Why don't you work with severe trauma?

Hi u/EfficientlyEpic what a wonderful question. And yes, I am passionate about rigorous and careful learning. When you say trustworthy resources to check out, do you mean for IFS in particular, or more generally about healing? Or do you have something else in mind?

I'm glad you asked this central question, u/GeneralDelay812!

IFS therapy is a method for healing that says it's natural to have many different "parts" (like sub-personalities) inside of us*. It also says that every single adult has Self - a core that is deeply wise, caring, and the ideal inner healer which can help all these different parts.

*These parts are either Exiles (the most vulnerable, wounded parts of us which carry the deepest inner pain) or Protectors (which can be further identified as Managers or Firefighters.

IFS provides a clear roadmap for how to get into Self, build relationships with our different parts, and ultimately heal them. This frees our own natural qualities to develop and mature as they were meant to, as they would have if they'd not been warped or suppressed because of trauma. Our real essence gets to come to the surface and we get to feel more and more like our true selves.

You can get a 1-minute explanation, a 5-minute explanation and a full-on detailed explanation here: https://seekdeeply.com/what-is-ifs-therapy-introduction-to-the-internal-family-systems-model-by-richard-c-schwartz-blog-post/

IFS is one of the fastest-growing therapies and it's becoming wildly popular across the globe. People seem to recognize IFS is different, it brings something unique that most other psychological approaches don't. A lot of people become extremely excited when they learn about IFS. Why is that?

In my opinion, the x factor of IFS boils down to two things:

1. IFS synthesizes the more traditional scientific psychological approach with a shamanic approach. This gives people access to the ancient human technology of our shamanic heritage in a way that's accepted by popular culture (Ex. it's "normal" to see a therapist, at least in many segments of society; experiences like depression are validated as "real" and given medical diagnoses)
2. IFS can bring results and big insights relatively quickly, and this is naturally very exciting for people

Re. books for self IFS therapy, you can check out my answer here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/112yhjm/comment/j8mxq55/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Upvote on questions 1 & 2!

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A curiosity question!
It seems that you research a lot of theory, as you learned from IFS, Jungian analysis, creative art therapy and shamanic pracitces. Could you share with us what you found to be trustworthy resources to check out, or channels to follow where knowledge is being generated, be it scientific, innovation or other research?

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That's good, i wish you the best of luck

Ah my apologies, I must have missed the comment as I was looking through the post. Thanks for replying! Wish you all the best!

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I'm curious, how much do you typically charge for a comission? For example if someone where to send you a picture of their pet cat and ask for a portrait, how much would you decide to charge?

I'd love to hear from you: have you heard of NLP and if so, does it relate to IFS in any way fron what you know?

Are there videos that show the IFS process where there’s a lot of somatic movements occurring? I experience this and don’t hear about others experiencing this in intense ways.

Thanks for this!!

I'm very interested to hear from you: How can I explain IFS to a (Dutch) psyhologist or coach?

For example: what could be key words to help them understand how IFS complements other therapy/diagnosis/coaching trajectories? Or what sort of 'schools of thought' would they recognise?

For context: part of me fears that those professionals may feel uneasy if they don't understand it when I bring up IFS experiences or concepts, which I inevitably do.

Hi u/bohanmyl. There are a few ways to get started, and the right way for you depends on your comfort with being in the unknown.

If you're up for taking a little leap, to trying IFS without "knowing" with certainty how to do it: I'd recommend listening to my free IFS audio guide - http://seekdeeply.com/free There's a beautiful workbook there as well which will help you get set up. All you need to do is carve out some private time for yourself, get a pen and journal, and follow the audio guide.

A lot of people love the experience and find it very meaningful.

However, some people want step-by-step instructions every step of the way. The good news: You can find those in Bonnie Weiss's workbook https://www.amazon.com/Self-Therapy-Workbook-Exercise-Book-Process/dp/0984392742 or Jay Earley's overview of self-therapy https://www.amazon.com/Self-Therapy-Step-Step-Cutting-Edge-Psychotherapy/dp/0984392777 or more general guidance in Dick Schwartz's No Bad Parts: https://www.amazon.com/No-Bad-Parts-Restoring-Wholeness/dp/1683646681 . The not-so-good news: Many people find applying the classic IFS process to themselves not very effective over the long term. (I explain why here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/112yhjm/comment/j8my2u5/?context=3)

Lasting healing with IFS requires trusting your inner system and being led by Self. And if we're following a manual every step of the way, we're not trusting our systems. We're following a manual and, more often than not, manufacturing something that resembles Self.

But it's perfectly ok to start with detailed guidance as long as you know that in order to make solo IFS a lifelong healing tool, you'll eventually need to spread your wings and leap into trusting yourself.

My own workbook all about solo IFS is coming out autumn 2023! If you want to join my inner circle launch team (and get an early copy), you can join my email list to get an invite: https://seekdeeply.com/

Verified

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That's so wholesome! Congratulations to you both. The paintings look really good to boot. :)

Hi u/cocotab, great question.

I know how frustrating it can be trying to find an IFS therapist. Hopefully as more and more get trained this situation will change.

To answer your question, it depends.

Occasionally a part will be so ready to unburden that it will happen almost spontaneously, without any guidance needed. All that you'd have to do is set the conditions to consciously connect with the part, and then the spontaneous unburdening would naturally occur.

Some people are able to do unburdenings with solo IFS. That said, to do IFS on yourself in a deeply authentic way, it's important not to try to manage the process to try to make it resemble a traditional unburdening done in classic IFS. But that's okay. If we're really attuned and our system feels safe to unburden, we'll be centering the Exile, and the Exile will tell us what it needs to heal / unburden. In short, unburdenings in solo IFS might not look like traditional unburdenings.

However, for the most part: My answer is usually No. Unburdenings typically require such presence of Self that it's usually necessary to have a therapist facilitate.

If I am working on a big issue and know I need to unburden, I would book a session with an IFS therapist to do so. I've also heard that Dick Schwartz, founder of IFS, says the same for himself.

The good news is if self-led IFS feels like a fit for you, you can do everything else on your own, then seek an IFS therapist just for that final portion.

Sidenote: Are you aware that many IFS therapists work online? The official IFS directory can be a useful place to find them https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners

That's great to hear 😊

How about you?

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