Deepen Connection, Heal Attachment Wounding and Trauma, and Expand Intimacy with
IFS, EMDR, and IFIO
Move with intention towards connecting inside and out in transformative ways! Let the next steps you take be in direction of discovering possibilties and releasing experiences that might be keeping you and your relationships stuck.
Our Approach
A Compassionate Space Where All Lived Experiences Are Welcomed
Sound Life Counseling specializes in offering Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) along with other research supported practices including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), mindfulness, and somatic integration. This space supports individuals, couples, partnerships, and groups navigating relational ruptures and conflict, grief and trauma, chronic illness and pain, and addiction recovery experiences. Christina is Queer Allied, CNM/ENM/poly conscious, Neuroaffirming, Spiritually open, invites the Psychedelically curious, and honors all of your lived experiences and parts.
Services
From 130 US dollars
175 US dollars- From 90 US dollars
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
What is IFS (Internal Family Systems)?
We all have parts - that want different things, carry distinct beliefs, play certain roles, and have good intentions for us. The conflicting thoughts and feelings you have may reflect parts who need some attention. The IFS process reveals your inner essence - also known as Self energy; that of which takes care of all your parts and knows what it needs to do to heal. Getting to know and being in relationship with your parts will ultimately lead to inner harmony and more ease in your life.
What does an IFS therapist do during a session?
I will ask questions that foster the relationship between you and your parts. Over time, your parts begin to trust you, and vulnerable parts can let go of the burdens they’ve been carrying - what you might be experiencing in current challenges at home, at work, and in relationships. As a Level 2 trained IFS therapist, I help facilitate the unburdening process, so that you can let go of painful beliefs and invite in more expansive qualities when you are ready.
What makes IFS different from other counseling approaches?
IFS is an experiential process - meaning you’re tuned into your direct experience rather than just talking about it. IFS can guide you with going deeper than traditional talk therapy. Because IFS is experiential, it’s hard to put into words! There is a transcendent, spiritual quality to the IFS process that leads to a more authentic and open-hearted way of being.
What can you expect from doing IFS work?
Being more Self-led! In your day-to-day life you might have more awareness of your different parts and be able to respond from a place of less reactivity in previously activating situations. You’ll have the ability to face difficult situations with more ease and experience more compassion and creativity. With Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), couple/partnership clients have opportunities to deepen intimacy, resolve conflicts, make repairs, and feel more loved and understood.
Christina Gerteis, LPC, LAC, NCC, MAC
My Journey
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After years of working as a trauma and addictions therapist specializing with individuals and families impacted by some of life's most difficult challenges in communities all across the US, I felt I had seen it all and knew many ways to help. I experienced a lot of success in helping couples on the brink of separation after years of living in high conflict patterns and intensified emotional disconnection, individuals struggling with closeness and intimacy impacted by grief, broken trust, and parts trying to cope through addiction, and adults healing attachment wounds of childhood neglect, unmet needs, trauma, and isolation. Western medicine and psychological counseling training had provided many road maps for intervention. I knew something was missing though. While clients would learn many skills and strategies to manage and regulate emotional pain and change unhelpful patterns of thinking, they continued to struggle in relationships with those they loved. They were also unable connect with compassion inside where they hurt.
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My life had also come to a crossroads with my own intimate relationship and family planning journey. I was at an impasse with my partner and knew something needed to shift. And helping myself with the same compassionate energy I offered others was not something I truly knew how to do. My intensely stoic, hyper-independent, and fixer parts were in overdrive trying to suppress fear. All the Gottman skills and Imago insights uncovered in couples therapy sessions were not helping my relationship move in the direction I wanted. My biological clock was ticking loudly, as well my decades long experience with multiple sclerosis and disabling moments would take finesse and careful stopping medications to navigate pregnancy safely while balancing my own health needs. I was terrified of being alone, harming my body, and losing my childhood love who I had lived all over the US and grown through many chapters of life with...yet felt urgency to take the next steps in hopes of becoming a parent. Pandemic arrived to our planet, existential threats, health vulnerability even further weaponized, climate crisis, violence, and political unrest was all around...and my inner conflicts intensified. My heart was also yearning for life outside of the US and dreaming of a global nomadic path and release from the constraints of the outer world.
