Boundless Hope Christian Clinical Counseling

01/12/2026

Once you understand the basic framework of the Enneagram and IFS, their compatibility becomes unmistakable. The Enneagram explains why we do what we do. IFS explains who inside us is doing it. Together they allow us to see the shape of our personality and the parts within it that drive our behaviors.

Let us explore the most significant areas of overlap and how this combination can create powerful transformation.

The Enneagram reveals patterns; IFS reveals the parts within those patterns.

Each Enneagram type reflects a survival strategy. Type One learned to be good. Type Two learned to be helpful. Type Three learned to be successful. Type Four learned to be unique. And so on.

IFS would say that within each type live multiple parts working hard to maintain that strategy. For example:

A Type Six may have a vigilant part that watches for danger, a doubting part that second-guesses decisions, and a loyal part that clings tightly to trusted relationships.

A Type Two may have a pleasing part that scans for the needs of others and a fearful part that worries about losing connection.

A Type Eight may have a protective part that rises quickly with intensity and a younger vulnerable part it is guarding.

The Enneagram identifies the pattern; IFS names the team inside that pattern. Both perspectives are needed to understand the full picture.

Click below to learn more about how IFS and the Enneagram compliment each other. Reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how this therapeutic approach might benefit you.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/blog/two-paths
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/09/2026

We are delighted to introduce our 2nd new intern, Christie Rosa. Christie was born and raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, where her love for God and His people first blossomed. Christie's passion for helping, encouraging and uplifting others flows from witnessing the transformation the Holy Spirit, the ultimate Counselor and Comforter, creates in a willing heart. Over the years, she has been honored to serve in many places and in various capacities.

In Puerto Rico and Connecticut, Christie pastored youth navigating emotional distress, bicultural identity, and the tender questions that shape emerging adulthood—often sharing messages of hope through performative arts. She has walked with women rediscovering their worth during mission work in the Dominican Republic, supported military spouses carrying invisible burdens, and cultivated Hispanic discipleship groups in the state of Georgia (Salute to her Dogface soldiers!) Each story has shaped the way Christie holds space: with reverence, warmth, and deep respect.

Christie is qualified to counsel individuals facing many different circumstances. However she is most passionate about helping older teens, Spanish-speaking adults, and couples navigate life transitions, anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and the complexities of bicultural identity, especially within the Hispanic community. Christie understands the unique tension of honoring cultural roots while embracing new spaces, expectations, and identities. Her heart is to support those balancing faith, calling, family, career, and personal growth in culturally meaningful and spiritually grounded ways.

Christie strives to be a therapist who will help you feel safe enough to be honest and supported enough to grow, Reach out to partner with her and the Holy Spirit in creating an therapeutic atmosphere of safety, truth, grace, and transformation. Take a courageous step today into the life God has uniquely designed for you.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/christie-rosa-counselor
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/08/2026

Do you feel overwhelmed by expectations from family, school, faith, or yourself?

Are you unsure how to keep going without burning out?

Are you carrying anxiety, pressure, or sadness that feels hard to explain, even to the people who care about you most?

If so, one of our new interns, Kurt Robbins, would love to meet you. Kurt wants to help people find the strength within themselves to overcome even the darkest of times and the hardest of circumstances. He believes God can transform your life and offer healing in any situation. Kurt is especially passionate about coming alongside teens, young adults, and Christians who would like to integrate spiritual and psychological wisdom. Although faith shapes his values and approach to counseling, Kurt welcomes clients from all backgrounds and belief systems.

If you are someone who is unsure about the impact counseling can have in your life, we encourage you to take a step of faith and reach out for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation. Kurt would love this opportunity to learn a bit about you and share how Christian counseling can help you honor the Lord with your life and make the most out of this sacred time we get on Earth.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/kurt-robbins-counselor
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/07/2026

We have been exploring the compatible nature of the Enneagram and Internal Family Systems in a therapeutic setting. Yesterday we explained that the Enneagram is not a diagnostic tool, but rather a framework for self-awareness, motivation, and defensive patterns. Internal Family Systems is a clinically recognized, evidence-informed model that focuses on understanding and healing the parts of us shaped by trauma, attachment, and protective strategies.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) begins with a premise many people intuitively know: within every human being there are multiple parts. These parts carry different emotions, desires, beliefs, and coping strategies.

IFS helps us understand that our anger is a part. Our fear is a part. Our drive to achieve is a part. Our retreat into isolation is a part. Each part longs to protect us in the best way it knows how, even when its strategies create pain or conflict.

