Our guest is Paul Neustadt,  a clinical social worker and IFS Senior Co-lead Trainer. Paul has worked in community mental health and the counseling program of a working-class state university as well as having been the director of a community-based counseling and prevention program. Paul sees himself as a spiritual being in a human body, on a healing journey, in this life to learn lessons, to connect with his soul, and to live in accordance with his life purpose. Part of his life purpose has been to share the gift of IFS with others. In this episode, we discuss the qualities and virtues of Self-like parts, and how to welcome, honor, and genuinely validate them in a non-shaming way that allows more Self energy to emerge.

Today we welcome Catia Vinnik.  Catia Vinnik is a neuroscientist and science communicator who has dedicated over 20 years to understanding the brain—from sensory processing and memory to molecular mechanisms underlying complex behaviors. 

Recently, she has translated this extensive research into practical psychoeducation tools and interactive games for therapists.

Catia graduated from medical school and earned her PhD in cognitive neuroscience in Italy, during which she discovered a novel auditory illusion. 

She founded the "Behaving Brain" project to bridge neuroscience and psychotherapy, creating accessible tools such as Brain Coping Cards that therapists can use with their clients. 

Her belief that learning should be active, shapes workshops on the neuroscience of addiction, anxiety, depression, trauma, and other therapy-related topics by using interactive educational games that clarify complex neural interactions in the client's brain and how therapy taps into these processes.

Dr. Vinnik is trained in Internal Family Systems, a model she values highly for its insightful perspective on the human mind.

Today, we revisit Joanne Twombley’s amazing episode from 2022 on Trauma- and Dissociation-Informed IFS. 
Joanne H. Twombly, MSW, LICSW  is a psychotherapist in private practice in Arlington, MA. She has over thirty years of experience working with C-PTSD and dissociative disorders, provides trainings and consultation. She has written on EMDR and Dissociative Disorders, 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 honnored with ISSTD's Distinguished Achievement Award and is an ISSTD Fellow.

This is an IFS Talk with Cece Sykes, an IFS Senior Trainer, US and international. She has Contributed to Levels 1 and 2 IFS training manuals and teaches L1 as well as L2 Trauma and Addiction. Cece has over thirty years of clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families, specializing in work with the effects of trauma and addiction. Her chapter on compassionate approaches to addictive process appears in IFS: Innovations and Elaborations. Cece also has special interests in spiritual practices intersecting with therapy and in the impact of psychotherapy upon the life of the therapist and she lectures, consults and leads workshops on all of these topics. Cece lives and works in the city of Chicago.

Podcast Feedback and Interview Request welcome at https://internalfamilysystems.pt/ifs-talks

In this episode, we discuss understanding OCD through an IFS lens. We explore particular challenges in treating OCD that arise from the interplay of the neurological and psychological factors that underly the condition. We also discuss how IFS integrates effective elements of other empirically validated treatments for OCD, and why IFS enhances the effectiveness of these interventions. 

Melissa Mose, LMFT, has been in private practice for 30 years and has specialized in working with OCD for roughly half of that. She is currently the president of OCD Southern California, an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation and she is an international speaker and educator on Obsessive Compulsive disorder. As a Level 3 trained and certified Internal Family Systems therapist and an IFSI-approved professional consultant, Melissa is committed to developing a more compassionate, IFS-informed approach to evidence-based treatment for OCD. She is currently working on several projects designed to raise awareness, improve early identification and a wider range of treatment options for individuals with OCD.

In this episode, we explore the nature and healing of exiles. We discuss finding and connecting with exiles, approaches to dealing with protectors’ fears of overwhelm, the healing and integration process, and more. 

Einat is a psychotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She has lived and worked with IFS since the early days of the model and learned closely and directly from Dr. Richard Schwartz. She is a certified IFS therapist and supervisor and a Senior International Lead Trainer for IFSI. She is also the co-founder and co-director of The Israeli Institute for IFS that brought IFS to Israel and has trained hundreds of Israeli therapists in  the model since 2008. Einat taught family and couples therapy at Tel Aviv University, presented multiple times at the IFS Annual Conference, and has led IFS trainings, seminars and workshops all over the world. She is married, has 4 children and one grandchild, and lives in Israel. She feels that all aspects of her life have been greatly influenced and shaped by the loving and spacious perspective IFS offers, for which she is deeply grateful.

Today we are welcoming IFS Lead Trainer, Paul Neustadt. Paul is a clinical social worker who has worked in community mental health and the counseling program of a working class state university, and he has been the director of a community based counseling and prevention program. He is an IFS senior co-lead trainer who also provides IFS consultation for individuals and groups. He has given workshops on The Gifts of Our Exiles: Reconnecting with Our True Self; Direct Access: An Essential Skill of IFS; Self Led Parenting; Self Led Feedback; Skeptical Parts; and other topics. He has written a chapter called “From Reactive to Self Led Parenting” in a book edited by Martha Sweezy and Ellen Ziskind. Today, we will be talking with him about the process of finding our own way with the IFS model as therapists and practitioners. You can contact Paul at probneus@gmail.com

Having worked in community mental health at the outpatient department of the Cambridge Health Alliance for 18 years as a therapist, supervisor and the associate director of the DBT program, Martha Sweezy experienced with a wide variety of mental health challenges, many related to the sequelae of trauma. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a clinical and program development consultant at Cambridge Health Alliance. Until January, 2015, Martha was the Associate Director and Director of Training of DBT at Cambridge Health Alliance. In addition to being the author of several articles, Martha is a co-editor or co-author of eight books related to IFS (see Publications), and co-leads (with Toni Herbine-Blank) workshops for IFS trained therapists on shame and self-compassion, fondly nicknamed “Shame Camp” by participants. Martha has an online private practice.

