barb In office

Hi, I’m barb lucas.

For the past two decades, I’ve been helping people uncover, recover, and discover how it feels to be really satisfied in life. For the majority of that time, I have pursued mastery in the Internal Family Systems model and pleasure in the expressive arts. My clients have taught me that we can come back from any abyss, cross any threshold, and slay any dragon, if we’re not doing it alone. IFS has taught me that we have direct access to the perfect answers for whatever ails us and that suffering has an expiration date.

I am a Level 3 trained and Certified IFS Clinical Consultant. My academic studies have spanned from systems theory to spirituality and from adult development to archetypal astrology. I am insatiably curious about the human condition and have found the combination of IFS and the expressive arts to be the most profound approaches to the work of human healing and human potential. I work with folks in the office, in the studio, and online. I actively cultivate gratitude and consider my work to be both a privilege and a sacred call. I look forward to supporting your growth and healing.

My Approach

Internal Family systems

Considered to be a "meta-model", with serious roots in systems theory and strong branches extending into mind-body-spirit approaches, IFS is a powerful solution to the problems we face as individuals, families, communities, and organizations. It is experiential, holistic, intuitive, gentle, and effective. Each session has the potential to liberate clients from burdened beliefs and deepen their experience of inner peace, hope, and contentment. Working with clients in this way is both a professional preference and a personal practice. In these times of trouble and complexity, the model provides a pathway into a place of clarity and calm. I consider it the Holy Grail.
Learn more here.

Expressive arts

The expressive arts include the visual arts (painting, collage, drawing, etc), movement, music, poetry, story, clay, mixed media, aesthetic response, and other creative approaches to self-expression and self-exploration. The genius of the field is its focus on the movement between creative modalities; from expansion to containment and back again, creating another doorway into what lies just outside of self-awareness. The process can reveal, inform, and delight us, as well as challenge and confront us. No artistic experience is needed, for free expression is beyond skill. In the expressive arts, we speak of "low skill and high intensity" and are interested in process not product.
Learn more here and here.

sandtray

I am formally trained in the process of Jungian Sandplay Therapy by Barbara Turner, PhD.  I use an eclectic approach to the sandtray and miniature collection as an extension of my IFS work.  The figures allow us to move quickly into metaphor and the imagination, dropping into the deep reservoir of knowing that resides behind, beneath, and between our well-worn, worn-out, self-limiting narratives.  The inner critic is softened, and something new and fresh enters our awareness.   Becoming the author of one's story is enriching and enlivening.  We come to understand that the setting, the cast, and the plot are all ours to design and change.
Learn more here.

labyrinth

As a Veriditas trained labyrinth facilitator, I enjoy introducing people to the power of this archetypal pattern.  As a walking meditation, the labyrinth evokes a contemplative rhythm.  Unlike a maze, which is designed to confuse you, the labyrinth is unicursal, meaning there is only one single, continuous path.  By removing the need to make any decisions, following the patterned pathway will still the mind and help you see the world with softer eyes.  Working with the labyrinth brings a sense of peace, clarity, groundedness, and centeredness. I use the tool of the labyrinth in one on one and group work in the USA and France.
Learn more here. 

  • Shit...for the first time in my life I am genuinely happy and content. THANK YOU for the amazingness that is you.

    KO, client

  • This weekend was one of the most meaningful supports I have had in my life, Barb.

    TO, PhD, following a 3 day private Intensive

  • I have done EMDR and “parts therapy” (IFS) with Barb and would recommend her to anyone looking for tools to make life better. The combination of her impressive training history, life experience and compassionate presence has been a healing salve for my wounded parts. I came to her with anxiety so high, I could feel it shortening my life span. Through this process I have been able to find peace, grounding and even joy. Her connection and use of art has facilitated my creative expression and helped me access inner resources, and I realize now that creativity takes many forms. I am truly grateful for her work in my life.

    JK, therapist in private practice

  • You just have a special, wise and comforting energy I can't describe. I appreciate you so much.

    Suzanne, therapist, east coast

  • with much appreciate and gratitude for the work we have done, and the safety you have helped me create.

    JK, therapist, MT

  • It was quite amazing to walk in, quite stressed from a confluence of changes going on in my life, and feel a wash of peace roll over me. I sat over by the drums and reveled in the feeling. Thank you for providing a space like this. I'm not sure how to express this, but you have an immensely calm presence.

    Nancy, Hamilton MT

  • Barb Lucas is an extraordinary counselor and life coach. She has the gift of intuition combined with well-honed skills in listening, discernment, and guidance. Her gentle insights have helped guide me to my own inner knowing, and her compassion has been a tremendous source of support in times of crisis. Most importantly, she walks the talk. She has done, and continues to do her own work, so that she is able to come to her clients from a solid, stable place and remind them of who they really are at heart, no matter what kind of turmoil may be swirling around on the surface. I am so grateful to her!

    RM, therapist in private practice

  • Your words to [...] were perfect. They landed like a soft feather with purpose. You are a truly gifted woman

    MV, mastermind group

  • After our time together over these many years, I am still in awe of the love you hold within you and give so freely and genuinely to those in your life and yourself. Our paths crossed for a reason, and the healing you opened me up to is what will carry me forward.

    PR, Florida

  • Barb Lucas Consulting has helped our organization envision and embrace our emerging future during the past 18 months. While hosting our group in numerous situations, she provided safe space for us to express our creative natures while staying grounded in our authentic selves. The outcomes of our visioning work have been practical and powerful. I have appreciated Barb's wide range of consulting skills in our work together. She is an excellent speaker and group facilitator. In addition to helping us bring our vision into form, she helped us clarify and affirm our organization's shared values and resolve a difficult organization issue. I highly recommend her.

    Dave Schultz, Director Center for Spiritual Life, Bitterroot Valley

  • Just wanted to drop a note of appreciation and thanks for our last group consultation. Watching you work and guide with [...] has helped set the tone for my work with clients this week. It has helped me slow down, feel confident in the slowness and space, and validating parts that show up more and more. Thanks!!!

    CB, IFS practitioner, east coast

  • Barb embodies the gift of a true witness. As colleague and companion for over twenty years, I have been a grateful recipient of the presence she offers. She listens in a way that allows a person to experience them selves in a new light. When the Self is allowed to blossom by this pure presence, the creative potential is infinite. My relationship with Barb Lucas has been an integral element in the success of my therapy practice.

    R. Lellek, CHT