Full Course Description

Frank Anderson's Internal Family Systems Trauma Treatment

International trauma expert and IFS-senior lead trainer, Frank Anderson presents a step-by-step guide to trauma healing using the transformative IFS therapy model. Through in-depth experiential training sessions, real in-session videos, and ample skill demonstrations, you'll develop the skills and confidence you need to help your clients overcome even the most complex traumas. PLUS, you’ll have exclusive access to 5 Live Consultation Calls with Frank where you will have even more learning opportunities including more demos, live practice, and Q+A. You will end this intensive online course prepared to integrate the Internal Family Systems trauma model with your current clinical models — so you can help your clients find hope, growth, resilience, and recovery.

Program Information

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Physicians
Physician Assistants
Nurses
Nurse Practitioners
Other Mental Health Professionals

Outline

PART 1: FOUNDATIONS OF IFS
4 Modules, 2 Live Consultation Video Calls

Week 1: The Basics of IFS: What You Need to Know to Get Started

What IFS therapy looks like from start to finish
The theory that guides IFS – An emerging treatment model
What are the goals of IFS treatment?
Comparing IFS to other evidence-based approaches to trauma
The crucial differences between IFS and other trauma therapies
Risks, limitations, and benefits of IFS as an emerging approach to trauma
Demonstration: An IFS Trauma Therapy Session in Action

Week 2: The IFS Model Step 1: Getting to Know Your Client and Their Parts

How to start an IFS session 
Mapping your client’s parts
How to know which parts to work with in each session
Six steps for working with protector parts
Demonstration: Identifying parts

WEEK 3: Live Consultation Call with Frank Anderson

Skills practice: Mapping out parts
Q&A
LIVE Demonstration: Starting an IFS session

Week 4: The IFS Model, Steps 2 and 3: Working with Protectors and Accessing Self-Energy

Demonstration: Working with protective parts
The Self and accessing Self-energy
Working with protector parts: More on the 6 F’s
What happens to the Self when it is traumatized
Demonstration: Working with Self-energy
Demonstration: Resourcing empathy and compassion

Week 5: The IFS Model, Steps 4 and 5: Internal Attachment Work and Gaining Permission

Working with protector parts: More on the 6 F’s
How to build a strong relationship with your client’s parts
The most common fears of protector parts
The key to success in trauma healing
Demonstration: Working through the 6 F’s

WEEK 6: Live Consultation Call with Frank Anderson

Skills Practice: Accessing Self-Energy and Addressing Protector Fears
Demonstration: The Unburdening Process

PART 2: FOUNDATIONS OF TRAUMA TREATMENT with IFS
4 Modules, 2 Live Consultation Video Calls

Week 7 : The Science Behind Trauma and Parts Work

How the brain works: Neuroplasticity, neurogenesis and
The 7 basic emotion systems and the impact of trauma
The 7 types of trauma
The Fear Response and the impact of trauma
What symptoms are telling us and how to focus treatment based on them
How trauma treatment with IFS differs from other phase-oriented treatments

Week 8: The Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation

A top-down and bottom-up look at the mind-body response to trauma
Extreme reactions and the Autonomic Nervous System
The role of hormones and neurotransmitters
The fear circuitry of PTSD
Demonstration: Working with dissociation

WEEK 9: Live Consultation Call with Frank Anderson

Demonstration: Working with extreme parts
Experiential Practice: Working with therapist parts
Q+A

Week 10: Beyond the 6F’s: Direct Access, Updating Parts and More

What comes after the 6 F’s
Demonstration: Direct Access
Helping parts get to know the Self
Accessing the wound: Ways to safely gain permission
What to do when a part gets overwhelmed

Week 11: Working with Polarizations, Extreme Parts and Therapist Parts

The most common parts in relational trauma
Working with Dissociation
Embracing Suicidal Parts
Addressing Addictions (substances and food)
How to resolve polarizations
Therapist parts: What to do when your parts are activated
Demonstration: The Fire Drill

WEEK 12: Live Call with Frank Anderson (30 min Q+A, Demo of Direct Access)

Demonstration: Direct Access
Skills Practice: Direct Access, Dealing with Overwhelm and the Invitations
Q+A PART 3: FOUNDATIONS OF TRAUMA HEALING with IFS 3 Modules, 1 Live Consultation Video Call

Week 13: How Wounds Develop

What makes us vulnerable to wounds
How to prioritize the order of healing
Recognizing and addressing shame
The role of attachment in trauma
Healing attachment and relational trauma with IFS
Parts and loss

Week 14: Healing Wounds with IFS

The Arc of Healing
The Steps of the Unburdening Process
Neuroscience of unburdening
Demonstration: The full IFS process
Roadblocks to healing and the post-unburdening process
Integration and repair