Today on Explorations in Psychotherapy, we are welcoming IFS practitioner, teacher, and author, Mr. Robert Falconer. Bob has an undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology, with a focus on the history of religions, and a Master’s degree in psychology. Bob has been extensively trained in multiple therapeutic modalities, but he has devoted himself to the Internal Family Systems model for over 10 years, as he has found it to be the most compassionate and potent way to work with severe trauma. At this point in his career, he is increasingly focused on the spiritual dimensions of healing. He has published 7 books and co-edited four. Today, we will be speaking with him about his new book, which represents the culmination of decades of in-depth research, calledThe Others Within Us: Internal Family Systems, Porous Mind, and Spirit Possession.

Today, and while we do a pause in our IFS Talks series, we release a 2021 episode with Dick Schwartz.
The Hosts, Alexia Rothman and Aníbal Henriques will be speaking primarily about his latest book, No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, published in 2021 summer by Sounds True.
Dick speaks not only to the basics in IFS, but he goes deeper into the healing and transformative challenges we all face individually and collectively, and discusses IFS as a spiritual practice as well as a psychotherapeutic morality.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Chris Burris, M.Ed, LMFT, LCMHCS, is a Clinical Consultant and Senior Lead Trainer for the Center for Self Leadership.Chris has been a psychotherapist since 1989, working with diverse populations in community agencies, intensive residential centers, institutions of higher learning, and in private practice. He began training in the Internal Family Systems model in 1999 and is currently a Senior Lead Trainer for the Internal Family Systems Institute where he teaches Level 1, Level II, and Level III trainings and serves as a trainer and mentor for new IFS training staff. Recently Chris published "Creating Healing Circles", a book focused on utilizing IFS in group formats.

Today we bring a 2021 episode on Explorations in Psychotherapy Podcast, with  Bob Falconer. Bob earned his undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology, with a focus on the history of religions. In the early 1980s, he pursued his Master’s degree in psychology. In his career as a therapist, Robert spent considerable time at the Esalen Institute and decades involved in Gestalt therapy. For 15 years, he was the executive director of the Institute for Trauma-Oriented Psychotherapy. Over the course of his career, Robert has been extensively trained in multiple therapeutic modalities, but he has completely devoted himself to the Internal Family Systems model for the past 10 years, as he has found it to be the most compassionate and potent way to work with severe trauma. At this point in his career, he is increasingly focused on the spiritual dimensions of healing. He has published 6 books, co-edited four, and most recently co-authored a book with Dr. Richard Schwartz, the developer of the IFS model, entitled "Many Minds, One Self: Evidence for a Radical Shift in Paradigm". Today, we will be speaking with Bob about this wonderful book. Robert is teaching a lot now. If you want to study with him go to Bob's website at https://robertfalconer.us 

Joanne H. Twombly, MSW, LICSW (Pronouns: she/her/hers) is a psychotherapist in private practice in Arlington, MA. She has over thirty years of experience working with C-PTSD and dissociative disorders, provides trainings and consultation. She has written on EMDR and Dissociative Disorders, 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 honnored with ISSTD's Distinguished Achievement Award and is an ISSTD Fellow.

This episode is a recording of an open Q&A session with Martha Sweezy. 
All questions were submitted by participants and focused primarily on Martha’s area of expertise: shame and guilt. 
We hope you enjoy Martha’s wisdom.

Cece Sykes, LCSW is a senior trainer at the Internal Family Systems Institute with over thirty-five years of clinical experience specializing in recovery from trauma and addiction. Her chapter on treating addictive processes appears in IFS: Innovations & Elaborations, 2016). She is co-author of a new book on IFS therapy with Martha Sweezy, due out in early 2023: Treating Addictive Processes with Internal Family Systems Therapy: A Compassionate and Effective Approach for Helping People Who Soothe or Distract with Substances, Food, Gambling, Pornography, and More. Cece also developed the Heart Lessons of the Journey retreat for an on-going study of therapist narratives. She lectures and consults internationally on these and other related subjects. Cece lives and works in Chicago. 

Today we bring an episode from  Explorations in Psychotherapy, Alexia Rothman as co-host.  We welcome Dr. Arthur Mones, a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology with over three decades of experience as a therapist, teacher, and clinical supervisor. He is on the faculty of the Adelphi University Derner Institute Postgraduate Training Program in Couples Therapy. Previously, he served as Coordinator of Marriage and Family Therapy Training in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at St. John’s University, and was a faculty member of the Long Island Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psyhchotherapy. He is an Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and is a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist. His publications include Transforming Troubled Children, Teens, and Their Families: An Internal Family Systems Model for Healing, and the KidsWorld Psychotherapeutic Board Game along with a Therapist’s Guide to KidsWorld. He offers Workshops and Consultation Groups on The Essence of Emotional Healing.  Today, we will focus on Art's most recent book, The Essence of Healing: A Quest for a MetaModel of the Psychotherapy of Trauma, published in 2021.

