Full Course Description

Part 1: The IFS Framework

Revolutionize your clinical approach and help your clients heal with Internal Family Systems therapy model.

IFS is one of the most popular, new, and effective evidence-based treatment techniques in use today.

Thousands of clinicians already trust IFS as their go-to treatment tool to effectively heal emotional wounds so they can make greater therapeutic progress with clients struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, and other mental health conditions.

This 2-day recording is your opportunity to learn the IFS method step-by-step from Dr. Frank Anderson, one of the biggest names in the field.

Whether you are an experienced IFS therapist, a novice, or someone without any IFS training, this workshop will increase your clinical sophistication and confidence with IFS so you can treat a wide range of clients more effectively than ever before.

In this 2-day workshop, you will learn the IFS method, a non-pathologizing approach to healing that is sweeping the field of mental health and beyond.

Join IFS expert, author, prominent clinician & psychiatrist Frank Anderson, MD, in this recording to learn how to help clients heal from the inside out. Dr. Anderson will teach you the IFS steps that he has learned to hone his clinical work – and that have produced such transformation in his clients. He will clearly present all the tools and techniques in an easy-to-learn fashion.

Explore several different applications of the IFS Model of therapy including; trauma and attachment, depression, anxiety, psychosis, addictions, eating disorders, and shame to name a few. Learn how to apply IFS when working with groups, children, parents, couples, and LGBTQ clients.

This is an experiential training that includes didactic lecture, video examples, practice, live demonstrations, and meditations.

Finish this recording feeling confident to start incorporating IFS into your clinical practice! Don’t miss out on learning from one of Internal Family Systems' internationally known and respected lead trainers.

Program Information

Objectives

Evaluate the steps of working with clients' “protective parts” to improve treatment outcomes as proposed by the IFS model.
Differentiate between empathy and compassion as it relates to the IFS approach and improving the therapeutic process.
Evaluate the evidence that supports meditation as beneficial to clinical outcomes when used in the IFS process of therapy.
Assess and diagnose wounds connected to grief and loss; and describe two effective IFS interventions.
Recommend how to address the “protector” fears as they arise for the client during the therapy session.
Apply IFS methods to help trauma clients manage their overwhelming feelings.
Articulate how to explain to clients the neuroscience of hyperarousal in their “extreme parts.”
Demonstrate how the role of criticism and neglect from caregivers causes shame cycles in your clients and how parts-work breaks the cycle.
Apply the “triggering agreement” intervention when working with clients around resolving parenting issues that arise for them.
Demonstrate what “tracking the sequence” means as it applies to couples’ treatment.
Analyze the necessity–and create modifications–when using IFS in an inpatient setting.
Within the internal system, determine the parts of self that are associated with substance use disorders.
Assess countertransference, including recognition of potential activation of therapist’s own reactive parts.

Outline

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Comprehensive, compassionate, non-pathologizing treatment approach
Paradigm-shifting perspective on “psychopathology”
Easily integrated into other therapeutic modalities
Teach clients to access inner wisdom and self-compassion to heal traumatic wounds

Evolution of the Model

Development of the IFS model by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D.
IFS as an empirically validated treatment: Summary of research support
Goals of IFS therapy
Starting an IFS session and the flow of the model

The Neuroscience of IFS

The mind and the brain
Neurons-networks and parts
Meditation and self energy
Understanding the fear response

IFS STEP-BY-STEP

Step 1: Using Meditative Processes to Identify and Connect with a Target Part

Differentiate the person from the symptom
Access a state of compassion and curiosity essential for healing
Establish a relationship with the target part
Learn the history and benevolent intention behind the symptom

Step 2: Working with Protective Parts

Facilitate internal attachment work
Learn to address the fears/concerns of protective parts
Establish a trusting relationship with proactive and reactive parts
Resolve internal conflicts
Gain permission to proceed with healing

Step 3: Healing the Wound

Connect with the wounded part
Witness the pain rather than relive it
Retrieve the wounded part
Release/unburden thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations
Life without the wound, the post-healing process

Therapist Parts

Countertransference redefined
Identifying parts that get in the way
The Science of extreme reactions in therapists and clients

CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF IFS

Trauma and Attachment

Roadblocks to healing trauma
Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation
Dealing with the extreme symptoms and staying in Self
Healing attachment wounds: What IFS offers

Depression and Anxiety

Differentiating feelings from symptoms
Address the biology and process the wound
Protection or genetics

Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder

Addressing psychotic parts
Differentiating psychosis from trauma dysregulation
Treating biological issues while addressing emotional pain

Substances and Addictions

Befriending addictive parts
Healing wounds or stopping use?
Addressing the biology and the behavior after healing

Eating Disorders

When food “abstinence” is not an option
Multiple eating parts
Self-led eating

Shame and Grief

The shamer and the shamed
Critical and neglect shame cycles
Loss, letting go, and healing

IFS With Specific Client Populations

Children and adolescents
Parenting
Couples
Groups and inpatient settings
LGBTQ
Spirituality and culture

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Psychiatrists
Other Professionals Who Work within the Mental Health Fields

Part 2: The Steps of the Model

Part 3: Healing the Wound

Part 4: Applying IFS to Practice

BONUS | Bessel van der Kolk Trauma Interview Series: Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., Developer and Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS)

In this interview, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk talks with Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., developer and founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS) - hailed by Dr. van der Kolk as “the treatment method that all clinicians should know to treat clients effectively”.

Listen to Dr. Schwartz’s discovery of IFS through his work with families and the roles that individuals play in a family system. Within an individual, these same roles exist as parts - all of which serve important and purposeful functions. Drs. van der Kolk and Schwartz identify each part and the role they play, illustrate the relationships between them, and stress the importance of honoring and welcoming all parts in helping clients.

Through role play, observe how Dr. Schwartz uses IFS in therapy. Find advice, methods, and resources that you can use to begin your journey using this treatment modality for your traumatized clients or gain additional insight for the seasoned IFS practitioner.

Program Information

Objectives

Demonstrate ways to integrate IFS into your clinical practice.
Differentiate IFS parts and their roles.

Outline

Internal Family Systems Therapy
- The roles in IFS
- The Self
How the Therapist Shows Their Parts
Working with Passive Clients
IFS Role-Play
The IFS Roles
- Managers
- Firefighters
- Protectors
- Exiles
  - Witnessing

Target Audience

Counselors, Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Addiction Counselors, Case Managers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Nurses, Mental Health Professionals