Ego-State Therapy Services
Multi-Day Intensive Retreats for Deep Healing
At Soul & Psyche, we specialize in ego-state therapy through transformative multi-day intensive retreats that address the deeper roots of human suffering. Our California-based practice offers both in-person and online therapeutic services, with additional support for English-speaking clients throughout the European Union. Our approach goes beyond traditional symptom management to help you integrate different aspects of your personality, resolve internal conflicts, and achieve lasting healing from trauma, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and spiritual abuse.
What is Ego-State Therapy?
Ego-state therapy is a therapeutic approach that recognizes the distinct ego states within your personality – different parts of yourself that developed throughout your life experiences. These ego states represent various roles, emotions, and protective strategies that make up your complete self. When these different parts are in conflict or disconnected, you may experience persistent emotional difficulties despite previous therapeutic work.
Our ego-state work focuses on understanding and integrating these different aspects of your personality, creating internal harmony that leads to authentic self-expression and emotional freedom. Unlike traditional therapy that often addresses symptoms, our approach helps you develop conscious relationships with all parts of yourself, including those that carry trauma, anxiety, or protective behaviors.
Central to our approach is guiding clients on a journey of self-discovery, helping them fulfill the fundamental human need to realize their True Self. This includes supporting clients who are ready to know and integrate their often unacknowledged shadow aspects of the ego – the parts that cling to control and resist vulnerability. Through our specialized techniques, we help you identify the child parts of your personality that may be carrying old wounds, the protective parts that developed survival strategies, and the authentic self that holds your natural wisdom and capacity for healing.
Our Unique Multi-Day Intensive Approach
We offer ego-state therapy through multi-day intensive therapy retreats rather than traditional weekly sessions. This format is critical for deep ego-state work because different parts of your personality need sustained time and safety to emerge, be witnessed, and integrate their experiences without interruption.
The foundation of our work is captured in our 23-year partnership – a relationship that has weathered seasons of growth, held space for each other's evolution, and deepened our capacity to hold space for others. This unique collaboration allows us to offer a rare blend of depth, creativity, and grounded pragmatism in our ego-state therapy approach.
Our intensive retreat format allows distinct ego states to fully express themselves and engage in the healing process without the stress of time constraints or external pressures that can interfere with therapeutic work. This approach is particularly effective for clients who have tried traditional therapy but continue to experience internal conflicts or feel stuck in familiar patterns and behaviors.
During our retreats, we create a carefully structured environment where all aspects of your personality can feel safe to emerge. We understand that many parts of yourself may have been hurt, neglected, or overwhelmed in the past, and we take great care to establish the trust and safety necessary for profound healing to occur.
Our Therapeutic Modalities for Ego-State Integration
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR serves as a powerful tool in our ego-state therapy work, particularly for processing trauma that has affected different parts of your personality. Our team brings extensive experience with EMDR, with training dating back to 1991 and 1997, making us pioneers in integrating this approach with ego-state work.
We understand that trauma often creates fragmentation within the self, where certain ego states become frozen in protective patterns or trapped in painful emotions. Our EMDR work addresses not just traumatic memories, but also how these experiences affected different aspects of your personality and continue to influence your relationships and daily life.
For example, you might discover that your anxious part developed as a response to early family stress, or that certain behaviors emerged to maintain safety when your authentic self wasn't welcomed. Through our skilled integration of EMDR with ego-state therapy techniques, we help both process traumatic material and restore affected parts of your personality to healthy functioning.
Ego State Therapy and IFS Theory
Ego State Therapy and IFS theory form a cornerstone of our ego-state work, recognizing that you have different parts within your personality, each with its own feelings, beliefs, and protective strategies. Rather than pathologizing these aspects, this approach honors them as natural and necessary parts of your psychological system.
We guide you toward connecting with your Self – the core essence that possesses natural qualities of compassion, curiosity, courage, and wisdom. From this Self-leadership, you develop healing relationships with your various ego states, understanding their protective intentions while helping them update their strategies for your current life.
Through Ego State Therapy and IFS theory techniques, you learn to facilitate internal diplomacy between conflicting parts of your personality, creating inner harmony that naturally reduces anxiety and resolves internal conflicts that may have been affecting your relationships and decision-making.
Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST)
Our approach incorporates Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment, with specialized Level III training directly from Dr. Janina Fisher. TIST focuses on parts work and stabilization, making it particularly effective when combined with ego-state therapy for clients who have experienced complex trauma.