Fatimah Finney is a serial goal-setter, lover of new ideas, and imaginative thinker.

She is a certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist and maintains a private practice serving BIPOC, young adults and people navigating workplace issues. She is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and is a consultant for individuals and organizations aiming to build their capacity and skills for centering diversity equity and inclusion in their workplaces.

Prior to her counseling and consulting practice, Fatimah was an in-home therapist to children and adults and served as a director of a community mental health agency. Through her clinical leadership roles, she cultivated a strong commitment to helping therapists increase their cultural competence and clinical fluency with diverse populations. Fatimah is a new Assistant Trainer at the IFS Institute and will be teaching in the upcoming Continuity Program on Intent, Impact and Intercultural Competence.

She recharges her spirit by playing with her children, taking walks with her parts, and dabbling in creative writing.

Paul Neustadt, MSS, LICSW, is a senior IFS Co-Lead Trainer. He also co-leads a monthly seminar for level 1 graduates focused on integrating the skills learned in level 1. He has led workshops on Self Led Parenting, the Therapeutic Relationship in IFS, Direct Access: An Essential Skill of IFS, IFS and Climate Change, and The Gifts of Our Exiles.

For 17 years Paul was director of a community counseling and prevention program for children, adolescents, and their families. Paul has also worked in a college counseling center and community mental health center, and taught couples and family therapy in a family therapy institute and two graduate programs. In his private practice Paul now specializes in IFS consultation, both group and individual.

Paul lives with his wife and long time life partner, Barbara, and together they are delighting in being grandparents to a wonderful toddler. He has two grown children who have greatly expanded his consciousness in many ways. Paul feels most at home in nature, near water and close to trees. He enjoys kayaking and hiking and riding his bike.

As an IFS trainer, Paul creates a safe, accepting atmosphere, attends thoughtfully to group process, and ensures that all parts are welcome. He is known for his clear, down to earth, and open-hearted manner. Paul is grateful for the opportunity to share with others the things that have most transformed his own life.

Nancy Wonder, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in Tallahassee, Florida where she offers Internal Family Systems therapy and consultation.Dr. Wonder obtained her Ph.D. from Florida State University in Counseling Psychology and remained as a field instructor for FSU for many years teaching and training doctoral students.

In 2003 she began to be fascinated by the Internal Family Systems model and later became involved in the IFS applied couple model of Intimacy From the Inside Out (IFIO). This fascination has led Nancy to establish a full-time practice that revolves around individual and couples counseling using the IFS and IFIO models. Nancy loves to teach other therapists about the two powerful, life changing models of IFS and IFIO.

Dr. Wonder has published two chapters regarding use of Internal Family Systems with a case involving pornography addiction: (Wonder, N.M. (2012) “Treating Pornography Addiction with IFS” in Internal Family Systems: New Dimensions. Eds. M. Sweezy & E. Ziskind, Routledge; NY, NY. And another on IFS and supervision:Internal Family Systems Therapy: Supervision and Consultation, Edited by Emma Redfern Making the Unconscious Conscious in IFS Consultation of Sexual Abuse, Sexual Offending, and Sexual Compulsivity Cases.

She has taught for the Institute of Internal Family Systems, PESI, and Intimacy From the inside Out with a total of 15 years-experience teaching IFS and IFIO. She also is a senior lead trainer for Intimacy From the Inside Out. Dr. Wonder teaches throughout the United States and in Europe. Her students describe her as warm, real, and an excellent clinician.

She also developed an IFS Continuity Program for treating sexual addiction and sexual victimization through the use of IFS. Dr. Winikates and Dr. Wonder created a webinar for loneliness that they offered through the Internal Family Systems Institute early in the pandemic.

In her leisurely time she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and 3 grandchildren. 

Crystal Jones, LCSW is a Certified IFS Therapist and Assistant Trainer. She feels extremely grateful to have experienced and witnessed the healing benefits of the IFS model in her own life and in the lives of her clients.  She has 18 years of clinical experience and owns a private group practice, Life Source Counseling Center, Inc., in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Crystal is known for her compassion and heart-led approach to her work.  She is passionate about creating safe spaces for BIPOC women to feel connected, seen, heard, and valued as they do their healing work individually and collectively. She also enjoys providing IFS clinical consultation to therapists and practitioners learning the model and pursuing certification.  In her leisure time, Crystal enjoys traveling, being with her family and friends, reading, enjoying nature, and caring for her plant collection. She truly looks forward to sharing in the healing journeys of all inspired by this model.

Terrence Real is an internationally recognized family therapist, speaker, and author. He founded the Relational Life Institute, offering workshops for couples, individuals, and parents along with a professional training program for clinicians to learn his Relational Life Therapy methodology. He is the bestselling author of I Don't Want to Talk About It, How Can I Get Through to You?, and The New Rules of Marriage. His book US: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship will be published by Goop Press June 7, 2022. 

