A collaborative counselling approach for people who feel pulled in different directions inside themselves, offered in person in Edmonton and St. Albert and virtually across Alberta. Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. Psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP). Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) are regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychological Association (CCPA). Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW). 50-minute sessions, in person or virtual across Alberta. Fee tiers from $65 to $255 per session

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You Might Be Wondering Whether Internal Family Systems Therapy Is Right for You

You may be unsure whether what you are dealing with is a real reason to book. Nothing is falling apart. You go to work, you answer messages, you get through the week. The problem is quieter than that, and quieter problems can feel harder to justify to a stranger.

You may also have read something about Internal Family Systems and found the language of "parts" a little strange. That reaction is common. It is worth separating the vocabulary from the experience underneath it, because the experience is usually familiar.

Some of what people describe when they come in:

• Arguing with yourself about the same decision for weeks and getting nowhere
• A harsh internal commentary that arrives after small mistakes and stays much longer than the mistake deserved
• Going silent in an argument, then replaying it for hours afterward and wishing you had said something
• Wanting closeness and pulling back from it at the same time, without a clear reason

These patterns usually make sense once you know what a person has lived through. They tend to be reactions that once served a purpose, not defects in character. They do not mean something is permanently wrong with you.

If you are trying to work out whether this kind of support fits your situation, reading on may help you decide. The sections below describe what this approach is, what it is not, what sessions involve, and what the research does and does not show.

Who We Help

IFS-informed counselling at Wholesome Psychology may be a reasonable fit if you are:

• Feeling torn between competing needs, values, or decisions
• Living with self-criticism or shame that has become routine
• Noticing the same emotional pattern repeat across different relationships
• Managing stress, burnout, or a life transition that has unsettled your sense of yourself
• Carrying the effects of past overwhelming experiences and wanting to work at a pace you control
• Gathering information on behalf of someone you care about

This service may not be the right fit if you are:

• In crisis or immediate danger. Scheduled counselling is not the right tool for an emergency. Please use the resources below.
• Looking for a psychological assessment or a formal diagnosis. Assessments are a separate service at Wholesome Psychology and are not included in counselling. You can review the assessment services pages if that is what you need.
• Seeking a report for a court, an insurer, an employer, or an immigration process. Therapy is not a legal or investigative service.
• Looking for medication. Psychologists and counsellors in Alberta do not prescribe. A physician or nurse practitioner handles that.

If You Need Help Right Now

Wholesome Psychology books appointments in advance and does not monitor phone or email around the clock. If you need support today, these services do.

• 911 if you or someone else is in immediate danger, or go to the nearest emergency department
• Alberta Mental Health Help Line: 1-877-303-2642, 24 hours a day
• Family Violence Info Line (Alberta): 310-1818, 24 hours a day, toll-free, if you are unsafe at home
• Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741

Wholesome Psychology is not an emergency or crisis service.

What Internal Family Systems Counselling Is

Internal Family Systems is often described as a counselling framework that treats inner experience as having more than one voice. Instead of asking you to pick a single feeling and defend it, the approach makes room for the fact that one part of you may want to leave a job while another part is frightened of what leaving would cost. The work involves noticing those positions, understanding what each is protecting, and building a clearer relationship between them.

The name causes confusion, so it is worth being plain about it. Despite the word "family," this is usually individual counselling. It is not family therapy, and it does not require anyone else to attend.

What this service is not:

• It is not a legal service, an investigation, or a source of documentation for a dispute.
• It is not a psychological assessment. Assessment is a separate service with its own process and fees.
• It is not crisis intervention.
• It is not a treatment that works the same way for everyone, and it is not the only approach available here.

The pace belongs to you. You decide what to talk about and what to leave alone, and a therapist should follow that rather than push past it. What you share stays confidential within the limits set by Alberta law, which are described in detail further down this page. Your therapist works within a defined scope of practice and will say so directly if something you need falls outside it.

Signs That Inner Conflict May Be Affecting You

These are experiences people describe, not diagnostic criteria. Recognizing yourself in a few of them does not mean you have a condition, and nothing on this page is a diagnosis.

