A abordagem psicoterapêutica mais completa, revolucionária e potente da atualidade
Imagina Comigo...
You start each day with a calm energy.
Não aquela força empurrada pelo medo de falhar - mas uma vontade firme, silenciosa, que nasce de dentro.
Lembras-te de como sabias brincar? Sem motivo. Sem objetivo. Porque viver era arte espontânea. Essa memória volta.
A tua mente é um lago calmo.
E não um sistema em colapso com 27 separadores abertos. Os teus dias têm ritmo e presença.
E nesse ritmo.... O corpo torna-se oráculo. Não grita - sussurra, e tu escutas. Com atenção. Com afecto.
When life tests you, you no longer tremble inside.
Something has taken root in you. A Presence. A center that responds without collapsing.
E nesse centro...O teu brilho já não pede licença. Já não pedes permissão para existir e ocupar espaço.
Disseste "basta" a viver para os outros
E nesse instante, voltaste a ti. A tua expressão deixou de ser performance. Passou a ser devoção.
You cook slowly, just because.
Your hunger isn't just for food - it's for flavor, time, life. And now you have an appetite for all of that.
You speak with truth. You listen with your whole body.
Not to convince or please, but to be. With courage. With roots.
E nesse estar...Descobres que a intuição não é magia - é bússola. O Eu autêntico ergue-se. E tu lembras-te: a tua vida é sagrada.
You know how to say yes. You know how to say no.
Both spring from the same source: a serene knowledge that doesn't need explaining.
You've become an inhabitant of your inner world.
The parties that used to shout or hide now have a place. And you, leadership.
Your relationships are no longer a stage.
They become a temple. A space for revelation, not representation.
A dor deixou de ser um enigma. As tuas feridas não falhas.
São trilhos. Chamamentos. Sabes que ao segui-los com escuta, algo se alinha no mundo e recolhes sabedoria que mais ninguém pode trazer.
Já não caminhas sozinha. Fazes parte do Todo.
There are ancient presences, deep roots, living forces that support you - inside and out.
Nature is not a backdrop. It's a relative.
It brings you signs, rhythms, messages. And you remember the language you lost: that of the living world.
Your healing is no longer private.
It's an offering. Echo. Service. By taking care of yourself, you heal the field where we all breathe.
Ana Duarte Coimbra
Who I am
My name is Ana Duarte Coimbra, and you may already know me as an internist, college professor, mother or IFS therapist.
I became known for helping sensitive and dedicated people, many of them health professionals and therapists like myself, who had reached a point where they no longer knew where they stood. Exhausted, empathetic people who had given everything... and were left empty. Who could no longer breathe between shifts, nor trust the decisions they made, nor remember what they liked to do when they had time for themselves, deeply disenchanted with their personal and professional lives.
My story
People who, like me, have been swallowed up by the noise, the pressure, the silent despair of feeling unrecognizable - inside and out. crushed by the weight of a dehumanized system and the pain of losing connection with themselves.
Today I am able to guide dozens of people on the road back, helping them to convert pain and exhaustion into clarity and insight through a rigorous, evidence-based method.
But believe me... it wasn't always like this.
There was a time when I was completely lost.
It wasn't just tiredness - it was the kind of exhaustion that doesn't go away with a weekend's rest. My body was on autopilot, my mind was on overload and my heart was numb. I'd wake up with a tight chest and tired eyes before I even got out of bed.
Living between shifts, guidelines, screens, notifications, cold corridors and timed clinical decisions, my life had become a survival system.
The hospital became a silent hell where numbers were worth more than people, and where I myself stopped counting.
I began to feel ashamed.
Shame for cutting short conversations with patients in order to finish records. Shame for prescribing by reflex, without feeling. Shame for not being able to hold back the tears in the car as I left another shift. I, who had always wanted to care, couldn't even listen anymore.
I had totally lost myself.
My intuition was silenced, my empathy anesthetized. Every morning brought an overwhelming sense of inadequacy and guilt. I felt guilty for everything: for not being fast enough, strong enough, available enough.
Guilty of being angry with my children.
Guilty of being there and not being there.
Guilty of being empty.
And this emptiness took hold of me - to the point where I questioned whether I wanted to go on living.
And the most painful thing was recognizing that I had become what I had always promised not to be: A distant doctor. A functional body. A part of the machine.
Someone who knew the protocols by heart, but no longer knew how I felt.
Disconnected from intuition, from empathy, from the Earth, from the mission that had called me to medicine.
It was in this dark silence - where there was no longer any direction or meaning - that something inside me whispered:
It's not supposed to be like this.
And it was at that moment - in the middle of my darkest night - that I realized I couldn't go on like this. I desperately needed to find a way out.
Then I realized: either I would lose myself for good, or I would find a new path.
Fast forward to today?
I feel alive.
