At the Institute for Family Services (IFS), we believe that healing is relational, change is possible, and liberation is a collective process. Whether you’re feeling stuck in old family dynamics, navigating a major life transition, or confronting the weight of intergenerational trauma, you don’t have to do it alone.
Our work goes beyond traditional therapy—it’s rooted in Liberation-Based Healing, a framework that centers justice, accountability, and deep connection.
Why Families Seek Support
Building Communication and Connection
Are you having the same fight over and over? Getting the cold shoulder or feeling misunderstood? Perhaps your child is acting in ways you don’t recognize—or you’re trying to co-parent through conflict or separation. These struggles often come down to a loss of communication and connection. Therapy offers a space to realign, rebuild trust, and create new ways of relating.
Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, or Trauma
Stress can come from anywhere: finances, caretaking, discrimination, digital overwhelm, school struggles, or geopolitical realities. For many, this stress is rooted in trauma—either a singular event or years of chronic harm such as abuse, violence, or systemic oppression. We understand trauma as both personal and political. Our work holds space for the full complexity of what families are carrying.
Navigating Life Transitions
Change is inevitable—and often destabilizing. Birth, illness, loss, migration, marriage, divorce, incarceration, unemployment, or retirement all shift family roles and responsibilities. Therapy can support your family in moving through these transitions with clarity, care, and connection.
Breaking Harmful Cycles
Patterns of addiction, silence, or violence often echo across generations. Families come to us seeking to break these cycles and begin again. Whether it’s rebuilding trust after harm or challenging long-held norms of silence and survival, therapy can open space for accountability, healing, and transformation.
Our Approach: Liberation-Based Family Therapy
At IFS, we begin by helping families identify shared goals and locate their experiences in the broader context of power, culture, and history. This work helps every family member feel seen, heard, and valued.
Through a Liberation-Based lens, our therapy nurtures:
- Critical Consciousness
- Accountability to self and others
- Intergenerational healing
- Community-rooted resilience
We offer flexible initial consultations via Zoom, including early and late evening hours, to accommodate your family’s needs. Call 732-873-1663 or email us to schedule an appointment.
Liberation-Based Healing Conference 2022
Join the Movement: Liberation-Based Healing Conference 2025
IFS’s work extends beyond the therapy room. Each year, we bring together clients, scholars, educators, clinicians, artists, and activists at our Annual Liberation-Based Healing Conference to deepen the practice of relational healing and challenge systems of oppression.
This event welcomes scholars, activists, educators, students, clinicians, and community members to share strategies that promote relational healing and liberation
20th Annual Liberation-Based Healing Conference
November 7–8, 2025 (via Zoom)
This global gathering is an opportunity to explore transformative strategies, connect across disciplines, and build collective power for healing and justice. All are welcome. Join us and be part of this powerful, liberatory space.
Join Us at the 20th Annual Liberation-Based Healing Conference
November 7–8, 2025 (via Zoom). Register today.
In Our Clients’ Own Words: Family Journeys with IFS
“When I first became part of this community,
My children were at risk,
My marriage was failing,
My family was broken,
And I was lost.
Then, I found the team and all of you.
You taught me to set limits,
To expect and demand respect,
To not accept abuse in any form for myself or my children,
How not to enable,
And to celebrate myself.
Because of this community,
My children are alive, happy, and flourishing,
My marriage has been resurrected,
My family is mended,
And I am at the beginning of a wonderful future…”
— Rebecca
“I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the support and care you have given to both my daughter and me over the years. Your guidance has been a meaningful part of our journey, and we are truly grateful for the patience, understanding, and tools you’ve shared with us.
Thank you again for walking alongside us during important seasons of our lives.”
– Carolina Montoya
Let’s Begin
Whether you’re seeking immediate support or looking to engage in transformative community work, IFS is here to walk with you. Call 732-873-1663 or email us to schedule a consultation. Healing is possible—and it starts with connection.