Accanto Counselling

26/12/2025

24/12/2025

This Christmas, I wish you moments of gentle connection with yourself and those around you.

May you find space for ALL parts of you, including those that carry the weight of the season.

You are not alone in your journey.

Wishing you peace, self compassion, and the warmth of being seen and heard.

08/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1QnYgKxJjS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

07/12/2025

Here’s a little window of calm for you

A beautiful piece (peace!) of calm:

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/ra-ma-da-sa/1333945160?i=1333945472

06/12/2025

If you’re having a tough day today with lots of parts present, know that it is perfectly normal for parts to react to external pressure in this way. To feel conflicted.

If you can - just quietly notice each one that steps forward. Welcome it. Let it know it’s not on its own.

01/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19zrsrfg2q/?mibextid=wwXIfr

28/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bxo89bcC9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/11/2025

✨🎧 When Your Internal Family Goes 8D 🎧✨

Have you ever listened to 8D music on headphones? It's extraordinary, sound moves around you in three-dimensional space, activating parts of your brain that flat stereo never touches. Suddenly music isn't just in front of you, it's everywhere, alive, moving, dimensional.

This is what IFS can feel like.

Before parts work, our internal experience can feel flat, compressed onto a single plane. ‘I'm anxious.’ ‘I'm angry.’ ‘I'm fine.’ One dominant part drowns out everything else, and we think that's the whole story.

Then we start getting curious... 🧐

And suddenly there's ‘space’ inside us. Depth. Dimension.

That anxiety isn't just ‘anxiety,’ it's a protective part up front, trying to keep us safe. But listen closer and there's a young part way in the back, carrying old fear. And over to the side? A part that actually feels excited about the thing the anxious part is worried about. And that steady, grounded presence at the centre? That's Self, able to hear them all.

Parts that were background noise suddenly come alive:

• The creative part that's been waiting quietly for years
• The playful part that got told to ‘be serious’
• The angry part that learned it wasn't safe to speak
• The tender part that's been protecting itself by staying small

When Self is present, something magical happens:

Like that moment in 8D music when all the different layers start moving together in perfect coordination, your parts begin to dance. Not fighting for dominance, not drowning each other out, but each contributing their unique presence to the whole symphony.

The anxious part can relax a little because it knows the grounded part is there. The young part feels safe to emerge because the protective parts aren't having to work alone. The creative part gets space because the critical part isn't monopolising the soundscape.

Life stops feeling flat.

You discover you're not just one dimensional, you're actually an entire internal orchestra, and every part has something essential to contribute. Some parts need to be louder sometimes, some softer, but they're all part of the rich, spatial, alive experience of being you.

A gentle invitation:

Close your eyes for a moment. Can you sense the different parts of you? Not just the loudest one, but the whole internal landscape? What's in front? What's further back? What's been waiting to be noticed?

Your internal family is already there, already moving. IFS just helps you put on the headphones and really ‘hear’ them, in full, beautiful, dimensional sound.

28/10/2025

Where Do Your Parts Hang Out?🏠

Ever notice how some parts are ‘very’ obvious to the outside world, while others operate entirely in the privacy of your own mind?
Welcome to the wonderful chaos of your internal family's social dynamics!

‘The Extroverts’ (Everyone Sees These):

The People-Pleaser who says "Yes, of course I can help!" while the
Exhausted Part internally screams
- The Perfectionist who rewrites emails seventeen times
- The Social Butterfly who charms everyone at parties
- The Responsible One who always volunteers to organise things

‘The Introverts’ (Nobody Knows They're Here):

- The Inner Critic having a full commentary track on everything you do
- The Anxious Part catastrophising about tomorrow, next week, and 2027
- The Part That Wants to Run Away and Live in a Cottage in Scotland
- The Creative Dreamer planning novels you'll ‘definitely’ 😉 write someday

‘The Complicated Roommates’

Some parts absolutely refuse to be in the same room together. Like the:

- I Need Rest part and the
- You're So Lazy part (they do NOT get along at parties) the
- Be Vulnerable part and the
- Never Show Weakness part (awkward family dinners) the
- Treat Yourself part and the
- You Can't Afford That part (constant debates)

Here's the fascinating bit:

Parts can show up internally, externally, or both - and they're constantly negotiating who gets stage time.
Your Confident Part might show up at work while your Insecure Part provides live internal commentary.
Your Calm Part might present to the world while your Panicked Part runs around backstage with a clipboard.

Why this matters:

Understanding where and how your parts show up helps you recognise their patterns.
That way, when your Sarcastic Part makes a joke externally while your Sensitive Part cringes internally, you can acknowledge both instead of wondering why you feel so contradictory.

‘Your parts are having a full-time party in there.’
Some are mingling with the outside world, some are hiding in the kitchen, and some are arguing about whether they should even be at this party.

And that's completely normal! 🎉😆