Not that romantic idea of “living with purpose”, but really alive - with my body awake, my head light and my heart at peace.
I have space to think, energy to feel, structure to create.
I'm a wife and mother with presence. A doctor with a soul. A therapist with both feet on the ground. Creative and entrepreneurial.
And every day I accompany brilliant and courageous people to find their way back to themselves.
What has changed?
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).
It was through this approach that, for the first time, I went from trying to fix myself to simply listening to myself.
It was here that I found a method that didn't treat me as a collection of symptoms, but as a whole person - who just needed to relearn how to relate to herself, with compassion and truth.
Today, I'm going to open that curtain for you.
To share with you this intimate, practical and profoundly transformative process that has allowed me to reclaim my inner space, my discernment, my sovereignty.
I want you to feel that same relief - the moment when you drop your shoulders and think: "That's enough. Now I choose."
If you're tired of sailing alone in a sea of doubt, guilt and exhaustion, if you want to get back to living a life that belongs to you - you're in the right place.
And I'll accompany you on the same path that once brought me home too.
Muito mais que terapia – uma forma viva de te relacionares contigo, com os outros e com o mundo
Sistemas familiares internos
💌 You know it's this way, but the resources aren't flowing?
Talk to me - no one is left behind.
O que acontece quando se combina combina precisão clínica, segurança emocional e acesso profundo à tua sabedoria interna
Emotional exhaustion, burnout, depression
Energy that belongs to you
You've woken up again with a zest for life. Your energy no longer flows everywhere - now it serves you.
Generalized anxiety, emotional dysregulation, internal confusion, panic attacks
Emotions with room to breathe
Emotions no longer run you over. You know how to listen to them, give them space and move on with clarity.
Codependent relationships that don't last, lack of boundaries, isolation
Relationships of deep and resilient intimacy
You build relationships where you are whole - you say what you feel, you listen to what matters, and you stay where there is truth.
Persistent physical symptoms, eating disorders, chronic fatigue, psychosomatic syndromes
Body as an ally and compass
Symptoms start to make sense - they are no longer punishments, but clear messages.
Chronic indecision, fear of never being enough, dependence on validation
Clarity and internal direction
You know what you want. You know what you don't want. And you act firmly without losing your sensitivity.
Fear of not belonging, feeling of emptiness, loss of purpose
Reconnection with what is bigger than you
You regain the link with the Earth, your ancestors and the invisible that has always sustained you. You stop walking alone.
Includes existential crises, spiritual reconnection, animist practices, ecopsychology and liberation psychology.
Matrescence, breastfeeding, puerperium, perinatal bereavement
Motherhood with truth, space and support
You begin to live motherhood as you really are - without filters, without inhuman demands, with presence and network.
For mothers experiencing burnout, conscious pregnancy and childbirth, and women who are still coming to terms with the birth (or loss) of a child.
Self-judgment, internal sabotage, lack of self-esteem
Self-love that sustains everything
You become your own ally. Self-love ceases to be an ideal - it becomes a living, everyday practice.
Esta é a vida que te espera
This method is the step-by-step you needed.
Se sentes o chamamento…
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about IFS Therapy
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach based on the idea that our mind is naturally made up of multiple sub-personalities, called “parts” that interact with each other to form a complex internal system. At the center of these parts is the “Self”, the true Self, your calm, compassionate essence capable of leading the entire internal system.
Each part has a positive intention - there are no “bad” parts. IFS uses systems theory to reorganize and harmonize these inner parts, putting your Self in the lead. When your internal system is reorganized through IFS, rapid and lasting changes occur-not only within yourself, but also in the way you interact with the world around you.
In addition, IFS recognizes a transpersonal or spiritual dimension: the Self is not only psychological, but also a deep source of wisdom, creativity and connection with something greater than ourselves.
IFS is especially effective when you experience anxiety, intense stress, burnout/exhaustion, depression, relationship problems, post-traumatic stress, addictions or persistent physical symptoms with no clear explanation. Basically, when you feel that something is “out of place” in your life and you urgently need a real change.
Not directly. The term “inner family” refers to the various parts of yourself, as if they were a family within you. The focus is not on analyzing your actual family, but on your internal emotional and mental dynamics.
Unlike other approaches focused on diagnosing, mastering or “fixing” symptoms, IFS is a non-pathologizing model of mental and emotional suffering. Here, symptoms are not seen as problems, but rather as important messengers that reveal something inside you that needs attention.
IFS recognizes that we all have a healthy and intact inner core - your Self. Instead of fighting symptoms, we enter into a sensitive relationship with them: we learn to understand, respect and integrate the inner parts that are out of balance, allowing them to take on more positive and beneficial roles. Unlike traditional therapies, which often get stuck in endless cycles of analyzing symptoms through exhaustive and prolonged cognitive processes - keeping the client dependent on the therapist to regulate themselves - in IFS we go straight to the root, leveraging the natural strength of your Self: the best therapist you could ever have.