Mariel Pastor is a Lead Trainer based in Portland, Oregon who began her IFS journey back in 1998 with Richard Schwartz.  She trains across the United States and internationally and is a co-founder of the IFS Telehealth Collective, a multi-state group practice of licensed and trained IFS therapists.   Mariel recently wrote and edited the new Level 1 training manual, and has created advanced workshops designed around the Unburdened Internal System mandala.  Prior to becoming a psychotherapist she worked in the entertainment industry in Hollywood.  Her love of working with artists has inspired her most recent project called Character Mapping - a psychological toolbox for actors  writers, and directors to build deeper characters and to find them selves.  In her private practice she works primarily with individual adults and provides consultation for other therapists.
Mariel is with Paul Guinter coordinator for  IFS Telehealth Collective.

Chris Burris, LPC, LMFT is a Senior Lead Trainer for the IFS Institute. He has been an IFS Therapist since 1999 and is trained as a Marriage and Family Therapist. He uses mind/body approaches of therapy in alleviating traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety disorders. He works extensively with individuals and groups.

Since 1990 he has been very active with Men’s, Couples, Self Leadership Groups and Rites of Passage Programs. As the former Director of Counseling at The North Carolina School of the Arts, Chris has considerable experience with performance enhancement with Athletes, Artists, Actors, Filmmakers, Musicians, Writers, and Dancers. He is currently in Private Practice in Asheville, NC.

In addition to being a psychotherapist, Chris has trained in many nature based models with Animus Valley institute, School of Lost Borders, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and The Center for Conscious Eldering.

Russell Siler Jones, ThD, LCMHCS, is a psychotherapist in Asheville, NC, Director of CareNet/Wake Forest Baptist Health’s Residency in Psychotherapy and Spirituality, and Developer of ACPE’s Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Program. He is author of Spirit in Session: Working with Your Client’s Spirituality (and Your Own) in Psychotherapy. 

You can find more about RSJ here at Russell's website:
https://russellsilerjones.com

Today we are welcoming back Cece Sykes. Cece is a senior trainer at the Internal Family Systems Institute with over thirty-five years of clinical experience specializing in recovery from trauma and addiction. Her chapter on addictive processes appears in IFS: Innovations & Elaborations. She is a co-author of the book, Treating Addictive Processes with Internal Family Systems Therapy, published in 2023. Cece also developed the Heart Lessons of the Journey retreat for an on-going study of therapist narratives. She lectures and consults internationally on these and other related subjects. Cece lives and works in the Chicago area.  Today, we will be speaking with her about the Nature and Healing of Exiles in IFS therapy. 

Victoria is an IFS and IFIO therapist working in private practice in London. She is passionate about applying the IFS model to working with sex and sexuality and is currently delivering workshops and designing resources to support other practitioners in this area of work.

Victoria previously worked in public health. She completed a master's degree in health promotion and worked as a Senior Health Improvement Specialist, specialising first in young people's sexual health and then in HIV prevention in men who have sex with men. 

Victoria then trained in psychotherapy and completed a master's programme in psychodynamic and person-centred modalities. She gained Accreditation with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and Advanced Accreditation as a Gender, Sexuality and Relationship Diversities Therapist with Pink Therapy.  Before moving into private practice, Victoria coordinated a specialist counselling service in a central London clinic working with clients around out of control sexual behaviours, understanding and asserting sexual needs, coming to terms with sexual health diagnosis, exploring sexual identity and difficulties having sex. 

You can find out more about the work Victoria does on her website www.victoriajanepsychotherapy.net and details of her next workshop at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sex-and-sexuality-using-an-ifs-framework-tickets-299028842317 

More resources from Victoria's work here at  https://www.victoriajanepsychotherapy.net/ifs-sexuality-workshops-resources

Yoav Bartov was born and raised in Israel. A BA and MA in Social work from Tel-Aviv university, Yoav trained in couples and Family therapist (3 year program from Tel Aviv university), worked for the public sector in welfare department with children at risk and multi-problem families, running the special staff dealing with abuse and neglect of minors for a few years.

Yoav started his IFS journey in 2014, completing Level 1, 2 and 3. He is being a PA and Lead PA in different IFS trainings around the world for the last 5 years.   A certified IFS therapist and supervisor,  Yoav has a private practice where he consults individuals and couples,  and also offers supervision to therapists.
Yoav is married and has two sons.

Liz Martins is an experienced therapist, an IFS Institute Lead Trainer, Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Supervisor/Consultant. She has a private practice in the UK and offers therapy and individual /group supervision online and in person. Prior to becoming a therapist, Liz had a career in social work with children and families, including in leadership and external consultancy roles. She is a qualified supervisor with extensive experience as an individual/group supervisor in a range of settings. Liz has a particular interest in supporting supervisors to integrate IFS into their practice and has contributed a chapter for a book on IFS supervision and consultation, due to be published next year.

Emma Redfern is a Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Supervisor/Consultant, as well as an experienced PA. Working in private practice in the UK, she is a senior BACP-accredited supervisor and psychotherapist and an EMDR therapist. Emma has had a number of articles published in professional journals and she has edited a multi-author book on IFS and Supervision and Consultation, due to be published by Routledge in July 2022.