TIST helps different parts of your personality feel safe and stabilized before engaging in deeper processing work. This approach is especially valuable for clients who may feel overwhelmed by traditional trauma processing methods, allowing for a gentler yet thorough integration of traumatic experiences.
Image Transformation Therapy (ImTT)
Image Transformation Therapy provides access to ego states that hold their experiences in the form of images, sensations, and pre-verbal memories. This approach is particularly powerful for healing childhood trauma or experiences that occurred before you had language to process them.
We guide you through gentle processes that allow images and sensations to emerge naturally, providing opportunities for frozen ego states to complete interrupted protective responses or receive the care they needed during difficult experiences. This work often leads to profound shifts in how you experience yourself and your capacity for authentic relationships.
Conditions We Address Through Ego-State Therapy
Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress
Our ego-state therapy approach is highly effective for trauma treatment because it addresses both the traumatic experiences and the ways trauma affected different parts of your personality. We work with parts that may be stuck in survival mode, parts that developed to protect you from re-experiencing hurt, and parts that carry the natural resilience and wisdom you possessed before trauma occurred.
Through our intensive format, we provide the sustained attention needed for complex trauma healing, allowing different ego states to process their experiences thoroughly and integrate into a more cohesive, resilient self. Our comprehensive approach draws from over 30 years of clinical experience across diverse therapeutic settings.
Shame and Self-Worth Issues
We specialize in helping clients heal deep-seated shame and self-worth issues that often develop from early experiences of neglect, verbal abuse, or physical abuse. These wounds can create ego states that carry beliefs of unworthiness, leading to patterns of self-criticism, perfectionism, or difficulty accepting love and support.
Our ego-state work helps you identify and heal the parts of your personality that absorbed these harmful messages, while reconnecting with parts that hold your inherent worth and value. This process often leads to profound shifts in how you relate to yourself and others.
Anxiety and Hypervigilance
Anxiety often emerges when different parts of your personality are in conflict with each other, or when protective parts remain on high alert long after danger has passed. We help these conflicting parts communicate and collaborate rather than compete, while also helping hypervigilant parts update their understanding of current safety.
We help you develop the capacity for internal diplomacy, allowing decisions to be made from inner consensus rather than internal struggle. This process naturally reduces anxiety and hypervigilance as your personality system moves from conflict toward cooperation.
Depression and Emotional Exhaustion
Depression frequently involves the suppression or exile of vital parts of your personality. Perhaps your angry part was shut down early in life, leaving you unable to access energy for self-advocacy. Maybe your playful part was discouraged, resulting in a life that feels heavy and joyless.
Our ego-state work focuses on reclaiming these exiled aspects of your personality, understanding how they came to be suppressed, and creating internal conditions where they can safely re-emerge. This reclamation process often leads to restored emotional range and life energy that feels authentic and sustainable.
Spiritual Abuse and Religious Trauma
We specialize in helping individuals heal from spiritual abuse – trauma that occurs within religious or spiritual contexts. This form of abuse can create particularly complex internal conflicts, where parts of your personality may feel betrayed by institutions or belief systems that were meant to provide safety and meaning.
Our ego-state therapy approach helps you separate authentic spiritual connection from the harmful messages or experiences you received. We work with parts that may have been shamed, silenced, or traumatized within religious contexts, helping them reclaim their inherent worth and spiritual autonomy.
Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
For helping professionals, caregivers, and others in demanding roles, we address the specific challenges of burnout and compassion fatigue. These conditions often involve parts of your personality that have become depleted from over-giving or carrying others' pain.
We help you identify and heal the parts that drive overwork or people-pleasing, while reconnecting with parts that know how to receive care and set healthy boundaries. This work is essential for sustainable healing and preventing future burnout cycles.
Loneliness and Relationship Difficulties
Many clients struggle with persistent loneliness or difficulties forming authentic connections with others. This often stems from early experiences that taught certain parts of your personality that vulnerability is dangerous or that your authentic self is not acceptable.
Our ego-state work helps you heal the parts that learned to hide or protect through isolation, while reconnecting with parts that naturally desire and can create meaningful connections with others.
Specialized Support for Trauma-Focused Healing
For clients who have used substances as a way to cope with underlying trauma, shame, or emotional pain, we offer specialized trauma-focused healing that addresses the root causes rather than the substance use itself. Our approach is designed for individuals who have achieved stability in their recovery (typically 12+ months of sobriety) and are ready to engage in deeper healing work.
