During this Workshop Series, you will:
Gain a deep understanding of extreme protectors in IFS therapy, including firefighters, inner critics, and self-destructive parts.
Learn from expert trainers Cece Sykes, Fatimah Finney, Joanne Twombly, and Mariel Pastor.
Explore trauma-informed IFS approaches and the impact of dissociation on therapy.
Develop skills to navigate challenging therapeutic moments with confidence.
Engage in experiential practice and small group work for hands-on learning.
Refine techniques to foster trust, shift polarizations, and support healing in clients.
Working with Extreme Protectors in IFS Therapy
Workshop 1 | May 7
Cece Sykes
Key Interventions for Connecting with Extreme Protectors
Workshop 2 | May 14
Fatimah Finney
Extreme Protectors Navigating an Extreme World
Workshop 3 | May 21
Joanne Twombly
Working with dissociation
(part 1)
Workshop 4 | May 28
Joanne Twombly
Working with dissociation
(part 2)
Workshop 5 | June 4
Mariel Pastor
Protectors in the Unburdened System & Integrating Unburdened Protectors (part 1)
Workshop 6 | June 11 Mariel Pastor
Protectors in the Unburdened System & Integrating Unburdened Protectors (part 2)
Meet the teachers:
Cece Sykes
Cece Sykes, LCSW is an IFS Senior Trainer, author and consultant with over forty years of clinical experience specializing in recovery from trauma and addiction.
One of the founding trainers in the IFS Institute, Cece has educated therapists around the world on the IFS model and on her approach to treating addictive processes. Her original chapter on addiction appears in Innovations & Elaborations (2016) and her recent book IFS Therapy for Addictions: Trauma Informed Compassion-Based Interventions for Substances, Eating, Gambling and More with Martha Sweezy and Richard Schwartz was released in 2023.
Cece also developed the Heart Lessons of the Journey retreat for an on-going international study of therapist personal narratives. She regularly lectures on these and related subjects and lives in her lifelong home of Chicago.
Joanne Twombly
Joanne H. Twombly, MSW, LICSW (Pronouns: she/her/hers) is a psychotherapist in private practice in Arlington, MA, USA. She has over thirty years of experience working with C-PTSD and dissociative disorders and provides trainings and consultation.
In addition to her book, “Trauma and Dissociation Informed Internal Family Systems,” she has written on EMDR and Dissociative Disorders, on EMDR and Internal Family Systems, and on working with perpetrator introjects. Her commitment to helping her clients heal and to providing quality training has resulted in her becoming an EMDR Consultant and a Trauma and Recovery Humanitarian Assistance Program Facilitator, Internal Family Systems Certified, and an American Society for Clinical Hypnosis Consultant.
She is a past president of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. In recognition of her achievements and her service on committees and the Board of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), she was honored with ISSTD’s Distinguished Achievement Award and is an ISSTD Fellow.
Mariel Pastor
Mariel Pastor, MA, LMFT, is an international IFS Senior Lead Trainer and consultant known for her clarity, warmth and humor. Trained in IFS since 1998, she is the principal author of the IFS Institute’s Level 1 Participant Training Manual, and leads L1, L2, and L3 trainings and retreats.
Mariel is Co-founder of the IFS Telehealth Collective, a multi-state group practice of IFS-trained clinicians and IFS consultation services. A systemic marriage and family therapist based in Portland, Oregon, she has a special interest in Integral Psychology and incorporates somatic psychotherapies, EMDR, and spirituality within the framework of IFS. Her original work, the Unburdened Internal System mandala, brings the fullness of the IFS model into tangible form, offering hope for clinicians and clients alike.
Mariel brings her passion for IFS into her work with actors, writers, and directors through Character Mapping–a groundbreaking, customized coaching and online program supporting storytellers to maximize their relationships with their characters, their craft, and their Selves. More information can be found at marielpastor.com.
Fatimah Finney
Fatimah Finney, MA, LMHC is a serial goal-setter, lover of new ideas, and imaginative thinker. She is a skilled certified L3 trained IFS therapist and lead trainer at the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Institute. She is also the associate director of IFS Programs and a Senior Instructor at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School(HMS) teaching hospital.
She is a highly sought after speaker and thought leader who’s been featured on podcasts, including IFS Talks, where she discusses the intersection between IFS and Intercultural Competence. Her chapter on using IFS with Black Clients is published in the book Altogether US. Fatimah is a firm believer in the power of collective healing through community care and seeks to eradicate the systems of oppression that block the possibility of it.
Fatimah is an effective Intercultural competence consultant who have helped people around the world build their capacity and skills in centering diversity, equity, inclusion. As a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), Fatimah uses this tool to help her clients gain insight into their strengths and growth edges for navigating differences and to offer strategies for better cross-cultural interactions.