Note:
The seven-eyed model was developed by Peter Hawkins and Robin Shohet, with Judy Ryde and Joan Shohet (née Wilmot), of the Centre for Supervision and Team Development (CSTD), Bath and London, UK.

Here Emma and Liz contacts:
eredfern96@gmail.com
lizmartins2@gmail.com
https://www.emmaredfern.co.uk

Today on IFS Talks we’re so happy to be welcoming back Cece Sykes.
Cece has over 40 years of clinical experience, specializing in recovery from trauma and addictive processes.
She is currently a Senior Lead Trainer of IFS) and Cece has also developed a workshop as part of an ongoing worldwide project to explore the personal narratives of therapists and the impact on their work.

Today we’re having a conversation with Cece about how to Create Order out of the Chaos of Addictive Process: how to use IFS to find the patterns in addictive issues or any  intense or polarized system. Basically, how to stay in charge without losing our hearts, or our minds.

Mariel Pastor is an IFS therapist, consultant, and Lead Trainer based in Portland, Oregon who began her IFS journey back in 1998 with Richard Schwartz.  
She trains across the United States and internationally and is the principal author of the manual used in Level 1 trainings. She is also co-founder of the IFS Telehealth Collective, a multi-state group practice that brings IFS therapy online to clients while supporting the clinicians who serve them. Mariel's Unburdened Internal System mandala illustrates what life can look like when we befriend and unburden our parts, and this material was recently featured as part of the IFS Institute's Continuity Program.  This year she will launch online programming for Character Mapping - a psychological toolbox for actors writers, and directors.  You can find more about Mariel here at https://www.marielpastor.com

With a Law degree at Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Masters in Clinical Social Work at Washington University in St Louis, MO, USA, Einat learnt with Dick Schwartz and practiced IFS from its early years in Chicago. She graduated from Level 1, 2 and 3 IFS trainings; an International Lead Trainer, an IFS supervisor and a Certified IFS Therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience in private practice. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Israeli Institute of IFS.  Einat taught Couples Therapy for 8 years in Tel Aviv university, she is married and has 4 kids.
More recently Einat became a grandmother: a grandson joined the family.

Derek Scott is the founder of IFSCA, a Canadian organisation dedicated to promoting the work of Dick Schwartz, originator of the IFS model. Though IFSCA Derek offers many programs and trainings such as the Stepping Stone course and the affordable online monthly masterclass workshops featuring experts in the IFS field such as Dick Schwartz, Kay Gardner, Susan McConnell and many others.

Derek has been working with and teaching the model for 20 years. Along with his daughter Maya he presented as part of the plenary on diversity and inclusivity at the IFS conference in 2016 and volunteered as consultant to the IFS Institute as part of the diversity and inclusivity advisory committee.

His first job as a counsellor was in the early 80’s when he began working on the frontlines of the AIDS pandemic, developing anti-oppression workshops as clients and loved ones were dying. He has been championing queer rights ever since.

You can find Derek's IFSCA website at  https://ifsca.ca/

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. He was a pioneer in applying hypnotic and strategic approaches to addiction treatment and has integrated those tools into IFS treatment. He is the author of, “Families Under the Influence” and several articles.

Michael has a private practice in marriage, family, and individual psychotherapy, and he is very focused on training therapists in the Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy model, which Michael believe is the most flexible, powerful, and humane tool for healing available. It enables people to use their spiritual resources without getting into religeon or metaphysics.

Today we release an Explorations in Psychotherapy episode with Dick Schwartz.
The Hosts, Alexia Rothman and Aníbal Henriques will be speaking primarily about his latest book, No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, published this 2021 summer by Sounds True.
As we found the episode potentially didactic for the IFS Community in particular, we decided to release it in IFS Talks as well.
Dick speaks not only to the basics in IFS, but he goes deeper into the healing and transformative challenges we all face individually and collectively, and discusses IFS as a spiritual practice as well as a psychotherapeutic morality.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

And here a link to the coming online 2021 Annual IFS Conference:
https://ifs-institute.com/annual-conference/registration

Today we are interviewing and welcoming back Pam Krause. Pam is a Senior Lead Trainer for theIFS-Institute,  and has been leading Level 1, 2 and 3 trainings since 2005. Pam adapted the IFS model for use with children and adolescents, and has created both onsite and online trainings on the topic. Ana Gomez and Pam co-authored the chapter EMDR Therapy and the Use of Internal Family Systems Strategies with Children in EMDR Therapy and Adjunct Approaches with Children. Pam also authored a chapter on IFS with Children & Adolescents in Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions, and also co-authored a chapter called Getting Unstuck: addressing occasional ruptures and impasses in our work in IFS  in the 2017 book “Innovations and elaborations in IFS”. Pam also has a private practice in Mechanicsburg, PA.

