IFS Therapy Workshops

IFS has given us a model of mind made up of parts (managers, firefighters, and exiles) and Self. This concept of the multiplicity of mind is rapidly replacing the old myth of the mono mind.

IFS’s model has proven itself to be very valuable in psychotherapy. As we go deeper into people’s systems we begin to encounter things that are not parts or Self. Bob Falconer calls these the others within us. They include legacy burdens, cultural burdens, unattached burdens and guides. For many people the unattached burdens and guides are the most bizarre and frightening denizens of their minds. These will be the focus of this workshop series.

This workshop delves into the crucial role of understanding and navigating inner conflicts and polarizations through IFS Therapy. It highlights the importance of recognizing these internal dynamics as they are key to unlocking deeper healing and personal growth for clients.

By focusing on the core theme of IFS—engaging with different parts in a compassionate way—the workshop aims to equip therapists with the insight and skills needed to facilitate transformative change.

During this workshop, we will explore how you can use the therapeutic relationship to facilitate the client’s healing from a part’s perspective. You will learn how to work with the client’s parts that induct the therapist into recreating the original wounding relationship and the very patterns they are struggling to change. 

You will learn how to use Direct Access to address the client’s unconscious attachment issues and help the client’s parts feel safe enough to relax.

This workshop will review recent neuroscience research that explains how traumatic experience becomes embedded in both mind and body, extending the trauma far beyond the original events. 

New neurobiologically-informed somatic techniques directly address the non-verbal memories and physiological responses and can be easily integrated into talking therapies, offering renewed hope to victims of abuse.

In this IFS workshop series, we will explore the nuances of trauma, particularly Complex Trauma, and its profound effects on attachment and the psyche’s protective system. We’ll tackle the challenges in treatment, such as negotiating with mistrustful protectors and managing therapist parts.

Additionally, we’ll delve into the critical role of moral judgment and meaning in therapeutic contexts, addressing issues like addictive relationships and self-harm.

Have you ever wondered how your body carries burdens, stress, hurts, and pain? We usually relate to emotions and feelings, and not often enough are we attuned to bodily sensations and somatic experiences.
We invite you to come for an experiential exploration to learn how parts of our psyche use and affect our bodies. We’ll explore some ways to encounter your internal family with curiosity, kindness, and a pace that works best for you.

This workshop would be about the spiritual and energetic nature of IFS. We will be working with what happens energetically in the body, how we use our manager’s strategies energetically, and how our Self-energy is different from one another depending on our energetic nature.

This workshop will share how we run our energy, how we can use it to create change in our systems, and how we can cultivate it and have some mastery of it to change patterns in our systems with IFS more profoundly.

In this workshop you will learn about working with plant teachers in a western context. 
Geke has been given ceremonies with The Madre for over 12 years and will share her knowledge about set and setting, safe practices and the importance of preparation and integration.

Geke Dijkstra has a degree in clinical psychology and transpersonal therapy and is trained in breath work, bodywork and voice dialogue.

The title of Mark Wolynn’s book, “It Didn’t Start With You”, suggests that we carry the trauma of our ancestors, and research supports this notion. However, we can break the cycle of intergenerational trauma by healing these inherited burdens. 

In this workshop, we will use both ancient wisdom and contemporary therapeutic modalities, including Ancestral Healing and IFS Therapy, to address intergenerational trauma. As a mental health professional, you will have the opportunity to learn new healing tools and participate in rituals that you can bring to your therapy sessions.

During this workshop, you will develop an understanding of the organizing principles of Polyvagal Theory and discover how to use Polyvagal Theory to enhance your therapy practice. You’ll learn about the hierarchy of the autonomic nervous system and how it influences emotions, behaviours, and social connections.

You’ll develop an understanding of how the autonomic nervous system shapes behaviors and beliefs and learn strategies to help your clients’ regulate their nervous systems and improve their ability to cope with complex trauma.

Compassionate Inquiry is a psychotherapeutic method developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearance we present to the world.

Dr. Maté will model the process of Compassionate Inquiry with course participants and instruct therapists in the practice of this powerful technique to help clients access deep healing and transformation. This will be both an experiential, participatory workshop where participants will be guided through their own personal process, as well as a training to teach the method of Compassionate Inquiry to health professionals, therapists and social workers.

