From Survival Self to Chosen Self: The Identity Shift That Changes Everything with Fareda Barlas

Some conversations arrive like a hand on your shoulder — quiet, steady, and impossible to ignore.In this episode, Farya Barlas, a Psychologist, sits down with Fareda Barlas, sister, therapist, and founder of Hadley Wood Practice, for a deeply human conversation about the ways our past shapes not just what we do, but who we become. This is not an interview about techniques. It’s a conversation about the hidden rules we’ve lived by, the layers we keep protected, and the surprising tenderness that shows up when someone truly witnesses you.Expect a few laughs, honest confessions, and moments that land in the body. If you’ve ever wondered why success can feel hollow, why asking for help is so hard, or why the same survival patterns keep showing up even after “doing the work,” - this conversation will meet you there.What You’ll Learn:Why some of the strengths you’re proudest of began as the strategies that kept you safe and how they now limit you.What “bringing all of who you are into the room” really looks like in therapy and leadership.How dissociation and hyper-competence help you survive... and why they can quietly block joy.A simple way to spot when vulnerability is being traded for productivity.Why therapists and high-achievers often feel stuck even when “everything looks fine” on paper.What shifts when therapy becomes a living relationship instead of a checklist.About the guest: Fareda BarlasFareda Barlas is an integrative, trauma-informed psychotherapist and the founder of Hadley Wood Practice. She is BACP-registered and works across psychodynamic, attachment-based, existential/humanistic, and somatic approaches. Fareda focuses on the whole person, including the nervous system, relational patterns, and lived experience, and is known for bringing intuition, authenticity, and presence into deep trauma work.Find her at Hadley Wood Practice (website), Instagram @fareda.psychotherapy, Book a session to Work with Fareda.FREE RESOURCES:Follow Farya Barlas on