A quiet, softly lit room in warm daylight

IFS therapy · Virginia · DC · Maryland · Florida

You already know why you do it. That hasn't made it stop.

Internal Family Systems therapy with Radiance Sanneman, MS, LCPC — a Level 1-trained IFS therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional — by secure video. We work with the part of you that keeps doing it, instead of arguing with you about why you shouldn’t.

Book a free 15-minute consultation

Free and private. Available to clients located in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland and Florida.

Sound familiar?

If any of this is what your week looks like, you’re in the right place

IFS starts from a simple premise: none of these are character flaws. They are parts of you doing a job they learned a long time ago, and they respond to being understood far better than to being overpowered.

  • ✓

    You understand the pattern perfectly. It still runs you.

    You can explain exactly why you shut down, snap, or disappear. Insight hasn’t changed the moment it happens.

  • ✓

    There’s a critic in your head that never clocks out

    It got you this far, so arguing with it feels like losing. IFS treats it as a part with a job, not a flaw to defeat.

  • ✓

    You go numb, scroll, work, or vanish

    Something steps in the second a feeling gets close. You’re not weak-willed — a protector is doing what it learned.

  • ✓

    Part of you wants closeness. Part of you braces for it.

    Both are true at once, which is why “just communicate better” hasn’t worked.

  • ✓

    You’ve done talk therapy and hit a ceiling

    You told the story, understood the story, and the body never got the memo.

  • ✓

    The reaction is bigger than the situation

    A tone of voice, a look, a text — and you’re somewhere much older than right now.

What actually happens

Three steps, and you stay in control of all of them

  • 1

    A 15-minute consult

    Free, by phone or secure video. You say what’s going on, we say honestly whether this is a fit. No intake forms first.

  • 2

    You meet your protectors first

    We do not go digging into the worst thing that happened to you. Protective parts are engaged first, always.

  • 3

    You set the pace

    Nothing gets opened before there’s enough internal trust to handle it. You decide what gets said, and when.

Before you book

The questions people ask on the consult

  • “The ‘parts’ language sounds strange to me.”

    Plenty of clients start skeptical and stay skeptical for a while. You can try the process without believing the model — it works as a way of paying attention, not a belief system.

  • “Does having parts mean something is wrong with me?”

    No. IFS treats parts as a normal, universal feature of the mind. That is a different thing from a clinically diagnosed dissociative disorder.

  • “I’ve tried therapy and it didn’t help.”

    Worth saying out loud on the consult. What felt unhelpful or unsafe last time changes how we’d start.

  • “Is this private?”

    Sessions are by secure, HIPAA-compliant video. Nothing about scheduling a consultation goes on any record you have to explain later.

IFS-trainedLevel 1 IFS · parts-based work
CCTPCertified clinical trauma professional
Secure videoHIPAA-compliant telehealth
4States licensed: VA · DC · MD · FL

Fifteen minutes, no pressure. Tell us what keeps happening and we’ll tell you honestly whether IFS is the right fit — and if it isn’t, what might be.

Book your consultation

Credentials & training

Trained where it matters

Vanessa Cushing, LPC, NCC, MS — AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, licensed in Virginia, DC, Maryland and Florida. Every mark below links out so you can check it yourself.

IFS Therapy in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia

You've worked hard to build your life, but something still feels off. Maybe you find yourself stuck in the same patterns, flooded by emotions you can't explain, or at war with a voice inside that's always criticizing, always pushing. You're not broken. You have parts and IFS therapy can help you finally understand them.

At Cushing Counseling, our IFS-trained therapist offers Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy fully online for residents of Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, and Florida. Whether you're navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship struggles, or a search for deeper self-understanding, IFS offers a compassionate, evidence-based path forward from wherever you are.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerful, evidence-based approach to therapy developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. At its core, IFS is built on a simple but profound idea: you are not just one thing. You are made up of many inner "parts," each with its own feelings, memories, and protective role, and at the center of it all is your Self: calm, curious, and capable of leading.

