Natasha Wilson IFS & IFIO Therapist, UKCP Psychotherapist
Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Natasha Wilson IFS & IFIO Therapist, UKCP Psychotherapist, Mental Health Service, Stroud.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) for individuals & groups, IFIO & RLT with couples and open IFS community Healing Circles online and in Cirencester, Cheltenham and Stroud, Gloucestershire
15/04/2026
Stroud this morning. Beautifully held by Lou Perkins, meditation with Anna Knight, parts mapping and sharing with Paul D***s, a sculpt with Jeremy Knowles, and small group sharing with me. Lots of wonderful attendees too!
At the close, people offered:
Grateful. Trusting. Connected. Betterer. Floppy. Deep. Speechless. Buzzy. Sorted. Surprised. Grounded. Soft. Curious. Spaciousness.
Betterer. š„¹ That one says it all really.
This is IFS in community. Just parts, Self, and a room full of people sharing Self Energy together.
Next up online circle, the only requirement is that you currently live in the UK/Ireland. Same depth, different living room. IFS 101.
All welcome. No experience of IFS needed just curiosity.
Come as you are. All parts welcome.
13/04/2026
A trailhead is following something ā¦. a thought, a feeling, a body sensation, an impulse.
An invitation to get curious. To find the part, focus on it, flesh it out. To notice how you feel towards it. To befriend it and to ask the part .. what would happen if it stopped doing its job?
This weekās part is the one that has been up since 5am reorganising the kitchen. The one that is, for the record, āabsolutely fineā š«£. Never needs anything. A very self-sufficient, independent part ā protecting the one who once needed something and was met with nothing, and was shamed for needing. That part learned early that needing people wasnāt safe.
Self energy doesnāt challenge it. Self energy just stays. Gets curious. Friendly. Asks what it would be worried about if it did ask for helpā¦ waitsā¦ with genuine, unhurried presence.
Not fixing. Not analysing.
Not really following the trailhead of the 6 Fās on this occasion ā¦ more going with the flow, intuitively connecting with whatās needed in the moment.
āIām not going anywhere.ā
Being right there with the one who was always very, very self-sufficient.
12/04/2026
Sunday musings. I just had a āthingā with someone on their post. Do you know the thing?
Someone on social media described a well-known trauma therapist as an IFS therapist. I couldnāt let it sit. The therapist is brilliant. Their work is extraordinary, really helpful to me and many many other people.. and they have a good collegial relationship with Dick Schwartzā¦ but theyāve never undertaken the IFS trainings. They talk about how wonderful IFS is but they have a different lens. So I replied to this personās comment to this effect. It didnāt land well and the other person came back with a load of words defending the therapist.
Nooo š«£ Ah! i see.. once again.. this is an example of my information integrity drive. My correction impulse. My AuDHD pro-social truth-telling.
I had wanted to be clear, kind and relational and (it took me a while to know the difference in me) itās not about being right. I have parts that like to be right (oh yes!). This isnāt that. Itās not about embarrassing or shaming anyone. I so believe we all do better when weāre working from accurate information, when things are clear. It comes from care, not competition.. really for me it does! However it also gets painful when the inaccuracy touches something for someone else and they donāt think Iām making a small factual clarification, instead they see Iām dismantling something or criticising them. So Iām perceived as difficult, intense, too much, too pedantic. As someone who canāt just let it go. I used to get misunderstood around this a lot and it still happens
The painful irony is that my intention is very much relational. Iām trying to make sure weāre all working from something solid and it comes from integrity. However the impact reads as attack and as one-upmanship and not being a team player. (Yes I have those parts too. I can be grandiose and superior and also withdraw and do things on my own. This isnāt that ).
When someone defends rather than receives.. especially when I know my heart was in the right place.. thereās a particular kind of loneliness in that for me. A ābut nooo youāve got me completely wrongā feeling which coincides with my rejection sensitivity (again my wiring, I also have tender ones who experienced abandonment as a child and have as an adult felt rejection)
Iāve lived with this my whole life. Long before I had the words AuDHD for it.
My mum had the same wiring. Undiagnosed and without any of the language I have now. In her later years the justice sensitivity consumed her and she could get stuck on perceived injustices for years, turning them over and over with nowhere to put them. Add in rejection sensitivity and itās horrific. Wiringis highly inheritable I understand it differently now than I did then.
Thereās a term for it: justice sensitivity, alongside information integrity drive. The AuDHD nervous system experiences unfairness, dishonesty, or integrity violations as a threat and when it canāt be fixed when the misrepresentation goes unchallenged, when bad behaviour faces no consequences then my nervous system just keeps the file open and I circle round and loop. Returning. Unable to close it. Rumination. Close to OCDā¦ a mixture of wiring and parts.