• Feeling divided about a decision for so long that the delay becomes its own problem
• An inner voice that is harder on you than you would ever be on a friend
• Reacting far more strongly than a situation seems to call for, then not understanding why
• Shutting down or going numb in conflict, then feeling frustrated at yourself afterward
• Avoiding people, tasks, or conversations and losing time to the avoidance
• Physical signs that arrive before you notice the feeling, such as a tight chest, a clenched jaw, or trouble sleeping
• Managing well on the outside while feeling disconnected from it on the inside
• A sense that parts of your history are still shaping how you respond in the present

Distress that follows overwhelming events is recognized in international classification systems, which list post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder among conditions specifically associated with stress (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024). In Canada, post-traumatic stress disorder has been treated as a public health priority at the federal level, with an emphasis on recognition and timely access to support (Public Health Agency of Canada [PHAC], 2023). Naming a condition is a clinical process that requires assessment, and this page does not do that.

Having these experiences does not mean something is permanently wrong with you. They are common reactions to difficult circumstances, and they often shift when there is a structured place to work on them.

How Counselling Works Here

• Find your therapist. Use the Match with a Therapist tool, or read through Our Therapists to see who might suit you. If that feels like too many options, call the admin team at 780-904-4880 and they will help narrow it down.
• Book your first session. The first appointment covers consent and confidentiality, what brings you in, and what you want out of the work. You are not expected to arrive with a clear account of your history. Questions are welcome before you share anything personal.
• Build a plan together. You and your therapist agree on focus, pace, and approach. If IFS-informed work does not seem like the right fit for your goals, that gets said early and something else is suggested.
• Continue with ongoing sessions. Follow-up sessions are typically weekly or bi-weekly and are adjusted as needed. Sessions run 50 minutes.
• Review progress. Your therapist checks in on how the work is going and adjusts the plan when your needs change.

The work is collaborative and client-centred throughout. There is no fixed number of sessions. Some people come for a short, focused stretch and stop. Others stay longer. The direction of the work is a shared decision, and your view of what is helping carries weight at every stage.

Evidence and Approaches

The section below sets out what the material reviewed for this page supports and where it falls short. Where the evidence is thin, it says so.

Internal Family Systems Informed Counselling

What it helps with: Inner conflict, self-criticism, and recurring emotional reactions that feel like competing positions inside one person.

Evidence summary: The material assembled for this page held no extractable outcome data specific to Internal Family Systems, so no claim is made about how it performs against other approaches. It is best described as a framework for organizing conversation about emotions, reactions, and inner conflict.

Limitations: Because that evidence is limited, IFS-informed work is offered as one option among several rather than as a recommended treatment for any diagnosed condition.

Trauma-Focused Psychological Therapies

What it helps with: Distress that follows overwhelming events, including intrusive memories, avoidance, and being constantly on alert.

Evidence summary: Clinical guidance on post-traumatic stress disorder recommends trauma-focused psychological therapy, naming trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) among supported options delivered by trained, supervised practitioners (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2018). Internal Family Systems is not named among the recommended interventions in the guidance reviewed here.

Limitations: These recommendations apply to people assessed as having post-traumatic stress disorder, and this page does not assess or diagnose. Individual response varies.

Wholesome Psychology lists trauma therapy and EMDR therapy as separate services.

Family and Systemic Therapy Approaches

What it helps with: Strain between family members, repeating conflict cycles, and situations where one person's difficulties affect everyone in the household.

Evidence summary: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) describes family therapy as a form of group psychotherapy focused on communication and interaction between family members, and notes it may help when families face illness, substance use, unemployment, separation, trauma, or grief (CAMH, n.d.). CAMH also notes it draws on several methods, including cognitive behavioural therapy.

Limitations: Family therapy involves the actual people in your life and is a different service from IFS, which is usually individual work. Availability depends on clinician training and scheduling.

What Results to Expect

Progress in counselling is rarely a straight line. People often report a stretch of relief, then a harder few weeks, then another shift. That pattern is normal and does not mean the work has stopped being useful.

Some people find relief from just 2-3 sessions, particularly when the focus is narrow and practical. Others work over a longer period, especially when the difficulties are long-standing or connected to earlier experiences. Neither timeline is a sign of doing therapy correctly or incorrectly.

Several things influence how the work goes:

• What you have been through and how recent it is
• What is happening in your life right now, including safety, housing, money, and support
• How well you and your therapist work together
• How much room you have to reflect between sessions

No therapy guarantees an outcome, and any clinician who promises one is overstating what is known. If the fit is not right, you can change therapists or change approach at any point. That is a normal request, not an awkward one, and the admin team handles it routinely.

Confidentiality and Privacy

What you say in session is confidential. Your therapist does not discuss it with your family, your employer, or your doctor without your written consent.