IFS goes beyond traditional talk therapy. Instead of just discussing your problems, you'll actually get to know the parts of you that are driving them: the anxious planner, the harsh inner critic, the part that shuts down in conflict, the one that just wants to be seen. When those parts are understood rather than fought against, real healing becomes possible.

IFS has been recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as an evidence-based practice and is widely used to treat anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship challenges.

Book Your FREE Consultation
Radiance is Cushing Counseling's IFS Certified Sex Therapist
Three profiles of mental health professionals, including photos and descriptions of their counseling approach and expertise.

How Does IFS Therapy Work?

IFS therapy is an experiential approach, meaning the work happens not just intellectually, but on a deeper emotional and somatic level. In sessions, your therapist will gently guide you to:

  • Identify your parts: the protective parts that try to keep you safe, and the wounded parts (called "exiles") that carry pain from the past

  • Understand each part's role: rather than judging or pushing away difficult emotions, you'll learn what each part is trying to do for you

  • Access your Self: empower the emergence of calm, compassionate inner leadership that can help all your parts feel safe and heard

  • Heal the wounds: with the trust of your protective parts, your therapist will guide you in gently healing the exiles that carry old pain, shame, or fear

Most clients describe IFS sessions as both insightful and deeply moving, a process that feels different from other types of therapy they've tried.

Who Can IFS Therapy Help?

IFS therapy is especially effective for people who:

  • Struggle with anxiety, overthinking, or chronic stress

  • Experience self-criticism, shame, or a persistent inner critic

  • Have a history of trauma or PTSD (childhood wounds, relationship trauma, complex trauma, sexual trauma)

  • Feel stuck in relationship patterns: people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, emotional shutting down

  • Are navigating major life transitions: career shifts, breakups, identity questions, relocating

  • Want to develop deeper self-awareness and self-compassion

  • Feel like they've tried other approaches but something still isn't shifting

  • Feel disconnected with themselves inside, even if doing meaningful outer work

If any of this sounds like you, IFS may be exactly what you've been looking for. Our IFS specialist, Radiance Sanneman, would love to connect with you for a free consultation and explore the ways IFS might be a good fit for your current needs. Below, you can read more about Radiance's background and approach.

Radiance Sanneman (she/her), MS, LCPC, NCC, CCMHC Licensed Mental Health Counselor | IFS Specialist & Trauma Therapist

As a psychotherapist, I am passionate about giving my clients a safe place to be themselves, explore their inner wisdom, and navigate life's challenges without needing to face them alone. I bring expertise in terms of the tools and process of counseling, but each client brings the expertise in terms of their own story and strengths. Working together, deep healing is possible and new pathways open up.

I work only with adults and only in the context of individual therapy or group therapy. I am happy to work with any type of issue (such as anxiety, depression, loss, trauma, or relationships), or to provide a referral if I am not the best person to help you. My particular specialty areas are:

  • Survivors of complex trauma and relational transgression (such as childhood abuse, toxic relationships, or betrayals by partners, employers, spiritual leaders, etc.)

  • Folks facing life transitions

  • Members of the LGBTQ+ community

  • Survivors of religious trauma/spiritual abuse, and other people navigating spiritual/religious crossroads or issues

Book a FREE Consultation

Licenses & Verification

I encourage you to check on my licenses and verifications as you consider potentially working together. I am a:

  • Licensed Professional Counselor (in Virginia, verify here and DC, verify here), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (in Maryland, verify here), and TLHT Licensed Mental Health Counselor (in Florida, verify here)

  • Level 1 trained Internal Family Systems therapist (verify here)

  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Level 2 (CCTP-II, verify here)

  • Nationally Certified Counselor as well as Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (verify both here)

  • Check out my Resume/CV here to see more about my specialized trainings, education, and background

My Approach

You are the expert on your life, and it is my job to help you access your internal wisdom. As a Level 1 trained Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist, I help you as an individual to connect to different parts of yourself, different perspectives inside you that are deeply valuable but not always harmonious. "A part of me wants to go out, but another part of me wants to stay in. And another part of me is frustrated about not being able to make up my mind!" We each have a metaphorical family of different parts within us, with which we can cultivate better relationships. (The "Family" in Internal Family Systems does not refer to your family of origin or any external people in your life, and you would never be pressured to involve family members in therapy or resume contact with family members you are not in touch with.)

