Clinician Spotlight: Sydnee Corriders, LCSW
Moving with the Grain
Internal Family SystemsSM (IFS) therapy is more than a modality — it is a lens that invites us to see and understand individuals, communities and the world at large as being innately multiple and whole all at the same time. This lens helps us understand how both personal traumas and societal traumas related to systemic oppression manifest in our bodies, psyches, belief systems and lineages. The IFS Telehealth Collective is so honored to have on staff Sydnee Corriders, LCSW, a trained IFS therapist and consultant based in New York. In this spotlight Sydnee shares her anti-oppressive and intersectional lens and what healing means to her. Keep reading for the full interview.
Q: Finish the sentence, “therapy is…”
Sydnee Corriders: ...something that everyone deserves — it is for all of us, despite the messages that many of us have received. Therapy is also a space for healing, self-reflection, practice, processing, to be fully seen and to be challenged and accountable; a two-way relationship that allows space for reciprocal feedback; and an ongoing opportunity to say things that we’re not quite ready to share with others. Therapy is a space for community, both for when you’re having a hard time and also when you want to deepen self-awareness or to build skills.
Q: Why does IFS therapy speak to you?
SC: My introduction to IFS is one that completely changed my life. To have encountered a model that reminds us that we are not just what we have done or what has happened to us, and that all of the various parts of ourselves are there to serve and protect us is so calming and validating to my system. The IFS model makes it clear that while there are aspects of our lives that we may want to change, we can do so with self-compassion and the knowledge that we (and our parts) are doing our very best with the tools that we have. This approach is one that I connect to strongly and it has brought me to this very moment.
Q: A large part of IFS therapy is lending Self energy and helping clients access their own. How might you describe Self energy?
SC: Through a list of adjectives, Self energy is: authenticity, groundedness, trusted intuition, flexibility, calm confidence, openness, curiosity, ease, peace, trust in the process, and connectedness. I feel more authentically confident without the presence of ego. I experience and trust my deep inner knowing. Self is the deep breath.
Q: Describe your approach to working with clients.
SC: In all that I do, I operate from an anti-oppressive and intersectional lens. I believe that every person is worthy of healing and that our healing comes from within. My approach in therapy is one that is personalized; it recognizes folks’ strengths, centers their humanity, is supportive, collaborative, authentic, and affirming of their various identities and parts. I also enjoy bringing humor into the work, as it’s a big part of my authentic Self.
Q: Are there any areas of interest you specialize in?
SC: I am passionate about working with communities of color and engaging folks around their racial, gender, and sexual identities. I also have significant experience in working with youth, and those with experiences of depression, anxiety, trauma, and intimate partner/gender-based violence.
Q: What does it mean for you to have an anti-oppressive and intersectional lens in the therapeutic context?
SC: It means to have a nuanced understanding of systems of oppression and to recognize how those systems impact folks’ lived experiences and internal systems. I work to understand how a lot of the challenges clients face are informed by a variety of systems and the ways that their identities are perceived and received by the world. When I think about an intersectional identity, or intersectionality, I think about how folks’ marginalized identities compound to impact their experiences. For example, as a Black woman, I have two prevalent and visible marginalized identities that impact how I see the world and how I am seen by the world. I also have some privileges, which might make my lived experience different from other Black women. I’m thinking about someone who is not only a Black woman, but a Black trans woman with a disability and how her marginalized identities compound to impact her life. Her and my lived experiences are different as Black women because of how we experience the world and how the world experiences us.
Q: How have you developed this lens?
SC: This lens is really informed by myself as a Black woman and my lived experiences — it has been formed through partnering with both my lived and educational experiences. As a social worker, therapist and racial equity consultant, I have been in a lot of spaces where I have had conversations — not just on the intellectual level — in which I have witnessed how various folks’ identities impact how they show up and move through the world. I’ve also seen the harm when our identities and parts of our personality are not acknowledged and fully seen.
I think many of us, especially folks of color, have been in therapeutic settings that felt like “one size fits all.” To have a true healing and therapeutic experience, it is necessary to see someone for their full, complex being. We have to be willing to see all parts of them. That is, not only their various social identities, but also their lived experiences, because those two things interact and inform who we are.
Q: What does healing mean to you?
SC: To me, healing means making choices moment to moment and day to day that feel liberatory. This might look like: working to change patterns that no longer serve us; recognizing the choices we have, especially when we feel like we have none; empowerment and options; love that is not painful; moving with the grain of ease and joy, especially through times of struggle; knowing and trusting our intuition; and being in community. Healing is also personalized, and part of the process is discovering what healing means for each of us and believing that we are entitled to it.
Q: Can you talk about what healing looks and feels like for clients who experience oppressive systems, especially if escaping or changing them doesn’t feel possible.
SC: First, we are all surviving oppressive systems, especially in the midst of a pandemic. For many of us, survival feels good enough. I think making it through can be enough in certain contexts and I also believe that we’re all entitled and deserving of healing and working toward what liberation means for each of us. I like to create a therapeutic space that acknowledges the world that we’re surviving — that acknowledges the impacts that capitalism and white supremacy have on every single one of us.
When I think through an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and intersectional lens, I can see how these systems of oppression impact all of us, but really compound for those of us with more visible and invisibilized marginalized identities. I think that healing is possible despite experiencing multiple harmful systems and resistance is a large part of that process. My hope is to create a therapeutic and clinical space that resists those systems, which might mean that they aren’t actively present in the therapeutic space. If at the very least, a one hour session can be a reprieve from harmful systems, that feels rewarding. And at best, we are able to develop tools and skills to understand the impact of these oppressive systems while also resisting and healing from them to live a more free, liberated, and easeful life.
Q: Can you say more about resisting these systems within the therapeutic context?
SC: A large part of resistance is noticing and naming some of the harmful systems and their impact. Many systems, particularly white supremacy and capitalism, benefit when we fail to talk about our differences and similarities. I also think about how we are impacted when these systems pressure us to perform and produce. Part of being resistant, is to reframe and reclaim areas and moments of control in our lives to give ourselves more ease. That could look like taking deep belly breaths, noticing the sensations in our bodies, choosing to nap, taking the day off to rest, setting a boundary with a partner or friend, or asking for what we need even when it feels counter to how we’ve been socialized. I want us to feel empowered in the big and small decisions we make day-to-day and to recognize that a large part of resistance is mentally shifting toward prioritizing our needs and well-being.
Q: As a bonus question, what are your sources of joy?
SC: Cooking, unexpected belly laughs, spending time with loved ones, music, walks, the sun, my plants, my godson, nature, and I love an all black outfit.
Does Sydnee Corriders, LCSW sound like the right fit to help you heal your wounded parts and honor your complexity and story? If you are based in New York, contact our Client Care Coordinator or call 503-447-3244 to schedule a consultation.
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