believing it to be a powerful bridge to our true selves. She lovingly supports her clients in accessing their authentic Self, transforming therapy into a journey of developing an integrated, lifelong relationship with who they truly are.
Kathryn has regular professional and peer supervision and undertakes ongoing training.
Special interests include:
- Issues related to Sexual Assault
- Same-sex Relationships and Sexuality
- Matrescence and the Postpartum Period
- Childhood Emotional Neglect
- Attachment Styles.
Skye
- Masters of Gestalt Psychotherapy (Gestalt Therapy Brisbane – 4 years)
- Internal Family Systems (IFSCA – 88 hours)
- Trauma Informed Sand & Symbol Therapy with Children, Adolescents & Adults (Certificate, Somatic Attachment Focused Expressive Therapies)
Skye is a psychotherapist based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW Australia. Skyes offers a highly relational approach to IFS that is grounded in neuroscience, attachment theory, polyvagal theory & mindfulness.
Trained in Gestalt therapy, Expressive Arts and Internal Family Systems therapy she offers nuanced and flexible way of working with clients.
Skye brings a warm, grounded, and intuitive presence to her work. Through her own journey with Internal Family Systems (IFS), she has come to understand the profound wisdom carried by even the most protective parts. Her personal healing journey has reawakened the importance of a spiritual life and her connection to the natural world. This reverence carries into her work, where she honours each client’s unique path and the intrinsic wisdom within their system.
Skye says: “I am a mother to six children and consider parenting a sacred and transformative path. I bring my lived experience of parenting, divorce and co-parenting alongside my own healing journey through CPTSD, depression and burnout. With warmth, curiosity and a commitment to the individual’s unique path I provide a safe, non-judgemental space for my clients to explore, understand and heal.”
Skye is actively committed to deepening her IFS practice through ongoing training, personal work, and clinical development within the model.
Special interests include:
- Complex trauma & childhood neglect
- Neurodiversity and sensitive systems
- Midlife stage and transitions
- Parenting as a portal for inner healing.
Michelle
- Internal Family Systems – Level 2
- IFS Online Circle
- IFS Skills Immersion
- Deepening Attunement in IFS
- Postgraduate Diploma in Social and Community Work
- 276 hours Gestalt Psychotherapy Group work
- 200 hours Psychodrama Training
- Mindful Somatic Approaches to Trauma training
- 300 + hours personal psychotherapy
Michelle began supporting people in 2001 as a Social Worker and Counsellor. Being a systems thinker, she was naturally drawn to Internal Family Systems. Since discovering IFS and experiencing how much she has benefited from it, she has developed a deep commitment to living this in her own life, as well as working in this modality.
Michelle believes that when we learn how to listen to ourselves and validate our own experience, everything about who we are and how we engage in the world makes sense. And when we make sense to ourselves, we can begin to make a loving home inside ourselves and with others. This has been her personal experience, and she has come to love this way of relating to herself and others.
Michelle has also found approaches such as Trauma-Sensitive Yoga, Authentic Movement, Art Therapy and Sandtray valuable. She believes everyone has their own healing path and needs to find what works for their system. Michelle has found that Internal Family Systems has the capacity to hold many of these modalities (and others) as ways to explore a person’s internal system, build internal relationships, and allow parts to express themselves in the ways that feel natural for them.
Michelle enjoys learning how different people’s internal systems work and believes in the inherent wisdom of each internal system she encounters. She sees herself as a guide in facilitating a person’s engagement with their system, unfolding as it needs to, and finds the process deeply satisfying. Michelle also very much enjoys the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist. She is guided by the desire to promote securely attached, trusting relationships. She values attuning to the client and following where their system leads. Michelle is open to feedback and values repairing any ruptures that occur between herself and her client. She knows this is important in order to create the conditions for the client to feel safe enough to be brave and true to their own system.
Special interests include:
- Childhood emotional neglect
- Relational trauma/attachment wounding
- Working relationally and relational repair
- High sensitivity
- Fear-related conditions including: agoraphobia and biphobia (fear of nature)
- Existential crisis
- Environmental concerns and concerns for animals
- Menstruality and women’s sexuality
- Parenting