So at home with a man I love.. genuinely, heās wonderful.. who has a fun habit of renaming things deliberately for the enjoyment of it. Somewhere in my nervous system a small alarm goes off. My information integrity drive does not care that itās a joke. It just knows that is not the word. Itās not right! We have a little relational tug of war around this. He knows. I know. We navigate it with love and an intention to meet this with curiosity, connection as our wiring clashes in this area, a double empathy moment to be navigated.
I look in the mirror. Iām not easy to live with! I know Iām a lot. Living with me requires patience, flexibility, and a fairly robust sense of self (and Self energy!). I correct things. I notice details . I will gently, warmly, persistently make sure the record is straight. On a bad day I can speak more sharply, I can say things directly without pausing to consider the impact and my words or tone can land badly for the other. Not my intention but Iām working on being more relational on a daily basis.
This is parts work in real life. Noticing the impulse. Understanding where it comes from. Choosing ..consciously, effortfully .. what to do with it.
The justice sensitivity is also a gift. People with a finely tuned radar for wrongness are often the ones who speak up when others stay quiet. Who notice when somethingās off in a system. Who can be trusted to tell the truth. Advocates for others too.
Where Iāve got to today is that this gift isnāt to be switched off but for me learning to be relational with it. Sometimes the correction needs to happen and risk that it wonāt land as intended but itās out there.. and sometimes love is letting the renamed thing stay renamed, or the error stay as it is.
Does your justice sensitivity and drive for information integrity and truth get you into trouble? Iād love to know your version š§”
Edit: The person I referenced in the opening of this post has since come back to me directly and pointed out that I misrepresented their response. They were gracious, not defensive. I read them through my own activated lens and got it wrong. Painfully ironic given what this post is about. Iām sorry, both publicly and personally š§”
11/04/2026
Cheltenham this morning. š. A somatic sculpt. An embodied IFS meditation. Parts mapping. Sharing that was vulnerable, authentic and heartfelt.
At the close, people offered:
Magic. Mystery. Compassionately curious. Touched on my grief Iām tending. Self connection. More centred. Content.
Held by Annie Anderton, Lorraine Sela and me .. three therapists giving their Saturday morning in service to community. If youād like to work with Lorraine one to one, she has a few spaces available: lorraineifs.co.uk
Donations this morning go to the CCP Pantry. š
If todayās words are landing ā come to Stroud on Wednesday.
š The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud
š Wednesday 15th April, 9.30ā11.30
IFS 101 with Jeremy Knowles, Anna Knight, Paul D***s, Julie Bullock, Louise Perkins, Karen Maxwell and me.
A couple of things to know: please arrive a few minutes early as we close the doors on time, and parking is at Church Street, a short walk away. Suggested donation Ā£10 for room hire and to The Long Table Stroud. All welcome.
This mornings IFS Circle in Cirencester. New faces and familiar ones. Ā£40 to Cirencester Signpost. š
We always end with a go round .. just a word or a phrase, whateverās true. Today people shared:
Deeply grateful. Warmth. Aliveness. More present than when I arrived. Moved from being scared to a place I can be accepted in. Heart opening. Coming back to Self after a period of scatter and disconnectā¦
This is why we do it š§”š. Held by Karen Maxwell and me.. If youād like to work with Karen one to one, she has space online and in Stroud: inner-temple.com
If todayās post is landing somewhere in you and youāre in Gloucestershire please do come and experience our community for yourself. Weāre in Cheltenham tomorrow.
š CCP, 340 High Street
š Saturday 11th April, 10ā12
IFS 101 with Annie Anderton, Lorraine Sela, Nikki Stait and me. All welcome. Suggested donation Ā£10 to the CCP Pantry.
Easter holiday reading and itās a good pile š§”
IFS for OCD by Melissa Mose has stopped me in my tracks. Iāve done some of Melissaās courses and consultation and theyāre sooo good. As someone who is AuDHD with recovering CPTSD and OCD and who had an intense, horrendous bout of OCD in my late 30s ā¦this is the book I wish had existed then. Years of recovery for me.
Self-led ERP. IFS meets evidence-based OCD treatment. Healing relationships with the parts driving obsessions and compulsions. Dick Schwartz calls it a breakthrough and Iām inclined to agree, Iāve been working with OCD and this is going to be extra support. Half way through the book and i have to remind myself to have breaks š
Also in the pile: Explaining AuDHD (ooh some good stuff here) and Wired to Feel (Sarah Bergenfield and Martha Sweezy) though Iāll admit Iām sitting with some questions about some of the content. Sarah Bergenfield suggests the Self of an autistic person is autistic. I differ. I know some others who do too. A distinct āautistic brainā ? Really? Surely .. brains are shaped by development, experience, and adaptation, neuroplasticity means nothing is static, and the differences identified in autism overlap considerably with other diagnostic groupsā¦ like mine! The science is still developing, the variability within autistic people is wide, and locating difference in a fixed brain type risks obscuring that.