Paul Neustadt is an IFS Senior Co-Lead Trainer. He has taught workshops on The Gifts of our Exiles, The Power of Presence in IFS; Self Led Parenting; and a number of other topics. He teaches a monthly seminar for level 1 graduates focused on integrating the skills learned in level 1 that begins in October. In his private practice he now focuses on providing individual and group consultation to IFS therapists. For 17 years he was director of a community counseling and prevention program for children, adolescents, and their families. Paul has also worked in a college counseling center and community mental health center, and taught couples and family therapy in a family therapy institute and two graduate programs. As an IFS trainer, Paul creates a safe, accepting atmosphere, attends thoughtfully to group process, and ensures that all parts are welcome. He is known for his clear, down to earth, and open-hearted manner. 

Natalie Thomas is a Registered Psychotherapist and IFS therapist in private practice and a Professor of Philosophy, specializing in animal and environmental ethics. She has presented and led workshops on the application of IFS for those experiencing climate distress, and on ways IFS can inform ecotherapy and nature-based therapies. She also holds monthly climate cafes and trains others to facilitate these, using an IFS lens. She is a Regional Coordinator for the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America, and her current research is focused on the creation of an IFS-informed approach to climate-aware therapy. Parts & Self has published two of her pieces on IFS and animals, and IFS and climate distress. Additionally, she has also been featured in an episode of ‘The One Inside’ which focused on IFS, Self and our connection to nature, and has presented at the latest IFS Conference on IFS, climate distress and ecotherapy. Her private practice specializes in the use of IFS for those suffering from trauma, grief and climate distress, and she also offers workshops, retreats and trainings in these areas. 

Here a link to Natalie's website and Climate Cafes 
 

Today we bring an "Explorations in Psychotherapy" episode, Lexi Rothman as co-host. We are speaking with Deb Dana, a clinician and consultant who specializes in treating complex traumatic stress.  Deb is a consultant to the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium in the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.  She lectures internationally on the ways Polyvagal Theory informs clinical interactions with trauma survivors, and she works with organizations wanting to bring a polyvagal-informed approach to working with clients.  Deb is the developer of the Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series.  She is trained in Internal Family Systems and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and has completed the certificate program in Traumatic Stress Studies at the Trauma Center.  Deb is the author of "The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy" and co-editor with Stephen Porges of "Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory".  In this episode, we will be speaking primarily about her book "Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection", and announcing Deb's newest book - "Anchored: How to befriend your nervous system". Hope you enjoy the conversation.

Fran Booth, a social worker,  is a certified IFS therapist, consultant, and trainer. A clinician for more than 40 years, her practice specialties include trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, cancer/ and other medical concerns, binge eating, and attachment injuries. She graduated from Cornell University (with honors) and Simmons School for Social Work. Early in her career, Fran supervised social work interns and medical students for the Smith College School for Social Work, Tufts Medical School, and the William James College.
 
Immersed in IFS since 2005, Fran served as a therapist in the seminal research study on IFS and Rheumatoid arthritis.
She recently penned a chapter titled: IFS Consultation: Fostering the Self-Led Therapist for an upcoming book on IFS and Supervision.
She has offered over 75 workshops, for a variety of training organizations, spreading the word on parts work and IFS to the global community. She was recently promoted to Co-lead trainer for the IFS Institute.

Sue Richmond is a L3 IFS trained, Certified IFS therapist and IFS Assistant Trainer.
Sue came to the IFS world around 2001 as a result of her going back into therapy at a time where she was feeling disconnected and experienced an existential crisis.
Unbeknownst to Sue, she walked into the office of a therapist who quickly announced, “I’ve just been trained in this model called Internal Family Sytems Therapy, and it’s the only model I’m using with clients now, and I hope that’s ok with you”.
Well, the rest is history.

Sue lives in central CT with her wife and their dog Milo Thomas. Sue has an individual psychotherapy practice, an IFS consultation practice, and has expanded the use of the model by bringing IFS-informed practice into her work with psychotherapy groups. Sue is currently working on a book about bringing IFS-informed practice to groups and will be presenting a module about her work with groups to the 2021 IFS Continuity Program series.

Sue received her BA in English from Keene State College, and her MSW from the University of Connecticut. During her time in graduate school, Sue was also a member of the United States Naval Reserve and served in the Reserves for 5 years. She has presented many workshops, and has a special fondness for the Intro to IFS workshop that she presented to the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, in Hampton, VA.

She has a love for teaching, and taught social work to undergraduates as an Adjunct at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT.

Personally, Sue’s spiritual life has been a great influence in her own personal journey of healing, and she brings that healing into her practice with her clients.

Mona Barbera, Ph.D is a psychologist with over 35 years experience, specializing in couples therapy, couples workshops, and training psychotherapists. She has been quoted in Better Homes and Gardens, Cosmopolitan,and Mens Fitness and has appeared on Fox25 news in , NBC in New York, News8 in Washington, D.C., Peachtree TV in Atlanta, and KARE11 in Minneapolis.  Her book for couples, “Bring Yourself to Love: How Couples Can Turn Disconnection into Intimacy” is the winner of the prestigious 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award in psychology/self-help, the Bronze medalist in the 2008 IPPY awards in Relationships and Sexuality, and a finalist in the 2009 Eric Hoffer Awards.Mona has written for the academic journals “The Journal of Imago Relationship Therapy” and “The Journal of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy,” and she has a chapter in “Imago Relationship Therapy: Perspectives on Theory,” by Luquet, Hannah and Hunt. She is past chair of the program committee and past board member of the New England Society for the Study and Treatment of Trauma and Dissociative Disorders. She is an Assistant Trainer for Internal Family Systems, a system of psychotherapy developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband. She has private practices in Providence, RI and Middletown, RI.
To know more about Mona Barbera please go to http://www.monabarbera.com