Together, as we get to know different sides of you, we can heal trauma wounds and allow more space for inner peace.

In this process, I will give you my full attention, respect your values, help you identify your goals, and work to earn your trust over time to do effective work together. Counseling becomes a journey of self-discovery, growth, and healing.

I draw on other awarenesses to supplement my IFS work with my clients, including Attachment Theory, Feminist Therapy and intersectional feminism, Solution-Focused Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and insights and interventions from the growing field of Positive Psychology research.

A little about my own identity may help you decide whether you would feel comfortable working with me: I am a White, queer, transgender woman from an upper-middle-class background. I was raised religious Catholic/Christian but now identify as spiritual. I happily welcome more questions about my background if we move forward communicating about the potential of working together.

I believe firmly that the public needs access to culturally competent, trauma-informed, and LGBTQ-affirming mental health professionals, and that is what I seek to be. I draw from an awareness of privilege (including my own), oppression, and intersectionality, especially around race, gender, class, and sexuality, and I understand that many individuals with minority identities have been hurt in the past by micro- or macro-aggressions from health care and mental health care providers. I am committed to earning my clients' trust and respecting their boundaries. In a validating setting, I help my clients understand the tools and strengths they already have and use their autonomy to make well-informed decisions according to their own wisdom.

I earned my Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University Maryland, where coursework frequently challenged us to consider the spiritual dimensions that can sometimes emerge within counseling. I am intimately aware of the healthy, grounding role that spirituality plays in many people's lives, and conversely, the ways that well-intentioned faith practices can sometimes intensify mental health problems. I know that there are many different ways that people can connect to God, a higher power, or the Divine, and that this relationship can change over time. I am also intimately aware that many people lead meaningful, fulfilling lives without faith or religion, and religious settings have been sources of great alienation, violation, and wounding for many people. Discussion of your faith, religion, and/or spirituality is fully welcomed into counseling at your discretion, but not assumed and never forced on you.

My job is to help you anchor into what is meaningful and grounding in your own life. The decisions and directions that will be healing and empowering for you are likely to be unique to you. I support you in blazing your own trail, rather than expecting you to follow a roadmap used by myself or anyone else.

Online IFS Therapy: Virginia, DC, Maryland & Florida

All sessions at Cushing Counseling are conducted fully online via secure, HIPAA-compliant video, making high-quality IFS therapy accessible no matter where you live or how busy your schedule is.

We serve clients throughout:

Online IFS therapy is just as effective as in-person sessions. Research consistently shows that telehealth therapy produces outcomes equivalent to in-office care, and for many clients, the flexibility of virtual sessions makes it easier to show up consistently and do the work.

Why Choose Cushing Counseling for IFS Therapy?

Specialized IFS training. Radiance has specialized training and hands-on experience with the IFS model, not just a passing familiarity. You'll work with someone who truly knows this approach and can guide you through it skillfully.

Integrative, whole-person care. IFS doesn't exist in isolation here. Radiance also draws on other evidence-based approaches, including Attachment Theory, Feminist Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy, so your care is tailored to what you need.

Sexuality and trauma-informed. Cushing Counseling specializes in sexual health, intimacy, and trauma. If parts of you carry shame, pain, or confusion connected to your sexuality or body, you'll find that this is a place where that work is not just tolerated but genuinely understood.

LGBTQ+ affirming. Radiance is a queer, trans woman who brings lived experience to her commitment to affirming, culturally competent care. All identities are welcome here.

A warm, nonjudgmental space. The work of getting to know your inner world requires safety. Radiance is trained to create exactly that: a space where all of your parts are welcome.

Accessible, wherever you are. No commute, no waiting room, no geographic barrier. Whether you're in a DC high-rise or a Florida suburb, your therapist is one click away.

Google reviews

What clients say

Every review below is public on Google, written by someone who actually sat in the room (or on the video call). Nothing here is edited beyond trimming for length.

Book a free consultation Read the Miami reviews  |  Read the Virginia reviews