The Self-Led Life

The Self-Led Life is an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed podcast creating intimate spaces for people to turn toward their inner lives with curiosity and compassion—meeting more of themselves, deepening their connection with Self, and discovering how that inner relationship can transform the way they inhabit their everyday lives. Hosted by Jaclyn Long, LMFT, founder of Mindful Child & Family Therapy, a group psychotherapy practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Self-Led Life explores the parts of us that show up in the midst of ordinary—and sometimes extraordinarily difficult—human experiences. Together, we'll travel the terrain of grief and loss, anxiety, relationships, chronic stress, pain and illness, caretaking, perfectionism, burnout, life transitions, and the places where we find ourselves feeling stuck. Through guided inner experiences, personal reflections, conversations with therapists and IFS practitioners, and intimate interviews, Jaclyn invites us to become curious about the parts of ourselves we may have spent years judging, avoiding, or trying to change. Sometimes, what seems to be getting in the way can become a trailhead—a doorway into a deeper relationship with ourselves. There is room here to slow down. To notice. To feel. And sometimes, simply to be quiet long enough to hear what is happening inside. Come as you are. Bring all your parts. Let's turn inward—together.