Daphne Fatter, Ph.D. (Dallas, TX, USA) is a mid-career licensed psychologist, certified IFS therapist and approved clinical IFS consultant. She has a private practice specializing in trauma and addressing legacy burdens including the impact of oppression, marginalized identities, racism, and collective trauma. She also teaches on trauma treatment and on white race socialization in the US. She is an Ancestral Medicine Practitioner and integrates working ancestral guides with IFS. She is a student of animism and has also studied with teachers of Taoist and Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist meditation practices. She has also published professionally on mindfulness.Her ancestors are from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and Scandanvia. She lives on the traditional lands of the Cherokee, Comanche, Wichita and Caddo peoples.
For more information see https://www.daphnefatterphd.com

Chris Burris, LPC, LMFT is a Senior Lead Trainer for the IFS Institute. He has been an IFS Therapist since 1999 and is trained as a Marriage and Family Therapist. He uses mind/body approaches of therapy in alleviating traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety disorders. He works extensively with individuals and groups.

Since 1990 he has been very active with Men’s, Couples, Self Leadership Groups and Rites of Passage Programs. As the former Director of Counseling at The North Carolina School of the Arts, Chris has considerable experience with performance enhancement with Athletes, Artists, Actors, Filmmakers, Musicians, Writers, and Dancers. He is currently in Private Practice in Asheville, NC.

In addition to being a psychotherapist, Chris has trained in many nature based models with Animus Valley institute, School of Lost Borders, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and The Center for Conscious Eldering.

Stephanie Mitchell is a psychotherapist, trainer and group therapist . She specialises in working with complex trauma and experiences which often get labelled as 'mental illness'. Stephanie is interested in how healing and change occur in the human to human relationship, within spaces of safety and acceptance and outside the constructs of diagnostic labels.Stephanie's primary focus for all therapeutic work is on creating a safe space where all parts of a person are welcomed and valued, and the pace of therapeutic exploration is set by the client. Stephanie works from a deeply compassionate place that believes that all patterns of behaviour, thought or feeling come with important and valuable, hidden meanings, and that as the client and therapist work together to listen to the parts who hold these important and previously unknown meanings and offer them a space to be heard, witnessed and deeply understood, that deep change and inner transformation is stirred up. Stephanie’s initial training included 3 years of advanced studies in Transactional Analysis and she has since trained in Open Dialogue, Family Systems Therapy and Person Centred Therapy before moving over to working almost exclusively with Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). Stephanie is trained to Level 3 in the IFS Model and has undertaken extensive supervision and personal work within the model.Believing that a therapist can only take a client as far as they themselves have travelled Stephanie has undertaken her own long journey of healing from significant childhood trauma over many years of psychotherapy and human loving.She states: “My healing work with an Internal Family Systems Therapy Practitioner has offered me a profoundly life changing experience - something that years of work with other therapy models has not offered me”. 

Stephanie is also a passionate advocate and activist for social and systems change towards non-pathologising and compassionate approaches to mental distress and is involved at national and international levels around mental health reform.

We can find many theories about dreams. Freud called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious.”  Jung believed dreams were a gateway to the “collective unconscious”.  Indigenous cultures believe dreams are a way to communicate with spirits and other beings that do not live on this earth plane.  For neuroscientists dreams are mostly a way for the brain to integrate experiences and reconsolidate memory. Other cultures believe there is different types of dreams: teaching dreams, in which we are taught something useful in our waking life; prediction dreams that let us know ahead of time what will happen.

Heloisa Garman is a licensed clinical psychologist, educated at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and have been in private practice for over thirty years. Heloisa was trained in family therapy at the Juvenile Research Program at the University of Illinois. Also received training in the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model . As a Brazilian American, she  specialized in cross-cultural psychology. Heloisa’s doctoral dissertation was on the impact of migration on the family structure of those coming from impoverished areas seeking work in the city. Her masters thesis took place in an Indian reservation in Brazil. Heloisa has extensive experience with families, couples and individuals experiencing grief, loss, depression and anxiety. Treated families with children who suffered severe early traumas, and conducted evaluations for the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Previously affiliated with the Family Institute at Northwestern University, taught and supervised family therapy at two major universities in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Heloisa utilize dream work and mindfulness training with clients,  published articles and presented workshops on dreams in conferences at the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD).

Today Heloisa walks us through the 4 steps she practices when applying IFS to Dream work.
Hope you enjoy the episode.

IFS Talks will be back soon with brand new episodes. In the meantime, we bring you an episode released April 2020, that we so much enjoyed: Sexual Abuse through an IFS lens, with Bob Falconer.

