The One Inside: An Internal Family Systems (IFS) podcast

How can Internal Family Systems help us prepare for, experience, and integrate psychedelic journeys in a truly Self-led way? And what if Self itself can be the journey, without medicine at all? In this episode, I talk with Nick Brüss, an IFS practitioner and licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in psychedelic-assisted therapy. What I loved about this conversation is how grounded...

In today's episode, I talk with Dr. Steve Chee, an integrative East-West physician and certified IFS therapist . Steve is offering an IFS continuity program through the IFS Institute this fall called "The Sacred Nervous System," which brings together neuroscience, mysticism, and relational medicine to help people who have been told they are "too much" or "too sensitive" . In our conversation Steve...

In today's episode, I chat with David Hoffman, a lawyer, mediator, and a founding member of Boston Law Collaborative. David was named "Lawyer of the Year" in Boston, and he even teaches at Harvard! I love how he's using IFS to help people with conflict. We talk about how IFS has shifted his focus from getting people to settle, to helping them make S elf-led choices . We discuss: How does a lawyer...

On this week's episode, I welcome Bob Falconer, Chelsea Odhner, and Jonathan Rose, the co-authors of the new book, Opening the Inner World . We dive into what it means to be both spiritual and plural. If you've ever found yourself wondering how inner work and spiritual seeking overlap, this episode is for you. We explore: What happens when we bring the language of parts into our spiritual lives? C...

In today's episode, I talk with Michael and Leela Hunter, the creators of UpSpiral Life — a year-long program and community that combines IFS, manifestation, and neurofeedback. We explore what manifestation really means through an IFS lens, how subconscious parts shape our experience, and why "feeling good" is a nervous system state we can track and train. Our conversation explores how IFS interse...

In this week's episode, I sit down with my friend Julie Honeycutt, a licensed professional counselor, certified IFS therapist, and approved clinical consultant. Julie has been integrating faith and counseling for over 20 years, and in this conversation, we explore how our attachment styles, parts, Enneagram, and developmental stages all shape our prayer life and spiritual connection. Julie shares...

On this week's episode I'm thrilled to have my friend and colleague, Dave Adamusko, join me to demystify "direct access"—a powerful technique that allows IFS practitioners to speak directly to a client's parts. Dave and I dive deep into why direct access is so essential, especially for clients with trauma histories or deeply blended parts who might struggle with more traditional "insight" methods....

What if the magic in parenting doesn't happen in the moment you get it right, but in the moment you come back and repair? This week, I talk with educator, children's book author, and Self-led parent Anna Purpero , and I just loved this conversation so much. Anna has two little boys and a big heart, and she shares so honestly about what happens when our protectors take over in parenting and how IFS...

Britt Frank escaped a cult, rebuilt her life after addiction, and is one of the most grounded, funny, and inspiring IFS speakers and educators around. In this week's episode, we talk about her new book Align Your Mind , and how parts work helped her move from chaos to clarity . We get into all of it...motivation, procrastination, inner critics, cults, menopause, and what alignment looks like beyon...

In this week's episode I welcome three guests--Robin Barre, Ann-Katrin Bockmann, and Kasra Mirzaie--to talk about IFS and working with teenagers. We explore how IFS often skips over this phase of life, both in how we work with clients and how we relate to our own inner adolescent parts. We tend to romanticize childhood or focus on early wounding, yet there's a lot of cringing and avoiding when it...

I'm so thrilled to welcome Dick Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), back to the podcast, as well as my friend Ocean, who brings her voice and lived experience to this important conversation. Today, we explore the intersection between IFS and the plural community--those living with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and OSDD (Other Specified Dissociative Disorders). What's the...

On today's episode I chat with Susan Stiffelman, a licensed marriage and family therapist, author, parenting coach, and host of the Parenting Without Power Struggles podcast. We talk about parts, of course. Parenting parts. Spiritual seeker parts. Inner children who hide behind locked doors. And how she gently helps people return to center. Susan shares stories from her work and from her own life,...

On today's episode I meet Jessica Laurel Kane, a writer, illustrator, and storyteller whose new book, Once Upon an Upset: Illustrated Stories, Insights, and Reflections to Help Parent Our Children While Re-Parenting Ourselves , captures the spirit of Internal Family Systems in such an authentic and creative way.  Jessica isn't formally trained in IFS, but she lives it and teaches it through her st...

