Clinical Development Team
Guided by Clinical Wisdom,
Built with Care
Every feature in Parts Companion is shaped by the expertise of IFS™ Lead Trainers, Approved Clinical Consultants, certified therapists, and dedicated practitioners. Their collective wisdom ensures our AI serves the model with integrity.
20+
Clinicians & practitioners
5
IFS™ Lead Trainers
6
IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultants
12+
Published books on IFS™
Culturally Attuned Clinical Guidance
Our clinical team brings deep expertise in cultural responsiveness across underserved communities, ensuring Parts Companion serves all practitioners and clients with care.
🏳️🌈LGBTQ+ Attunement
🌍BIPOC Cultural Competency
🧠Neurodiversity Awareness
🌏International & Cross-Cultural IFS™
Joining the Team
Welcome Our Newest Members
We're thrilled to welcome these distinguished clinicians and thought leaders to the Parts Companion clinical development team.
Michelle Glass
Certified IFS™ Practitioner, Level 3
Creator of Daily Parts Meditation Practice® and author of the book by the same name, which provides a comprehensive framework for between session work for both clients and professionals. She's been imprinted upon by IFS founder Richard Schwartz with over 380 direct learning hours.
Michelle's Website →
Jay Earley, PhD
Psychologist & IFS™ Author
Author of the Self-Therapy series and Freedom from Your Inner Critic. Licensed psychologist and psychotherapist since 1973, Jay pioneered making IFS™ accessible to the general public for self-guided work.
Jay's Website →
Tamala Floyd, LCSW
IFS™ Lead Trainer & Consultant
The first Black IFS™ Lead Trainer, with over 25 years of clinical experience. Author of Listening When Parts Speak, integrating IFS™ with ancestor wisdom to heal personal and generational trauma.
Tamala's Website →
Sand Chang, PhD
Licensed Psychotherapist
A depth-oriented therapist integrating IFS™, Somatic Experiencing, and liberation-focused trauma work. Specializes in affirming care for marginalized communities, centering identity without pathologizing it.
Sand's Website →
Max Littman, LCSW
IFS™ Therapist
A licensed clinical social worker specializing in IFS™ therapy with gay and queer men and trauma survivors. His practice centers deep attunement over judgment, helping clients reconnect with themselves and others.
Max's Website →
Stephanie Mitchell
Level 3 IFS™ Certified Therapist
A psychotherapist, trainer, and group therapist specializing in complex trauma, trained in Transactional Analysis, Open Dialogue, Family Systems Therapy, and Person-Centred Therapy before working almost exclusively with IFS™.
Stephanie's Website →Our Clinical Team
The Clinicians Behind Parts Companion
Each team member's clinical expertise is woven into how Parts Companion listens, assesses, and responds. Their contributions span every dimension of the platform.
Paul Ginter, Ed.D.
Lead Trainer & IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
A highly respected psychologist, trainer, and co-founder of both the IFS™ Consultation Collective and the Center for Psychotherapy and Wellness in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With decades of clinical experience, Paul has led more than 75 trainings in 14 countries, bringing warmth, depth, and clarity to his work with individuals, couples, and fellow therapists. His wisdom and care is infused in many aspects of Parts Companion's handling of both clients and practitioners.
Contributions to Parts CompanionSelf-energy embodiment, 8 C's framework, unblending coaching and part identification, direct access methodology with protectors, unburdening, polarization management, and the critical distinction between healthy connection versus blending
Seonghee Son, MS, CIT, WP
IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
A Korean psychotherapist whose work has been deeply shaped by her own lived experiences of family trauma. Seonghee has devoted her clinical work to supporting individuals, couples, and families in trauma healing and relational repair. She developed the Korean IFS™ Cards, creating visual tools that bridge cultural contexts and deepen the therapeutic process.
Contributions to Parts CompanionVisual representation of parts, drawing from her experience creating IFS™ cards and parts mapping tools. Insights into balancing image intensity, maintaining warmth in AI-generated content, and adapting IFS™ concepts across cultural contexts
Seonghee's Website →
Ralph Cohen, PhD, LMFT
Lead Trainer & IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
Professor Emeritus at Central Connecticut State University, where he directed the COAMFTE-accredited Masters Program in Marriage and Family Therapy from 1994–2021. With Dr. Richard Schwartz, Ralph developed the IFS™ Professional Training Program at CCSU in 1997 and has served as its coordinator to the present time. He is a Solo Lead Trainer and has taught Level 1 and 2 trainings since 2005. Ralph's contributions have been instrumental to virtually every decision and feature offered by Parts Companion.
Contributions to Parts CompanionBlending and unblending dynamics, implicit versus explicit direct access, fire drill practice exercises for practitioner skill development, legacy burden structures, and exile witnessing and care during unburdening
Ralph's Website →
Daphne Fatter, Ph.D.
Integrative Trauma Consultant
A licensed psychologist, clinical trainer, integrative trauma consultant, author, and international speaker dedicated to providing education on integrative trauma-informed therapies. Author of "Integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS™) into EMDR Therapy." EMDRIA Approved EMDR Consultant with over 460 hours of IFS™ training.
Contributions to Parts CompanionLegacy burdens and intergenerational trauma classification, establishing systems that honor the complexity of ancestral patterns. Practitioner feedback calibration and trauma-informed meditation design ensuring our AI tools maintain the highest standards of clinical safety
Daphne's Website →
Bob Falconer
Author, Consultant & IFS™ Teacher
Devoted his career to the treatment of trauma, with an early focus on working with men who experienced severe sexual and physical abuse. Approximately twenty years ago, Bob discovered IFS™, which has since become the primary focus of his clinical, teaching, and writing work. He has served on staff for more than twenty official IFS™ Institute trainings and has taught extensively across nine countries. Author of five books on IFS™ and healing, including Many Minds, One Self (2017) co-authored with Richard Schwartz, The Others Within Us (2023), and When Going Through Hell... Keep Going (2024).
