About Us

Our Story

Hey there! I’m so delighted that you’re here.
Here’s a smidge about me and the Heart of Caldera story.

Heart of Caldera comes from weaving together two of the main threads in my life: authenticity and relationships with deep connections.

For me, authenticity is being honest with what is actually happening for me and what I am needing and wanting. There is a part of me that is tenacious and feisty and insistent on my being authentic (probably part of that ADHD spice). I feel truly blessed to have this part, I’m impressed with it. It has this sense that I’m allowed, I’m allowed to be experiencing “this.” There are so many stifling and unjust constraints in our society, and also devastating and traumatic experiences that put pressure on us- sometimes to conform or be “normal” and other times send us into extreme protector/guarded states which can make us feel like there is something wrong with us. This part of me refuses to sit down and be silenced, it knows I get to be heard and seen (and so do you). It is brave. And still, sometimes it has been a struggle to stand behind it. Living boldly has brought into my life losses, heartache, disappointments, and confusion.

“True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”
~Brene Brown, in Braving the Wilderness

hemlock growing out of an old growth doug fir

You are invited to “Heart of Caldera.” Today I bring to my work a variety of ways to hold space and guide you to connect with your own wisdom, your own authenticity, and your own drive for connection. Whether you’ve landed on this page for internal family systems, personal growth, retreats, deep dives, psychotherapy, etc., I hope to have the opportunity to meet you, celebrate you, and work with you on living wholeheartedly.

I have found great solace in that quote. This permission, this right, to be who we are and still be included and valued. We can do that work with our own-selves. We can hold compassion, love, and care for all the parts of ourselves and be known fully to ourselves. And we can be cared for and in connection, be grounded and find peace, in the wilderness.

A second main thread for me holds the natural human longing for connection. I so want to be seen and held by others and to be trusted to see and hold others. I want to celebrate, work, and grieve together. This part of me longs for, and orients me towards community.

So much of my personal journey has been to weave these two threads together, to live authentically and to be in deep connection with friends, family, and my community. And it has been hard, often filled with feelings of anger, sadness, grief, longing, devastation. Through the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model I have been able to more fully turn towards my parts that hold these feelings, to make sense of this experience, to tend to myself, deepening my insight and integrating these parts into my wholeness, so I can live wholeheartedly.

And of course the journey continues. And part of that continuation is inviting you.

The light in me sees the light in you,
Susan Poznyansky, LICSW
Founder Heart of Caldera IFS & Wellness

Susan Poznyansky (They/Them)

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker
Founder of Heart of Caldera

What was your education like?

HIGHER EDUCATION COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Master of Science in Social Work ｜2017 Clinical Practice and Program Development/Management - Family, Youth, and Children’s Services BANK STREET GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION May - June 2015 Courses: Math for Teachers, Science Inquiry in the Natural Environment, Language Acquisition & Learning in a Linguistically Diverse Society ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY SEATTLE ｜Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies 2013 Educational Leadership for Environmental and Social Justice PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE 2001-2004 ADVANCED CLINICAL TRAINING 2025 Program Assistant IFS Level 1 2024 Interactive IFS Group Leader Level 1 w/ Jay Earley 40 hours over 10 months 2023 Creating Healing Circles (IFS) w/ IFS Senior Lead Trainer Chris Burris ｜Week-long, 34 hour intensive 2022 IFS Level 1 IFS Institute Training, 80 hours 16 hours of private 1:1 consultation w/ IFS Lead Trainer Kathy Cox, 9 hours of facilitated group practice w/ IFS Consultant Lauren Spaulding, individual ongoing personal IFS therapy 2022-present *Enrolled in Beyond IFS Consultation Group w/ Rob Falconer *Enrolled in Intimacy From the Inside Out (IFIO) IFS Level 2 training (couples work) w/ Ann Drouilhet & Kim Bolling. MEANINGFUL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2002 - present Tai Chi, Zen, & Spiritual Education and Development w/ Vimukta Jay Henry 2017 - 2018 Detroit Urban Research Center, Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership Academy 2017 University of Michigan School of Public Health, Summer Session in Epidemiology: Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research 2016 Training for Change Training for Social Action Trainers 2011 Second Stories: Partnerships to Transform Neighborhoods Introduction to Asset-Based Community Development 2010 Multnomah County Community Capacitation Center- Popular Education Training 2006 Permaculture Certificate through Earth Activist Training 2001 - 2002 Portland Community College: Illumination Project, Student Leader, Theater of the Oppressed. Interactive Forum Theater that educates around and explores challenging issues like racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression.

How did you get here?

I started my career as the founder and director of an early childhood program in Portland, OR; focusing on social-emotional learning, placemaking, and connection with nature. Later, I realized my passion for social work in Seattle working with mothers in recovery from substance use disorders. After graduate school, I worked as a clinical counselor in a residential substance use recovery program in Manhattan, and then as a psychotherapist at a Brooklyn community mental health clinic serving individuals and their families with managing mild-severe mental health diagnoses, suicide risk, life-stage transitions, grief, and other life stressors. I am deeply grateful for the clinical training I received in New York. When I returned to the Pacific Northwest, I worked in a rural hospital supporting individuals and families adjusting to chronic health conditions and navigating long-term care options and in the emergency department assessing for severe acute symptoms, risk, and safety- supporting individuals in active crisis with getting the appropriate level of care. In 2021 I started Caldera Psychotherapy PLLC, a clinical psychotherapy private practice. In 2024 I expanded to Heart of Caldera: Internal Family Systems and Wellness. This social enterprise is an umbrella for all my IFS offerings which include personal deep dives, virtual and in-person groups, retreats, and professional development.

Susan Poznyansky full body image wearing a green linen shirt and a floral blazer with maroon corduroy paints and doc martin boots

Evan "Ash" Young (He/Him)

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What was your education like?

coming soon.

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What is IFS?

(Internal Family Systems)

"IFS is a transformative tool that conceives of every human being as a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. We believe the mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us. Self is in everyone. It can’t be damaged. It knows how to heal.

IFS is frequently used as an evidence-based psychotherapy, helping people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts."

-IFS Institute