Polyvagal Theory explains how humans connect with each other. It helps us understand what happens to our nervous system when we don’t feel safe and disconnect from others. Learning about Polyvagal Theory through an IFS lens allows us to support our clients in going through a more embodied therapy process and to move from the survival mode to thriving and flourishing.

This workshop will be led by Dr. Alexia Rothman, a licensed psychologist and Certified IFS therapist in private practice in Atlanta. As Richard Schwartz said, “Lexi Rothman not only knows IFS deeply, she embodies it. She gets my highest recommendation as a therapist or presenter!”.

This workshop will introduce you to the model of Self-Led Sexuality, that will help you to navigate sexuality in a wise, expansive and centered way. It will be led by the founder of the Relating Well Center, LLC, Patricia Rich. She is passionate about helping people to deepen connections within themselves and with partners in order to live more harmonious and fulfilling lives. She is guided by the Internal Family Systems model, principles of positive sexuality, embodied practices, and a social justice lens. 
This workshop will include practice in small groups as well as alternative exercise options for those who prefer to practice by themselves.

Direct access is one of the most challanging IFS skills to acquire. IFS practitioners and therapists often don’t feel confident enough in their ability to use it – even after their IFS Level 1 Training. During this workshop we will learn how to properly use it, both explicitly and implicitly.

After this series you will be able to use direct access in your private practice. Fran Booth, a social worker, is a certified IFS therapist, consultant, and trainer.

Shamanism and modern psychotherapy have more in common that one might think. Shamans practice the most ancient form of healing we know. Psychotherapists around the world are now discovering ways to learn from their treatments. During this workshop we will discover how we can implement shamanic practices into our therapeutic work with clients. 
This workshop will be led by an IFS Teacher Robert Falconer, who specializes in working with Unattached Burdens and psychedelic experiences, and an IFS Lead Trainer Ann Sinko, who has 20 years of clinical experience and is licensed marriage and family therapist in Connecticut.

Many of us has caretaking and therapist parts that are very much similar to Self. Often, these are the parts that motivated us to become therapists and practitioners. But when we support people, such Self-like parts can hinder the progress of therapy. This workshops series will help you to discriminate between helping, caretaking, therapist parts and the Self, and show you strategies to unblend them.
Pamela Krause is an IFS Senior Lead Trainer at IFS Institute and is trained in Hakomi therapy. She has a private practice working with adults, adolescents, and children.

Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy introduces a new therapeutic modality that blends principles of somatic therapy with the traditional tools of the Internal Family Systems framework. During this 1-day workshop, Susan McConnell will introduce 5 core practices that you can apply to your practice: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement, and attuned touch. 
Susan McConnell has taught Internal Family Systems (IFS) in the U.S. and internationally since 1997. Somatic IFS, which McConnell developed in 2004, is a synthesis of her forty years of study, teaching, and clinical practice with bodywork, psychotherapy, and spiritual practices.

In our culture, criticizing addiction is welcome. It’s often believed that this is the only way to control the behaviour of people who are addicted. IFS offers a paradigm shift – a perspective in which we can unlock the healing potential by being compassionate to those who are stuck in their addiction. During this workshop series you will learn how to use compassion to effectively resolve addictive and compulsive practices. 
Cece Sykes is a Senior Lead Trainer and she has over thirty years of clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families, specializing in work with the effects of trauma and addiction.

During this workshop series we will dive deep into ideas Frank Anderson described in his newest book “Transcending Trauma”, which explores a unique, compassionate, and evidence-based approach to resolving complex and dissociative trauma. Sign up and learn how to stay calm and steady in the presence of extreme symptoms, discover a different approach to resolving attachment trauma and gain confidence when addressing shame, neglect, and dissociation.
Frank Anderson is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and as an IFS Lead Trainer he teaches the IFS Level 2 Training “IFS, Trauma and Neuroscience”.

One of the biggest challenges for IFS therapists and practitioners are protectors, who are difficult to befriend. These are the parts that doubt the existence of Self, cut us off from our inner experience, are not willing to share their positive intent or have any other extreme strategy that bring stuckness to the process. During this IFS workshop series you will learn new ways to befriend these difficult protectors.