Several layers of regulation sit behind that. Psychologists at Wholesome Psychology are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), which sets standards of practice and handles complaints. Practice is also guided by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Code of Ethics. Your records are handled under Alberta's Health Information Act (HIA) and Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which govern how health and personal information is collected, stored, used, and disclosed.

Confidentiality has limits, and these are set by law rather than by clinic preference. A therapist may need to disclose information when:

• There is a risk of serious harm to you or to someone else
• There is reason to suspect a child is being abused or neglected, which carries a mandatory reporting duty under Alberta law
• A court orders the release of records

Your clinician will explain these limits in the first session, before you are asked to share anything personal. If you want to understand exactly how a limit would apply to your situation, you can ask first and decide afterward how much you want to say.

Common Questions

Do I have to describe what happened in detail?

No. You set the level of detail and you can change your mind partway through a session. A good deal of useful work happens in the present tense, looking at how you react now rather than reconstructing events from years ago. Some people never give a full account of their history and still find the work worthwhile. If a therapist pushes for detail you have not offered, you can say so, and that is reasonable feedback rather than a complaint.

Is what I share kept private?

Yes, within limits that are set by Alberta law. Your therapist cannot release information without your consent except where there is a risk of serious harm, where a child may be at risk of abuse or neglect, or where a court orders it. These limits are explained in the first session before you share anything personal. The confidentiality section above sets out the legislation and regulatory bodies involved.

How many sessions will I need?

There is no fixed answer, and anyone who gives you a firm number before meeting you is guessing. Some people work through a specific concern in a short stretch of sessions. Others prefer ongoing work over a longer period. Your therapist reviews progress with you regularly, and the plan changes when your needs change.

What if the therapist is not the right fit?

Fit matters more than most people expect, and it is not a reflection on you or the clinician when it is missing. Tell your therapist or call the admin team at 780-904-4880, and they will help you move to someone else. Nobody has to justify the request. New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Can I attend sessions online?

Yes. Virtual sessions are available across Alberta and are held over a secure platform. The same confidentiality standards and the same legislation apply. Some people prefer virtual sessions because they can attend from a room where they feel settled, and others find in person easier to concentrate in. You can switch between the two.

Is Internal Family Systems the same as family therapy?

No, and the name is genuinely misleading. IFS-informed counselling is usually individual work about a person's internal experience. Family therapy involves the actual people in your family and focuses on communication and interaction between them (CAMH, n.d.). If what you want is work with your family members present, say so when you book, because that is a different service.

What if I am still in an unsafe situation?

Counselling can help, but safety comes first, and a weekly appointment is not a safety plan on its own. The Family Violence Info Line at 310-1818 is available 24 hours a day and can connect you with shelter, legal, and financial supports in Alberta. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If it is safer to speak with a therapist virtually than to attend a clinic in person, that option exists.

Meet Your Clinicians

Wholesome Psychology's team includes Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. All psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP). Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) are regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychological Association (CCPA). Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW). Registered Provisional Psychologists practise under the supervision of a senior registered psychologist.

Clinicians differ in their training, and many have background in trauma-informed practice, family and relationship work, and approaches used for inner conflict and self-criticism. Whether a particular clinician works in an IFS-informed way varies, so it is worth asking when you book.

You can read individual profiles on Our Therapists, use the Match with a Therapist tool, or read more About Us and Our Unique Approach. The admin team at 780-904-4880 can also talk through the options with you.

Children and Youth

Wholesome Psychology offers counselling for children, adolescents, and young people. Therapists working with younger clients adapt their methods to the child's age and stage of development, which often means less talking and more play, drawing, or activity-based work.

Clinicians also work with caregivers, since a child's recovery depends heavily on the environment around them. That may involve sessions with parents, guidance on how to respond to specific behaviours at home, or coordination with school where a family wants it.

You can read more on the Child and Youth counselling page, or the Child and Youth Stress and Trauma page if that is closer to your situation.

Getting Started

If this seems worth exploring, there are a few ways in:

• Book a session online
• Match with a therapist if you would rather be pointed toward someone
• Call 780-904-4880 to talk it through with the admin team
• Email info@wholesomepsychology.ca
• Read Getting Started with Therapy for what the process looks like

New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Starting the conversation is enough.

References

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (n.d.). Family therapy. Retrieved July 25, 2026, from https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/family-therapy
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder https://www.nice.org.uk/
• Public Health Agency of Canada. (2023). Federal framework on posttraumatic stress disorder: Recognition, collaboration and support. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/federal-framework-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html
• World Health Organization. (2024). ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics (Version 2024-01).