Robert Falconer has an undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology, with a focus on the history of religions.In the early 1980s he pursued his masters degree in psychology while balancing a career in construction and real estate investment.When Robert started as a therapist, he focused on the work of Milton Erickson and hypnotherapy. He then moved into working with Jack and Helen Watkins; who developed ego state therapy. In his career as a therapist, Robert spent considerable time at the Esalen Institute and decades involved in gestalt therapy. Robert has been familiar with IFS therapy for 20 years, but completely devoted himself to the model for the last 10 years.Robert was one of the first men to speak publicly about being sexually abused as a child, and for many years he worked primarily with men with a similar trauma history. Now he works with people learning IFS. Most recently Robert co-authored with Dick Schwartz a book entitled “Many Minds, One Self: evidence for a radical shift in paradigm“.
Trigger warning: this episode may contain trauma events descriptions that may be triggering for many.
Please be aware of that possibility so that you can choose not to listen to the episode. Thanks.
Podcast Feedback and Interview Request welcome at https://internalfamilysystems.pt/ifs-talks

IFS Talks will be back with a brand new episode soon.  In the meantime, we’re excited to introduce you to a new IFS Informed Podcast. Its called Explorations in Psychotherapy, and is an Internal Family Systems informed audio podcast introducing authors whose work may be of great value and interest to the psychotherapy field as to all communities and practitioners in the helping professions who may benefit from a better understanding and integration of emerging perspectives.

In this third episode of Explorations in Psychotherapy,  Healing Ancestral Lineages are discussed withDaniel Foor.   We hope you can find the time to enjoy this amazing conversation, that we believe so relevant in many ways for our personal and clinical lives. Many thanks for listening and subscribe this new IFS informed Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/pt/podcast/explorations-in-psychotherapy/id1490941234

In this episode, we welcome Ana Morante, Ann-Katrin Bockmann, and Mary Petro to discuss the topic of Self-led motherhood. They will be sharing several important projects that integrate IFS principles and techniques to help support mothers around the world, including those at various stages of their motherhood journey and those who are parenting under extremely challenging conditions, such as poverty and life in war-torn regions. Here is a link to the project’s website,  for those interested in joining this project. 

Frank Anderson began his professional journey as a chemistry major at the University of Illinois in the pre-pharmacy program. He quickly developed a fascination with the workings of the human body and switched into a pre-medicine program. He happily entered Rush University Medical College, initially wanting to become a pediatrician due to his love of children, but switched into psychiatry after a close family member developed significant mental health symptoms. He was deeply touched by this experience and also keenly aware of the impact it had on others. During his residency program in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, he noticed that many of the clients struggling with major mental illness had also experienced significant trauma in their lives.

The pain he witnessed in others activated something deep within himself and compelled him to enter into therapy, which quickly connected him to his own trauma history. Becoming a psychiatrist at the Trauma Center in Boston under the direction of Bessel van der Kolk was a natural fit for him, where he learned more about trauma while simultaneously continuing his quest of helping others heal. He was fortunate enough to meet Dick Schwartz at a conference during this time, and his career focus instantly came into full alignment as he was able to integrate his knowledge of neuroscience and trauma treatment with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy.

Dr. Anderson is the former chair and executive director of the Foundation for Self Leadership, an organization focusing on IFS research and the expansion of the IFS model beyond psychotherapy. He authored the chapter “Who’s Taking What? Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma” and coauthored the chapter “What IFS Brings to the Treatment of Trauma.” He also coauthored the book Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

He is a lead trainer and program consultant for the IFS Institute, is an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP), and maintains a private practice. He is passionate about teaching and enjoys providing psychotherapy consultations, as well as teaching IFS-related workshops throughout the world. To learn more, please go towww.FrankAndersonMD.com.

Liz wound her way into therapy after a circuitous route through a few degrees: English, Fine Art and Education; and after a career in Communications writing. Her passion for couples work led her to a training in couples therapy two years before she was even accepted into a formal therapy school. While Liz was studying to be a therapist, she simultaneously trained in Levels one and two of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples. But it wasn’t until she bumped into IFS and IFIO that Liz felt she found her therapy home. She has completed her Level 1 in IFS and Level 2 in IFIO and has run two of her own IFIO-informed workshops to introduce the model to her Canadian community. Currently based in Toronto, Liz is a self proclaimed coffee snob and loves long winter runs along the waterfront. You can find more about Liz at her website: https://www.lizphillipstherapy.ca

Dr. Robert M. Grant is a physician specialized in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and HIV medicine. He has more than 30 years of experience with research and clinical practice in sexual health and pulmonary medicine.  He pioneered the concept of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, for HIV prevention by leading the iPrEx trials that led to FDA approvals and transformed clinical practice globally - an achievement for which he was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.

After a deep personal loss in 2014, he pivoted to face the challenges of human connection more directly through psychotherapy.  He completed a certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2016, and trained in ketamine assisted psychotherapy at the KRIYA Institute in 2017.  He is a a board member of the American Society of Ketamine Physicians.  

He has trained in psychotherapy modalities including Internal Family Systems (as a fully certified IFS Therapist) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. He has provided ketamine assisted psychotherapy in San Francisco since late 2017. He serves as an investigator for an FDA-approved MDMA trial at UCSF and has assisted for FDA-approved psilocybin trials for people living with HIV.