At the core of IFS is the belief that underneath all our parts we have something called the Self. This is the God-given center of our being characterized by calmness, clarity, courage, and compassion. The more Self-led we become, the more our parts can relax and stop carrying burdens they were never meant to hold.

Like the Enneagram, IFS understands that our inner world is shaped by both the beauty and brokenness of our stories. And like the Enneagram, it moves us toward freedom through curiosity, kindness, and personal responsibility.

Click below to learn more about how IFS and the Enneagram compliment each other. Reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how this therapeutic approach might benefit you.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/blog/two-paths
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/06/2026

The Enneagram and Internal Family Systems naturally complement one another and can be explored together in a therapeutic setting. They can both help us move toward wholeness in ways that align beautifully with a Christian view of personhood, grace, and redemption. Let's begin with a foundational understanding of the Enneagram.

The Enneagram is not as a diagnostic tool, but rather a framework for self-awareness, motivation, and defensive patterns. It can be used as a map of nine distinct patterns that help explain how different people perceive the world, navigate relationships, and respond to stress. While often misunderstood as a personality test, the Enneagram is better understood as a window into our early survival strategies.

Each of the nine types represents a core way of seeing, reacting, and protecting ourselves that was shaped in childhood. These patterns are intelligent and adaptive. They helped us make sense of a world that did not always feel safe, predictable, or attentive to our needs. Over time, these patterns became familiar and automatic.

The goal of the Enneagram is not to place people into boxes. It is to help us see the box we are already in and to offer pathways out of it. It reveals both our unconscious motivations and the higher, redeemed capacities within us.

Click below to learn more about how IFS and the Enneagram compliment each other. Reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how this therapeutic approach might benefit you.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/blog/two-paths
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/05/2026

There are moments in the healing journey when two separate paths unexpectedly converge and offer a way forward that is richer and more grounded than either path alone. For many people, discovering complimentary nature of Internal Family Systems therapy and the Enneagram is one of those moments. Each system offers a unique lens through which we can view our inner world. Together they provide clarity, compassion, and a practical road map for real, embodied change.

If you have already been exploring the Enneagram or are beginning to learn about IFS, you may sense the overlap. You might also have questions. Are they compatible? Do they contradict each other? How can these two frameworks support Christian spiritual formation without replacing it?

This week, we would like to offer an introduction to the ways the Enneagram and Internal Family Systems naturally complement one another. Both give language to the complexities inside us. Both honor the goodness of our design and the pain of our wounds. And both help us move toward wholeness in ways that align beautifully with a Christian view of person-hood, grace, and redemption.

Like the Enneagram, IFS understands that our inner world is shaped by both the beauty and brokenness of our stories. And like the Enneagram, it moves us toward freedom through curiosity, kindness, and personal responsibility.

Click below to learn more about how IFS and the Enneagram compliment each other. Reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how this therapeutic approach might benefit you.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net/blog/two-paths
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/02/2026

IFS teaches that Managers and Firefighter parts are not "bad" or "sinful" in themselves; they are trying to protect and help you. When you engage with your parts from a place of Self-leadership, something powerful happens:

Exiles feel safe, seen, and valued. Their burden of shame, grief, or fear is lightened.

Managers can relax. They don’t have to work so hard to control everything.

Firefighters don’t need to "rescue" you through avoidance or escape.

By accessing the Self, you can finally bring order and peace to your internal system. No part of you is ignored, exiled, or rejected.

At Boundless Hope, we align IFS with Christian beliefs about restoration and healing. Your internal system is not something to be "fixed" but something to be understood, healed, and taught to work together. By noticing parts that are in conflict, we help you invite God's love into your inner world and empower you to experience self-compassion, clarity, and peace. Becoming a new creation in Christ doesn't mean erasing every past experience. Instead, it means integrating your past into a new whole.

Click here to learn more about IFS and reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how it might benefit you: https://www.boundlesshope.net/internal-family-systems-therapy

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

01/01/2026

12/31/2025

Do you feel like you're often battling internally with yourself? Are you torn between conflicting desires, emotions, or thoughts? Perhaps part of you longs to be selfless like Jesus, being everything for everyone, while another part feels exhausted and resentful, longing to rest and be cared for yourself.

If this resonates, you may appreciate an Internal Family Systems (IFS) trained therapist. Yesterday we spoke about exiles, the IFS term for parts of you in pain. Being in their presence, hearing their stories, and feeling what they feel is difficult. Their pain may be so great that it feels like a threat to the survival of the whole internal family system. Protectors are the other parts of us, fighting to ensure our survival.

