Hello, my name is Nicole Barden, and this is a basic explanation of my journey as a writer and how these writings came about.

First, I don’t consider myself a writer. Well, at least I didn’t before December 2020. I had been in therapy for about two years with my counselor, Laura Cartwright, who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She came highly recommended, and we really clicked.

One day she introduced me to Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy which was created by Dr. Richard C. Schwartz. At first, I found it confusing, but I listened to what she said.

It intrigued me, so I did some research and found a YouTube video by a man named Lucas Forstmeyer. He had posted crash course videos on IFS. His breakdown of how IFS is composed of parts (e.g., Protectors, Exiles and the Self), and how they can speak to you, or you are able to feel them in areas of your body was easy for me to understand and put into practice.

I had been using IFS techniques for about one year. Sometime during December 2020, one of my parts became unburdened. (Unburdened means the part was able to let go of the pain from a bad experience.)

I asked my part, “Now that you no longer have to do a job that you didn’t want to be doing in the first place, what would you like to do instead?”

My part, whose name is Hank, said “I want to write.”

I replied, “Write? I don’t write.”

Hank answered back, “You do now.”

The writing can happen at any time. Hank will say “It’s time to write.” So I gather my phone and put down what Hank dictates.

I hope you will take the time to learn more about IFS Therapy, and perhaps, put it into practice in your life. Remember it is your mind and your mind should be working with you and not against you. So why not get to know your Parts and your Self better?

How are these stories created?

We may see something, hear something, or experience something and then Hank will create an entire story around it. Remember, these stories are just stories. Some are fiction, some are non-fiction, and others are somewhere between. They are designed to make you think, feel, and hopefully start a conversation, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

YouTube channel: @NicoleBarden-Writer

Twitter: @NBardenWriter

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