Contributions to Parts CompanionUnattached burdens and guides identification and handling
Bob's Website →
Julie Aresco, MA, MSW, LICSW
IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
A Massachusetts-based Certified IFS™ therapist and Approved Clinical Consultant in private practice. Since first encountering IFS in 2011, Julie has found the model transformational, deepening her healing and understanding under the mentorship of Senior Lead Trainer Mike Elkin since 2015. She values IFS as a fully integrated practice for everyday life, extending beyond its therapeutic use. Co-created Harvard's therapy dog program "Take a Paws."
Contributions to Parts CompanionTrauma-informed AI features, safety protocols for AI-generated images, parts mapping tools, consultation groups design, practitioner feedback systems, and guided meditation features
Julie's Website →
David Stern, Psy.D.
Lead Trainer & IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
A licensed psychologist since 1992, trained in EMDR and Brainspotting. David helps people connect with their inner vitality and work with the obstacles, parts, and patterns that mute or obscure deeper wisdom. He co-led monthly drumming and chanting service at Temple Emanu-El, weaving spiritual practice into therapeutic work.
Contributions to Parts CompanionPhilosophical guidance on AI's appropriate role, legacy burdens, unattached burdens, guides, trust development indicators
David's Website →
Alexia Rothman, Ph.D.
Lead Trainer & IFS™ Approved Clinical Consultant
A clinical psychologist, IFS™ Institute Lead Trainer, Certified IFS™ Therapist, and IFSI-approved clinical consultant. A therapist since 1999, she has been deeply involved with IFS since 2010, introducing thousands of therapists worldwide to the model as an international speaker, trainer, and co-host of the IFS™ Talks podcast. Adjunct professor at Emory University and Agnes Scott College, and co-editor of IFS Collected Wisdom: Conversations with Experienced Voices In IFS Therapy.
Contributions to Parts CompanionLegacy and cultural burdens, unburdening processes, protector consent, exile befriending, burden distribution across systems
Alexia's Website →
Amita Schmidt
Level 3 IFS™ Certified Therapist
With over 35 years of Vipassana Buddhist practice, including multiple three-month silent retreats, and former Resident Teacher for Insight Meditation Society. Spiritual Teacher and retired IFS™ therapist, author of "Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master."
Contributions to Parts CompanionHelped conceptualize how to measure and track self-energy across sessions, including blendedness indicators based on the 8 C's framework. Expertise in Buddhist contemplative traditions informed our approach to meditation development, recognizing authentic self-presence, and visual system representation
Amita's Website →
Sarah Thurman
IFS™ Informed Therapist (IFSCA)
Integrates EMDR and psychedelic-assisted approaches with a clinical style described as "playful, creative, and grounded in deep respect and compassion." Draws from her specialized experience in trauma-focused IFS™ practice.
Contributions to Parts CompanionAnnotation standards for complex trauma, establishing expert consensus protocols for AI training, EMDR integration, dissociation management
Sarah's Website →
Abigail Crispin, MA, LPCC
Level 2 IFS™ Therapist, LPCC
Works with couples and individuals specializing in anxiety, trauma, and attachment concerns. Draws from person-centered, existential, and Hakomi approaches.
Contributions to Parts CompanionPart identification framework, annotation protocols for AI model training, practitioner-facing feature testing
Abigail's Website →
Anita Amini
IFS™ Informed Practitioner (IFSCA)
Previously a software engineer, Anita has been offering somatic IFS™ sessions since Spring 2023, with training through The Art of Accomplishment. Her unique blend of technical and therapeutic expertise bridges both worlds.
Contributions to Parts CompanionPart-stage labeling standards, ground truth documents for AI training, protector-exile dynamics, session summarization needs
Trevor Sasek, MS, LPC
Level 1 IFS™ Therapist
Years of clinical practice with master IFS™ clinician supervision since 2022. Trevor utilizes body-based techniques alongside IFS™ to serve diverse populations, including experience with complex trauma and athlete populations.
Contributions to Parts CompanionThematic tracking framework, cross-session theme mapping, life-area identification, core-wounds organization, adapting tools for diverse client needs
Trevor's Website →"
We believe AI should serve the model, not replace the practitioner. Every feature in Parts Companion reflects the clinical team's commitment to honoring both the rigor of IFS™ and the humanity of the therapeutic relationship.
The Parts Companion Clinical Development Team
Our Process
How Clinical Expertise Shapes the Platform
Our clinical team contributes in four interlocking ways, each feeding directly into how Parts Companion understands and responds to therapeutic sessions.
📝
Annotation & Gold Standards
Clinicians annotate real and synthetic transcripts, creating gold-standard evaluations we use to benchmark and refine our AI pipeline until it meets clinical standards.
🔍
Output Review & Calibration
Team members review AI-generated assessments, flagging where outputs miss the mark. Their feedback loops directly into prompt engineering and model calibration.
🎭
Scenario Generation
Clinicians create example scenarios spanning the full range of IFS™ practice. These become the basis for synthetic transcripts that stress-test our system across edge cases and skill levels.
🧭
Pedagogical & Ethical Guidance
Senior clinicians advise on the deeper questions: not just how a feature should work, but whether it should exist at all, and how to ensure it honors the model's values.
Experience Clinician-Guided AI
Start with a free session assessment informed by the expertise of our clinical team.
IFS™ and Internal Family Systems™ are trademarks of The IFS Institute, a program of the Foundation for Self Leadership. Parts Companion is not affiliated with or endorsed by The IFS Institute.