Dick Schwartz and Frank Andersonsā framing of a transcendent Self resonates more with me. My system is different I totally agree. But Self? Iām not convinced that changes.
Iām not claiming one correct view I just appreciate complexity and critique, and recognition that weāre all still working this out and I love puzzles.
What are you reading this Easter? Iād love to hear š
09/04/2026
Something quiet and profound happens on Saturday mornings when a group of us gather at CCP in Cheltenham. We slow down. We turn inward. No performance required.
No need to have heard of IFS before. IFS.. Internal Family Systems .. is a way of understanding yourself through the idea that weāre all made up of different parts. The one thatās always braced for something to go wrong. The part that works itself to the bone. The one that checks out when things get too much. The people-pleaser. The inner critic who never quite lets you rest.
In these circles, we welcome all of them.
Hereās what we actually do: a short meditation, creative parts mapping, a sculpt (think gentle, embodied, nothing scary), and space to share and listen. The whole thing is held in what IFS calls Self energy ā warmth, curiosity, no agenda.
Lorraine Sela, Annie Anderton, Nikki Stait and I are all IFS or IFS-informed therapists giving our time freely. This is community, not clinic. (Kirsty weāll miss you!)
If your brain works a bit differently .. if therapy has never quite landed for you .. IFS has a way of making sense of things that other frameworks donāt always reach. Youāre not broken. Youāre parts-y. Thereās a difference.
New faces very welcome. Regulars going deeper. Back to basics this month .. parts, Self, U-turns, polarisations.
Donations go directly to the CCP Pantry. Suggested Ā£10 cash.
š CCP, 340 High Street, Cheltenham
š Saturday 11th April
The UK government has just published its interim report on rising mental health conditions, ADHD and autism. Interesting read and as a therapist and identifying as Audhd I have thoughts.
In my view itās somewhat better than I expected. They admit the system is broken. They admit services are failing people. And the data is striking:
š Children waiting for ADHD assessment: 21,000 in 2019 ā 270,000 by end of 2025
š ADHD diagnoses in women aged 20ā24: doubled post-pandemic
š Self-reported autism: up 180% since 2018
the surge is disproportionately female which lots of us have been saying for years. Women and girls were always this quietly and not so quietly distressed and neurodivergent. The diagnostic criteria were just built around male presentations. What weāre seeing isnāt an epidemic, as we know itās a correction. Decades of structural misrecognition, finally catching up, finally.
The report calls it āimproved recognition of previously unmet need.ā Er yes. we were always here.
As a relational therapist, this is the water my clients swim in every week. Partners complaining of the other who is being ādifficult.ā Maybe thatās actually double empathy and miscommunication, not knowing how to slow down and connect with a different way of thinking and being in the world. People whose protective parts have been shaped by years of being told they were too much. The relational damage of misdiagnosis (or no diagnosis) accumulates
The reportās direction of travel is spot on .. there needs to be a big uptick in support that doesnāt require waiting years for a formal diagnosis. Thatās what good therapy already does but ideally we need freely available support. Therapy is expensive. Clearly the report doesnāt name patriarchy. Or racism. Or housing insecurity. The structural stuff that sits underneath all those rising numbers and the struggle to get support.
Final report with recommendations due later in 2026. Letās look out for that.
š Full report here: :https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69cbdb2369dd81b3f213c660/independent-review-into-mental-health-conditions-ADHD-and-autism-interim-report.pdf
07/04/2026
IFS Circles across Gloucestershire and online!
Whether youāre brand new to Internal Family Systems or youāve been on this journey for a while, thereās a circle with your name on it this April. š
Each gathering includes an IFS meditation, creative parts mapping, a sculpt, and space to share and listen .. all held in the warm glow of Self energy. šÆļø
These circles are run by a beautiful team of IFS and IFS-informed therapist volunteers, giving their time and expertise in service to the community. They run on a donations basis every contribution goes straight back into something meaningful:
Stroud circles ā donations cover room hire, with the rest going to The Long Table Stroud
Cheltenham ā donations go into the CCP Charity tin for the pantry. Cirencester ā after room hire, donations support Cirencester Signpost
APRIL DATES
š Cirencester ā Friday 10th April, 10.30ā12.30am | The Bothy Ashcroft Road.
š Cheltenham ā Saturday 11th April | CCP 340 High Street
š Stroud ā Wednesday 15th April, 9.30ā11.30am. The Exchange Brick Row
š Stroud ā Saturday 25th April, 10.30ā12.30pm. The Exchange Brick Row
This month weāre returning to basics with IFS 101 exploring parts and Self, practising U-turns when weāre triggered, welcoming new faces, and supporting regulars to go deeper.
