Disclaimer: This episode contains discussions of psychosis, non-ordinary states, sexual trauma, transference, and adult sexuality. Listener discretion is advised.

”I think full healing comes to a place where the voice just doesn't have to be disowned as something outside of me. It becomes me, a part of me.” — Stephanie Mitchell

Patty sits down with Stephanie Mitchell, a Certified IFS therapist specializing in non-ordinary states, psychosis, and complex developmental trauma for a personally revealing and intellectually adventurous conversation. Stephanie works at what she calls the pointy end of distress — with clients experiencing voices, visions, and states that often get labeled psychosis or schizophrenia — and explores with Patty how those experiences intersect with sexual dilemmas and trauma.

They explore how voices and visions often carry what other parts are too afraid to know — including around sexuality, identity, and desire — and how IFS's commitment to curiosity rather than pathology creates a radically different kind of encounter with these experiences. They discuss sexual transference in the therapy room with unusual candor, the concept of the dignity of risk, the essential importance of a well-held therapeutic container, what attuned sexuality actually looks like when trauma has taught the body that connection isn't safe, and the difference between seeking reassurance and following a trailhead to what the parts underneath actually need.

The episode closes with Patty and Stephanie finding their way to a beautiful full-circle moment — that voice, the one we find in safety, the one that can say what it wants and what it doesn't, the one that can finally speak up even after being deeply dissociated — is what being Self-led in Bed is really about.

About Stephanie Mitchell

Stephanie is a Level 3 Certified IFS Therapist who specialises in working with early developmental trauma and experiences which often get labelled as ‘mental illness’.​Stephanie is interested in how healing occurs in the human to human relationship, outside the constructs of diagnostic labels, and offers training and consultation as well as therapy..She is currently undertaking research on IFS and Psychosis with UCSF, in collaboration with Flinders Uni Australia. 

Connect with Stephanie:

Website: stephaniemitchell.net

Facebbok: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniemitchelltherapy
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ConnectionHeals

About Self-Led in Bed

Self-Led in Bed is a podcast where we explore our fascinating internal sexual landscapes and discover our authentic sexual Self through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS).

Hosted by Patricia Rich — Certified IFS Therapist, AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, coach, and creator of the Self-Led Sexuality and The Six S's models — each episode brings warm, smart, and often juicy conversations.

Resources

Get the freeThe Six S's of Sexual Self-Energy Infographic.