Ready to take your IFS practice to the next level?

It’s important to see IFS core assumptions, goals, interventions and steps applied to a wide range of clinical concerns and contexts. In consultation, we bring theory to life through roleplay, case presentation, and group exercises. We begin with the assumption that participants have met the pre-requisites for understanding IFS basic concepts and methods through other workshops or training. 

Similar to an IFS training, our consultation services provide a mix of experiential exercises, worksheets, demonstrations, and homework. There is less focus on active clinical work in training, which is why ongoing consultation is essential.  However, in group consultation there is no supervised practice where therapeutic skills are observed and where detailed feedback is given.

We know from experience that more frequent exposure to IFS helps strengthen the understanding of this complex model and the ability to bring it into practice with clients. Like learning a language, weekly consultation will immerse you in IFS so that it becomes more natural and effective in your work with a wide range of clients. All sessions will be recorded and available for the length of your subscription.

Like supervision, consultation is a place where the clinical relationship receives attention, and from the lens of IFS, clinical supervision attends to the therapist parts and Self energy.  However, there are some important differences. The oversight provided by a supervisor satisfies requirements for licensure set forth by governing bodies, and often assigns a higher level of responsibility to the supervisor for ensuring appropriate client care is provided by the supervisee. As licensed psychotherapists and consultants with decades of experience in multiple countries, we recognize that professional standards vary across disciplines and locations. Our top priority is client care. It is the responsibility of the clinician to offer services only within their scope of practice and competence, in accordance with their specific governing bodies.

To be considered IFS trained means that a therapist or practitioner has completed one or more levels of training provided by the IFS Institute. Founded by Richard Schwartz who developed Internal Family Systems therapy, IFS Institute offers three progressive levels of official IFS training that include supervised practice and trainers mentored in the Model.

IFS-informed therapists and practitioners have learned IFS through other individuals and organizations who teach IFS through workshops and trainings of various length and kind, but who have not completed training through the IFS Institute.

Our consultation services are available to mental health professionals who provide counseling to their clients according to the laws and ethics set forth by their country or state. We recognize that licensing guidelines vary widely from country to country, and we maintain all standards for professional and ethical psychotherapy through the lens of IFS. 

In the United States, we welcome into our consultation groups the following licensed professionals and pre-licensed associates who work in a clinical setting:  Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, marriage & family therapists, clinical social workers, addictionologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners.

Our consultation groups are led by three senior IFS lead trainers: [Include names and brief bios of consultants - e.g., Mariel Pastor, Paul Ginter, and Elizabeth Tauebert]. This is a unique opportunity to learn directly from those who have decades of experience training other professionals in the model.

Consultation sessions cover a wide range of topics relevant to IFS practice, including:

• Working with different types of parts (e.g., exiles, managers, firefighters)

• Addressing specific clinical challenges (e.g., blending, polarization, unburdening)

• Navigating ethical considerations in IFS therapy

• Applying IFS with diverse populations

• Integrating IFS with other modalities

• Become more grounded and flexible within the Flow of the Model 

• Getting Started with IFS - Learn ways to introduce the Model relevant to the client’s presenting issues

• Increase access to Self Energy

• Respectful unblending

• Move naturally between In-sight and Direct Access

• Negotiate Protector Fears - Knowing how to work with the protective system and the most common protector fears will give you the confidence you need to do the work more effectively with minimal backlash. 

• Working with complex systems

• Tracking & sequencing parts in session & over time

• Working with dangerous firefighters

• Working with difficult managers

• Self-like parts 

• Recognizing & Resolving Polarizations

• Through case consultation