Also this month:
š Relational Maps available
š Teaching blogs continuing on socials
šµ The IFS Round Table is making its return!
Come as you are. Bring your parts. š
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07/04/2026
Something a bit different is happening in Cirencester on Friday 10th April.
A small group of us gather, slow down, and turn inward. No performance required. No need to have heard of IFS before.
IFS.. Internal Family Systems .. is a way of understanding yourself through the idea that weāre all made up of different parts. The anxious part. The critic. The one that shuts down in meetings. The people-pleaser. The part that just wants everyone to be okay.
In these circles we welcome all of them.
Hereās what we actually do: a short meditation, creative parts mapping, a sculpt (think gentle, embodied, nothing scary), and space to share and listen. The whole thing is held in what IFS calls Self energy: warmth, curiosity, no agenda.
Karen Maxwell, Amy Matthews and I are all IFS or IFS-informed therapists, and we give our time freely. This is community, not clinic.
If your brain works a bit differently ..if youāve ever felt like therapy never quite got you .. IFS has a way of making sense of things. Youāre not broken. Youāre parts-y. Thereās a difference.
New faces very welcome. Regulars going deeper. Back to basics this month.. parts, Self, U-turns, polarisations.
Donations go to Cirencester Signpost after room hire. Suggested Ā£10 cash.
š The Bothy, Ashcroft Road, Cirencester
š Friday 10th April, 10.30ā12.30
This month Iām returning to the essentials ā IFS 101.
Parts and Self. Back to basics.
In this first video: a Manager, a Firefighter, and Self sitting down together at my āinnerā kitchen table.
The Manager has a spreadsheet ready. The Firefighter has already texted three people.
Theyāve both been at this since they were about seven years old .. polarising, pushing against each other, exhausted .. each one trying to protect the same small tender thing underneath.
Self shows up all warm and curious. Not to fix them. Not to take sides. Just to ask: how long have you been doing this?
Thatās IFS. No bad parts. Just parts that never got to rest.
05/04/2026
We are not one thing. We are each a whole inner community.. with each part trying to keep us safe in their own way. No bad parts. Just parts that learned to protect us in conditions that were often hard. This is IFS š§”
this month we're going back to the essentials, for those who are brand new in our outer community and for those who want to go deeper who come to the IFS Circles or follow online.
Iāve written a quick intro to IFS on my website, covering the basic assumptions of the model, the protective parts, exiles and Self. find it here: https://www.stroudtherapy.com/news/meet-your-meet-your-inner-team-introduction-to-ifs
Video drops Easter Monday. šæ
Which part do you recognise most in yourself right now? Invitation to share below.
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Hi, I'm Natasha. I am an accredited UKCP psychotherapist offering Internal Family Systems therapy as this has been my focus and particular passion over recent years If you've ever said 'a part of me feels X, and another part feels Y' you'll get this type of therapy. The aim is to meet your voices/parts and your deeper Self, with the idea of bringing the whole into harmony. It's creative, sometimes fun, really interesting, deep, healing and proven to work. I work with a wide range of people and I have considerable experience working with anxiety, panic and depression, trauma, ME/CFS, relationship issues and addiction. I am friendly and not afraid to delve into dark places. In IFS my role is to be a facilitator/friendly guide as you get to know your 'internal system' and help you ask the questions which lead to system changes, unburdening and healing.
Our initial meeting is mainly to see how we get on, to answer any questions you might have and to maybe start 'part detection' (where we begin to notice the different voices inside, what they have to say, what their roles are...). Generally I then work with clients weekly, in full hour sessions, but some clients work better less frequently or even just when they get stuck or want to āunburdenā exiles!
Iāve recently trained to facilitate something called the Safe and Sound Protocol. This is different to neurofeedback (which I also do), in that its all about training the middle ear muscle to pick up a feeling of safety and to learn to coregulate. The Safe and Sound Protocol is a research-based intervention that has given significant results in reducing stress and anxiety and improving the well-being of people of all ages. Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a five hour auditory intervention designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience. Based on Dr. Porgesā Polyvagal Theory, by calming the physiological and emotional state, the door is opened for improved communication and more successful therapy. It works using an App and headphones, and having a trusted other to help the coregulation. Lets have a chat about it if youāre interested!
Presently I work with clients using Skype and Zoom or on the phone.
My practice is centrally located in Stroud, near the library. Please note I have no disabled access, the practice is in a private home and there are pets who live on the property. I am less than 5 minutes to the train and bus stations.
Do give me a ring or send me a message to start your IFS journey or youād like to discuss taking the Safe and Sound Protocol. I hope youāll be as fascinated in your journey as I was in mine!
My usual fee is Ā£50 a session online or face to face in Stroud. The Safe and Sound Protocol is Ā£250 which includes an initial consultation and then considerable support during the 5 hours of the Protocol (this is often divided into smaller chunks)