Mike Elkin is an IFS senior Lead trainer who has been involved with the model since 1995. He has been a popular presenter, conducting scores of trainings and workshops throughout the US and Europe and has taught level one trainings in Boston every year since 2003.

What is the true nature of our exiles? How to differentiate them from their burdens and identify their natural qualities and gifts? In this series we will take a deep dive into working with exiles with the focus on the unburdening process. You will also learn how to integrate the unburdened exile’s gifts into your everyday life.
Paul Neustadt is a senior IFS Co-Lead Trainer and AAMFT approved supervisor. In his private practice, he specializes in couples’ therapy, parent coaching, and IFS consultation.

Attachment wounds are some of the deepest emotional wounds that affect our internal family in a profound way. During this 2-day workshop you will learn how to work with systems affected by attachment trauma by unburdening the young exiled parts with attachment burdens.

This workshop will be led by Osnat Arbel, PhD, LMFT – a Certified IFS Therapist and International Lead Trainer. Ossi actively trains, supervises, and facilitates Level 1 and Level 2 IFS trainings. She is the Co-founder of the Israeli Institute for IFS.

IFS therapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy are a great fit. It’s because of that Internal Family Systems is one of the main modalities used in MDMA trials done by MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).

During this online workshop series an IFS Teacher, Robert Falconer – who co-authored „Many Minds, One Self” book with Richard Schwartz – will take you on a journey, during which you will learn how to use IFS to support the altered states of consciousness, Robert and his guests – leaders in the field of psychedelic therapy – will talk about the application of IFS therapy during three stages of work with psychedelics – preparation, experience and integration.

Being a parent means being triggered. Often. IFS therapy gives us tools that help us to see which parts of us are triggered by particular behaviours of our children. If we can unblend from our parts, we can show up for our children as parents who present, compassionate and supportive. During this workshop, you will learn how to use IFS to become a more Self-led parent.

Dr Frank Anderson is a Lead Trainer for IFS Institute, who also trains for Bessel Van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He is an author of the recently published book „Transcending Trauma” in which he talks about healing Complex PTSD with IFS therapy. He also co-authored the „Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual”.

How can we supervise or offer consultation in a way that is fully congruent with the IFS model? This workshop will focus on developing understanding and skills in clinical supervision/consultation by exploring how we can integrate IFS into our work. We will consider how IFS can guide us in the focus, process and content of different aspects of supervision and consultation practice.

This workshop will take place on the 6th and 13th of July (two meetings). It will be led by Liz Martins, an IFS Approved Consultant along with the guest speaker Emma Redfern.

IFS couples therapy is an area that gets more and more interest. There are many challanges to this kind of work and when we meet a highly conflictual couple we may be surprised with how the process gets complicated. During this series of online workshops Mary Kruger will show you how to approach such couples and how to use IFS to help them.

Mary Kruger, MS, LMFT, founded Rimmon Pond Counseling, an IFS-based private practice in Connecticut, and has specialized in addictions, eating disorders, trauma, and relationships for over 20 years.

Daily Parts Meditation Practice® for Therapists & Practitioners with Michelle Glass is a series of 4 online IFS Therapy workshops.

You will learn 6 IFS therapy tools endorsed by Richard Schwartz and Gabor Mate which will allow you to discover new ways of tracking your clients healing progress and mapping their parts. This workshop will give you knowdlege, practice and confidence to effectively engage your clients between sessions.

Daily Parts Meditation Practice® for Clients with Michelle Glass is a series of 3 online IFS Therapy workshops.

You will learn 6 IFS therapy tools endorsed by Richard Schwartz and Gabor Mate which will allow you to discover new ways of tracking your healing progress and mapping your parts. This workshop will give you knowdlege, practice and confidence to effectively engage in your inner work between sessions.

The Self-led Therapist is a series of 4 online IFS Therapy workshops that will help you you bring more Self-energy into the therapeutic relationship.

With Osnat Arbel, PhD (IFS Lead Trainer) you will explore your own therapist parts, gain awareness of your internal system (burdened protectors and exiles), and strengthen your access to the Self. You will also learn how to relax your parts and embody the 8C’s and the 5P’s while doing IFS therapy with your clients.