IFS Talks

We are excited to celebrate the launch of IFS Collected Wisdom: Conversations with Experienced Voices in Internal Family Systems a book that brings together voices, reflections, and lived experience from across the IFS community. This book was created from a desire to honor those voices, and to acknowledge that wisdom in IFS doesn’t live in one place or one person. It lives in relationship, in exp...

In this episode, we explore the nature of grief through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS) with senior trainer Einat Bronstein . Drawing on the work of Francis Weller and other key grief theorists, we reflect on grief not as a problem to solve, but as a deeply human experience that calls for presence, witnessing, and integration.   We discuss how cultural expectations and “collective b...

Today on IFS Talks, we’re excited to welcome Lisa Spiegel and Claire Stubbs. Lisa i s the founder of Soho Parenting in New York City. She’s an author and a certified IFS therapist and consultant who has worked with children and families for over 40 years and teaches therapists around the world.    Claire Stubbs is a chartered counseling psychologist, author, and IFS therapist in the UK,...

In today’s episode,   we speak with Joanne Twombly about a powerful IFS technique commonly known as " The Fire Drill, based on Joanne's chapter called T he Fire Drill: Sorting Through Countertransference with IFS ." And we also announce the recent publication of   IFS Collected Wisdom : Conversations with Experienced Voices in Internal Family Systems. We are deeply grateful to all those...

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, t...

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 graduate...

This episode is a recording of an open Q&A session with Martha Sweezy.  Trigger warning: All questions were submitted by participants and focused primarily on Martha’s area of expertise: shame and guilt.  Please note that Martha Sweezy makes political comments in this episode.

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...

Paul Neustad t 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 IF...

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 pove...

Today we will be speaking with Joanne about the second edition of her book, Trauma and Dissociation Informed Internal Family Systems: How to Successfully Treat Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders, and asking Joanne some follow-up questions to the interview we did with her two years ago, in November 2022. We find this conversation very interesting and valuable for those using IFS with clients w...

Our guest today is Sarah Bergenfield, a Somatic Psychologist, and a Level 3-trained and Certified IFS practitioner, specializing in autism. Sarah holds a master’s degree in embodiment studies and wrote her thesis on autism as an embodied condition that impacts the brain, body, and mind. Sarah is a student in the Applied Neuroscience program at Kings College in London and begins her Ph. D. in Psych...

Our guest today is Sarah Bergenfield, a Somatic Psychologist, and a Level 3-trained and Certified IFS practitioner, specializing in autism. Sarah holds a master’s degree in embodiment studies and wrote her thesis on autism as an embodied condition that impacts the brain, body, and mind. Sarah is a student in the Applied Neuroscience program at Kings College in London and begins her Ph. D. in Psych...

In today's episode our guest is Dr. Schwartz, the developer of the Internal Family Systems model. Among the topics we address are the Dual Nature of Self, Self’s “Agenda,” IFS as a Constraint-Release Model, Self as the Agent of Healing, the wisdom of Self, Self’s Development, Trauma and Self,   Self and the Body, Restoring Trust in Self, and Self and Vulnerability.

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 Int...

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.   ...

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...

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 workshop...

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 cli...

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 y...

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 I...

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 Seni...

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 t...

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...

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 P...