This is where I discovered the powerful potential of integrating IFS, EMDR, and somatic therapy. I spent the next year embarking on my own path of self-discovery, unburdening, and trauma recovery with these intensive practices while undergoing steps to build a family as a single mother by choice. While my path ultimately did not lead to motherhood following infertility and unsuccessful attempts and treatments, I was able to re-connect through this time even closer with courageous communication and choice with my partner to create family in a way that resonated from my heart and not fear. Releasing expectations for the mind and body, embracing freedom, restoring trust, and expanding healing allowed more spaciousness and love than I had ever imagined possible. And I continue to experience new ways of loving fully and unconditionally every day with my life and soul partner and sweetest pug, Grit. In 2021, my dual citizenship as a Swiss American was affirmed. The journey continues today with a new volume of discovering and adventuring on this planet!
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All of these experiences have led me with great purpose in sharing with couples/partnerships what is possible through IFS/IFIO, EMDR, and somatic integration. Healing, reconnection, and loving fully is possible even in life's most difficult moments. Moving beyond simply knowing and applying skills, there is a space for courageously sharing and listening with the heart. A space for opening towards repair when there has been rupture. Moments for rediscovering and redefining after conflict with compassion and deepened intimacy. I can help you there.​​
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IFS Training
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Level 1 Trainers Richard Schwartz, Nancy Sowell, Melissa Costa, and Fatimah Finny CHA
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Level 2 Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO) Trainers John Palmer and Sallie Ingle, Wind Horse Hill, Spicewood, TX
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Additional IFS Training
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IFS consultation groups with Lead trainer Sue Richmond, LCSW and Assistant Trainer Amy Crawford, PhD, LMFT
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Program Assistant (PA) for Level 1 trainings in-person and online 2025 and 2026
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IFS Treatment for Chronic Pain - Nancy Sowell IFSI 2026 and CHA 2025
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The Sacred Nervous System: A Relational Pathway for Self and IFS - Steve Chee and Richard Schwartz IFSI
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IFS Workshop: Couples Therapy - Larry Rosenburg CHA
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Unattached Burdens and Guides Workshop - Robert Falconer IFS Healers Community
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Self-Led Sexuality - Patricia Rich Life Architect
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Highly Conflictual Couples - Mary Kruger Life Architect
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IFS Worshop: Children and Adolescents - Leslie Petruk CHA
Integrating EMDR into the IFS Process - Daphne Fatter Life Architect
IFS Therapy: A Spiritual and Energetic Approach - Kay Gardner Life Architect
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IFS Workshop: OCD - Melissa Mose CHA
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Additional Training and Certification
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Integrating Somatic Techniques in Therapy 3 Month Intensive - Gabor Maté, Deb Dana, Janina Fisher, Susan McConnell, Michael Mithoefer, Efu Nyaki, Elia Mrak Life Architect
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When There Are No Words: Reprocessing Early Trauma & Neglect Held in Implicit Memory - Sandra Paulson Denver, CO EMDRIA
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Flash-TEP - Elan Shapiro ConnectEMDR
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The Flash Technique: Basic Principles and Protocols - Philip Manfield EMDRIA
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Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol and Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (R-TEP/G-TEP) Salt Lake City, UT EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs
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Ukraine War: How EMDR Is Helpful with Trauma and Grief - Roger
Solomon, Ph.D. EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs
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Advanced Training: EMDR Mixed Bag - Robin Shapiro Kase and Co.
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Advanced Training: IFS Informed EMDR - Crystal Hines Kase and Co.
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EMDRIA Certified Eye Movement De-sensitization Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) Fort Collins, CO Humanitarian Assistance Programs
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Certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) Durham, NC
US Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the states of Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas and National Certified Counselor (NCC)
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US Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) in Colorado with board certification of Master Addiction Counselor (MAC)
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MA dual degree in Counseling Psychology and Organizational Consulting, Portland, OR Pacific University
With over 20 years of practice in outpatient, community-based, residential, and hospital settings, I am honored by each moment with others healing.
I have a life long passion for learning how the mind and body connect in healing and transformation. Meditation, urban community farming and seasons for growing off the land, kitchen rave cooking and movement, soaking in hot springs, and down any trail gives way to my greatest joy. Living in many different communities across the US and traveling to many countries, I have discovered ways to alleviate suffering and expand creativity, compassion, and sound living I would like to share with you!
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I serve on both the Rocky Mountain and Louisiana Trauma Recovery Network (TRN) providing pro bono EMDR support for those impacted by recent event trauma including natural disasters and community violence.
I also provide individual IFS coaching to expand your optimal potential, as well as consultation and practice groups for those seeking to deepen their learning and understanding with IFS. Telesupervision offered to those seeking LAC and LPC licensure in Colorado. Please contact me for more information as you are interested in learning more about my methods and opportunities available.
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Credentials can be verified at:
https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners/all/147071
https://www.emdria.org/directory/people/christina-gerteis/
LA Lpcboard.org, TX bhec.texas.gov, CO dpo.colorado.gov
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