The language of IFS is powerful because it profoundly changes the way you relate to yourself and others, encouraging you to take responsibility for your emotions and behaviors, reducing resistance and fully valuing your individual experience.
In this approach, you are the real expert: the therapist sees you as a co-therapist, fully trusting the wisdom of your internal system and quickly becoming autonomous in managing most of the challenges of your daily life.
Each person has their own pace, but generally significant changes begin to be felt in the first few sessions. Even so, IFS is a deep and authentic process, so continuity is recommended, especially for lasting and stable changes. For many, it becomes a way of life, a spiritual path and a lasting place of belonging.
You are entirely free to manage your therapeutic process, without any rigid commitment as to the frequency or duration of the follow-up. A single session can bring about profound and immediate changes. We usually start with an initial period of weekly sessions of around 60 minutes each, gradually spacing them out as you go along. However, I can easily adjust to the rhythm that makes the most sense for you.
For most people, yes! But it may not be the best option if you are in a serious clinical situation that greatly alters your perception of reality (such as severe psychosis). In such cases, it's more appropriate to seek urgent medical intervention.
Yes, absolutely! IFS is extremely effective as a model of self-knowledge and self-development, and I have lots of tools I can share with you to explore independently. However, in order to understand the model well, I recommend starting with an initial period accompanied by a certified therapist - this will familiarize you with the language and the process in a safe and effective way. In addition, there are sensitive places and deep wounds where it is safer and gentler to go accompanied. The usual journey is to start with this initial support and, over time, become fully autonomous in managing the vast majority of your internal processes.
Yes, IFS is recognized as an evidence-based practice. In November 2015, it was included in SAMHSA's National Registry for Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), a US government entity that evaluates interventions with a significant impact on mental health.
This inclusion was substantiated by rigorous clinical studies, such as the one published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2013, which showed that IFS significantly reduced pain and depressive symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as well as improving physical function and self-compassion.
Since then, several other RCTs have shown promising results in treating physical and psycho-emotional imbalances and strengthening personal resilience, reinforcing its effectiveness as a therapeutic approach.
It is an approach with proven empirical validation.
It is an approach with proven empirical validation.
Booking appointments
My consultations offer a safe, ethical and compassionate space where you can explore your inner story with presence and depth. I use the approach of the IFS (Internal Family Systems) model, combined with clinical experience, somatic practices and a keen listening to your needs - on a path of reconnection with yourself, your rhythms, parts and cycles.
The sessions are especially suitable for those who live in the area:
- Emotional overload or exhaustion;
- Patterns of self-demand, creative blockage or difficulty setting limits;
- Challenges in the body (illness, persistent symptoms, infertility, etc.);
- Life transitions, conscious motherhood or fatherhood, bereavement, spiritual or existential crises;
- Desire to deepen self-knowledge in an approach that honors body, mind and spirit.
Scheduling and Conditions
- Consultations are held online, by videoconference (Zoom or other agreed means).
- Appointments are made by email or using the form on the website.
- Payment must be made up to 24 hours before the appointment to guarantee the booking.
- Cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice will receive a 50% refund.
- Absences without prior notice are not eligible for a refund.
- The average session lasts 60 minutes (the first appointment may be slightly longer).
- After payment and confirmation, you will receive all the details by email.
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Still having doubts?
Internal Family Systems Therapy isn't “just” therapy - it's the exact moment when, after years of trying to fit into expectations that were never yours, you finally remember who you are and feel like you've come home.
It's my welcoming presence + your courage to face what's holding you back + the instinctive wisdom you already have, ready to guide you.
It's being able to close your computer after a day that would have left you with a headache and no patience for anyone, but instead you go into the kitchen while listening to that playlist that always makes you dance in your bare feet, and cook something healthy that you love - and not out of obligation, but because you really have the energy for it.
It's relaxing on the sofa at the end of the day with someone special by your side, without any rush or thoughts of pending tasks - you're right there, with your head resting on their shoulder, feeling the rare and delicious tranquillity of someone who doesn't need to be anywhere else.
It's that sweet squeeze in your chest when you receive a message that simply says:
"I thought of you. Do you have time to go for a walk in the evening?"
And you realize that you can finally say “yes” without any hesitation, guilt or stress.
Now you feel that surprising relief when you realize that you no longer have to ask your friends, your parents or your schedule about the next difficult decision. You know exactly what you need, without effort, without doubt - the answer comes from within with a firm, natural clarity.
This isn't fantasy or luck.
It's a real memory of your future.
A future that is already yours, the moment you decide to give it space.
The end of the search.
If you feel you've had enough of putting off this reality, Internal Family Systems Therapy is here, waiting for you.