We understand that substance use often serves important functions for different parts of your personality – numbing pain, managing anxiety, or providing temporary relief from shame or trauma. Our ego-state work helps you develop relationships with these parts, understanding their protective intentions while addressing their underlying needs through healthier means.
This trauma-focused approach recognizes that lasting healing involves not just stopping problematic behaviors, but also reclaiming the parts of your personality that may have been lost or suppressed. We help you process the original experiences that led to protective substance use, while developing internal resources for managing difficult emotions and situations.
Our Team's Expertise and Approach
Dr. Jordan Hamilton's Dedication to Client Growth
Dr. Jordan Hamilton is dedicated to helping his clients be their best selves through a unique therapeutic approach shaped by diverse professional experiences. His background bridges the worlds of art, business, and deep psychological inquiry, bringing creativity and empathic presence to therapeutic work.
With a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology earned in 1993, Dr. Hamilton's dissertation focused on the nature of intimacy and bonding in men's groups, reflecting his pioneering work in the men's healing movement. His EMDR training, completed in 1997, integrates with his artistic sensibility and strategic insight from business leadership experience.
In addition to ego-state therapy, Dr. Hamilton offers spiritual direction services, supporting clients who seek to integrate spiritual dimensions into their healing journey. This holistic approach recognizes that deep healing often involves both psychological and spiritual growth.
Kimberly Sanders' Integrative Approach
Kimberly Sanders, M.A., brings over 30 years of clinical experience spanning diverse therapeutic settings, from hospital environments to private practice. Her approach integrates evidence-based modalities with holistic understanding of human experience.
Originally certified in EMDR in 1991, Kimberly is also a Level III Trauma Informed Stabilization practitioner trained directly by Dr. Janina Fisher. Her extensive training includes over 700 hours of yoga teacher training and certification in non-denominational spiritual direction, allowing her to support clients in exploring both psychological and spiritual dimensions of healing.
Her warm, empowering, and deeply attuned therapeutic presence creates a safe container for clients to release past burdens, reclaim their inherent worth, and move toward lives rooted in authenticity and inner peace.
What to Expect During Your Ego-State Therapy Retreat
Initial Consultation and Assessment
Your journey begins with a consultation call with our intake coordinator, who will answer your questions and help determine which therapist best matches your specific needs and healing goals. This personalized matching process ensures you receive the most appropriate support for your unique situation.
Following your initial consultation, you'll speak directly with your potential therapist to explore whether an hourly format or retreat approach is the best fit for your needs and schedule. If the retreat format is chosen, you'll secure your dates with a deposit.
Day One: Building Safety and Trust
The first day focuses on establishing a trusting therapeutic relationship and developing a sense of safety that allows all parts of your personality to feel secure enough to engage in the healing process. We spend time understanding your life experiences, clarifying your goals for the retreat, and beginning to identify different ego states within your system.
This foundation of safety is critical for the deeper work that follows, particularly for clients who have experienced betrayal, neglect, or abuse in various contexts.
Intensive Processing and Integration
Beginning the afternoon of your first day and continuing throughout your retreat, we engage in active trauma processing and ego-state integration work using our combination of EMDR, Ego State Therapy and IFS theory, TIST, and ImTT approaches.
The sustained nature of intensive work allows for deeper processing than traditional therapy sessions permit. You'll have opportunities to connect with wounded parts, understand protective strategies, and reclaim aspects of your authentic self that may have been suppressed or hidden.
Integration for Daily Life
Your retreat concludes with focused integration work, ensuring you can take your newfound insights and healing into your daily life. We provide specific tools and practices for maintaining internal harmony and continuing your growth beyond the retreat experience.
Begin Your Healing Journey
Our ego-state therapy approach offers a comprehensive pathway to emotional well-being and personal growth that addresses the whole person rather than isolated symptoms. By working with different aspects of your personality, you develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and capacity for authentic relationships.
We welcome individuals who are ready for deep healing work, regardless of their specific background or circumstances. Our personalized approach ensures that each client receives the support they need for their unique healing journey.
Located in California with additional online services for clients throughout the region and English-speaking expatriates worldwide, we're committed to making our specialized approach accessible to those ready for transformation.
Contact us today to schedule your consultation and discover how our ego-state therapy approach might support your journey toward inner integration, authentic self-expression, and lasting emotional well-being. Your path to healing and wholeness can begin with a single conversation.