IFS categorizes two types of Protectors: Managers and Firefighters. The role of Managers is to prevent pain by hiding exiles away while Firefighters try to numb pain by silencing the exiles.

Managers: These parts act like "managers" trying to keep our lives orderly and in control. They often take on the role of perfectionists, people-pleasers, or inner critics, working to prevent the pain of our Exiles from resurfacing to the conscious mind. They may tell us to "get it together" or "do better," hoping to protect us from shame or failure.

Firefighters: When the pain of exiles threatens to become overwhelming or uncomfortable, our Firefighter parts jump in to help us escape discomfort. These parts may turn to distractions like overeating, overworking, mindless scrolling, or other numbing behaviors.

IFS teaches that Managers and Firefighter parts are not "bad" or "sinful" in themselves; they are trying to protect and help you. But when they operate without the guidance of your "core Self," they can cause inner conflict, self-sabotage, and distress.

Click here to learn more about IFS and reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how it might benefit you: https://www.boundlesshope.net/internal-family-systems-therapy

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

12/30/2025

Do you wonder why, even with prayer and faith, you still struggle to “act like yourself” in certain relationships or can react in ways that seem out of character? You know that your identity is in Christ but it feels like you have a whole lot of other identities jockeying to live within you.

This inner tension may feel like a sign of spiritual weakness, but what if it's not? What if, instead, your awareness of different parts of you is an invitation to deeper healing, restoration, and spiritual growth? Internal Family System (IFS) is a therapy model used by several Boundless Hope clinicians that may appeal to you. The IFS model proposes that there are two main categories of "parts" that operate within us: Exiles & Protectors.

Exiles is a term coined to give us a way of thinking about the wounded parts of us, the internal parts with the role of safeguarding our pain, trauma, and unhealed injuries of the past. They may hold feelings of shame, sadness, or rejection. IFS can help you face and embrace these parts of you. As you learn to acknowledge and listen to them with self-compassion and self-acceptance, they can begin to heal.

Click here to learn more about IFS and reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how it might benefit you: https://www.boundlesshope.net/internal-family-systems-therapy

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

12/29/2025

IFS Therapy is grounded in an analogy; your mind is like a family with different family members taking on distinct roles to contribute to the well-being of the whole family. Some family members nurture. Some bring joy and playfulness to the family. Other family members provide and protect. This paradigm is simply a way to guide you in making sense of your internal reality.

The IFS model suggests that different “parts” of you influence your future thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Your internal consciousness is the sum of many distinct memories, experiences, beliefs, emotions, and versions of yourself at different points in your development. Some parts assume the role of protecting you, while others carry pain or vulnerability. But here's the good news: at the center of it all is your "core Self"—the God-given part of you that embodies the wisdom, peace, love, and compassion of being an image bearer.

Click here to learn more about IFS and reach out today for a FREE 15-minute phone consultation to discuss how it might benefit you: https://www.boundlesshope.net/internal-family-systems-therapy

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net
inquiry@boundlesshope.net

12/26/2025

Grief, trauma, and emotional overwhelm can feel isolating, especially during the holidays. Consider the following gentle practices you can try, alone or with guidance, to integrate grief, embodiment, mindfulness, and spiritual presence:

~ Notice your body. Pay attention to tension, restlessness, or heaviness. Softening the body allows emotion to move.

~ Allow the feeling. When grief or sorrow arises, allow it to exist. You do not need to explain or fix it.

~ Breathe with intention. Slow, deep breaths signal to the nervous system that it is safe to release.

~ Use grounding techniques. Place your hands on your chest or stomach, rock gently, or feel your feet on the floor.

~ Journal or speak your truth. Speak aloud or write what you feel without editing.

~ Incorporate prayer. Invite God into your stillness. Speak from the heart. Listen. Be open to His presence.

~ Move if the body wants to move. Stretch, sway, shake, or pace. Movement helps process emotions physically.

These practices are simple, safe, and effective. They integrate spiritual, emotional, and physical healing without requiring you to be “perfect” in your faith or your process.

You do not have to navigate grief alone. At Boundless Hope we offer a range of services to support the whole person. You do not have to suppress it or pretend it does not exist. Healing begins with noticing, being present, and allowing God to meet you in your heart, mind, and body.

813-219-8844
www.boundlesshope.net
inquiry@boundlesshope.net