On today's podcast, I chat with Dr. Irina Diyankova, certified IFS therapist, IFS clinical consultant, and Lead Trainer with the IFS Institute. We explore the fascinating intersection of IFS and neurodivergence, a topic she knows intimately from both her lived and professional experience. We talk about time blindness, sensory sensitivities, what gets mistaken for trauma but might be hardwiring, an...

On today's podcast, I chat with Ashley Booth, a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, trainer, researcher—and former oceanographer! Ashley's new book, Quieting the Storm Within: A Simple, Intuitive Guide to Your Inner World , is beautifully written and illustrated, accessible, and deeply rooted in IFS. We talk about why she chose to create a picture book for adults, how parts mapping can be playfu...

On today's podcast, I chat with Tanis Allen , a certified IFS therapist and longtime member of the IFS community. Tanis has been around since the earliest days of the model, and she just released a new book called The Self-Led IFS Workbook: Learn IFS Skills to Understand and Love All Your Parts  published by Penguin Random House. We talk about her early experiences learning IFS in the '90s, her wo...

On today's podcast, I chat with two brilliant IFS lead trainers, Pam Krause and Crystal Jones. We learn about their journeys to becoming IFS lead trainers, the evolution of the model's cultural awareness and inclusivity, and what it's been like to co-lead the newly updated IFS Online Circle together. We also dip our toes into a little controversy— should we skip the 6Fs ? I loved hearing from them...

On today's podcast we celebrate 200 episodes of The One Inside! I take the guest's seat as my podcasting partner and co-producer, Jeff Schrum, leads the interview. We reflect on six seasons of guests, the show's impact on my life and work with clients, and why unblending is the real magic of IFS. We also dive into creative projects on the horizon, including my new mini-book on numbness and launchi...

On today's podcast, I chat with Ruth Culver, a Level 3 trained and certified IFS practitioner. We look at Ruth's  Survive and Thrive Spiral , a visual map that connects the nervous system and IFS in a way that just makes sense. We also talk about her work with IFS Constellations , a group process that brings parts work into a shared, somatic experience, and Drawing into Self , a creative way to ex...

On today's episode I chat with Jodie Benveniste, an IFS-trained psychologist and author. Through her personal healing journey using IFS she discovered how fiction writing and storytelling can be a powerful path to self-understanding and emotional healing. Jodie and I talk about her debut novel,  Never, Not Ever , a YA romance that integrates IFS therapy into the story. We explore how fiction can s...

On today's episode, I'm joined by Lara Krawchuk, a grief expert and IFS certifed therapist, to explore how the Internal Family Systems model helps us understand and tend to grief. We discuss  continuing bonds , meaning making , ambiguous loss , grief-worthy losses , and unbraiding current loss from exiled trauma. While I have parts that avoid thinking about and discussing grief, Lara offers such a...

In this episode I chat with Ralph De La Rosa, a meditation teacher, therapist, and author of Outshining Trauma . Ralph shares his personal journey of healing from PTSD, depression, and addiction, and how IFS helped him access Self Energy beyond traditional meditation. Key Takeaways: Self Energy and Buddhist concepts like Buddha-nature share striking similarities. Meditation can be a powerful tool...

On today's episode I chat with Rick Kahler, a pioneer in integrating financial planning and psychology and a certified IFS practitioner. We explore how Internal Family Systems can transform our relationship with money , uncovering hidden beliefs and legacy burdens that shape financial behaviors. Rick shares his journey from financial planner to financial therapist, explaining how emotions—not logi...

On today's episode I'm joined by John Palmer, a certified IFS practitioner and lead trainer in Intimacy From the Inside Out (IFIO). John brings 30 years of experience working with individuals and couples to explore how IFIO applies the principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS) to intimate relationships. We discuss relational dynamics, including the concept of tracking sequences, differentiation,...

Enjoy this bonus meditation led by Dr. Peter Malinoski. In this experiential he invites you to go inside and connect with your parts to understand their assumptions, experiences, and beliefs around love. Be sure to check out my full interview (episode 190) with Peter here . About Dr. Peter Malinoski: Dr. Peter Malinoski is a clinical psychologist, IFS Level 3-trained practitioner, and co-founder o...