WEEK 15: Spiritual Dimensions of Healing and Forgiveness

Working with legacy and cultural burdens
Understanding the generational transmission of PTSD
Identifying and releasing legacy and cultural burdens
The spiritual dimensions of trauma healing
The critical and controversial role of forgiveness in healing

WEEK 16: Live Call with Frank Anderson

Demonstration: Case Presentation
Summary
Q+A

Objectives

Articulate the IFS model’s view of symptomology, demonstrating an understanding of how this destigmatizing perspective can increase self-awareness and self-compassion.
Explain the theoretical model of IFS and the concept of parts, with an emphasis on how the concept of parts can be used to conceptualize a client’s response to trauma.
Perform an IFS-informed clinical assessment, with an emphasis on identifying the relationship between traumatic experience and current symptoms.
Create an IFS-informed map of your client’s internal response to trauma using the concept of parts to describe specific components to be targeted in treatment.
Summarize each of the “6 F’s” discussed in the IFS model, including how each can facilitate trauma healing.
Utilize the “find,” focus,” and “flesh-out” steps of the IFS model to identify targets for trauma treatment.
Describe the IFS concept of “unblending,” summarizing how the IFS model can be used to facilitate an unblending process.
Articulate the IFS concept of Self, demonstrating an awareness of the unique qualities of self that are associated with improved mental health.
Identify the three primary types of parts included in the IFS model, articulating the specific role of each.
Identify the specific brain structures whose functions have influenced a deeper understanding of the IFS model’s concept of Self.
Utilize knowledge of brain functioning to educate clients on how the traumatized brain can change over time.
Describe the seven types of trauma, demonstrating an awareness of at least two key features of each type.
Define interoceptive attention, demonstrating an awareness of how this concept relates to the IFS treatment model.
Describe the role of the sympathetic nervous system in trauma responses, including a description of common physical manifestations of sympathetic arousal.
Articulate the IFS model’s view of countertransference, including how therapists can use this perspective to reduce interference throughout the therapeutic process.
Recognize the risks and limitations of using IFS in trauma treatment.
Differentiate between implicit and explicit memories, including examples of how each may manifest in traumatize clients.
Describe at least two top-down strategies and two bottom-up strategies, demonstrating an awareness of how each may benefit trauma treatment.
Describe the IFS method of Direct Access, articulating the role therapists can play to access clients in confronting their fears while facilitating emotional processing.
Describe how attachment theory informs the development of self-blame in attachment trauma and hypothesize how IFS concepts can be used to increase self-trust and self-acceptance.
Articulate the concept of “getting permission” in the IFS method, demonstrating an awareness of how the process may help increase hopefulness for traumatized clients.
Summarize the IFS conceptualization of addiction, demonstrating awareness of how parts-language is utilized to help clients understand the role of their use.

Copyright : 10/15/2023

EMDR & Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy: Integration Techniques to Resolve Inner Conflicts for Enhanced Trauma Processing

EMDR is one of today’s go-to trauma therapies for clinicians across the globe.

But when you work with complex trauma, you so often see clients getting stuck as their internal conflicts, (like feeling partly responsible, but partly helpless) get in the way of their ability to fully process the trauma.

Fortunately, IFS therapy is the perfect complement to EMDR, giving you tools to work with these conflicting parts and giving your clients an accessible framework to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their experiences.

Now in this one-day training you’ll join trauma expert Daphne Fatter, PhD, certified in both EMDR and IFS therapy, as she shares a how-to guide on integrating EMDR and the IFS model in treatment so you can more effectively work with the emotional, cognitive and physical aspects of trauma to reduce your clients’ symptoms, individualize their treatment, and create the sense of coherence and wholeness they need to heal and grow.

Dr. Fatter will give you a step-by-step guide to using non-pathologizing relational interventions from IFS therapy at each phase of EMDR, so you can provide trauma treatment that meets clients where they’re at and skillfully attends to the unique needs of each client’s internal parts.

Join Dr. Fatter so you can:

Identify and resolve inner conflicts hindering your clients’ healing processes
Understand how EMDR and the IFS model facilitate the process of memory reconsolidation
Explore clients’ internal parts that may be contributing to their current challenges
Develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-compassion in clients
Provide a foundation for internal relational repair within the client
Decrease the risk of client decompensation
Use self-tapping to promote emotional regulation
And much more

Don’t miss this chance to learn how you can combine these powerful treatments so you can more skillfully work with a wide range of clinically challenging clients including clients with complex trauma.

This event is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify the key concepts and intersecting theoretical principles of both the EMDR and IFS models.
Explain the role of EMDR and IFS in processing and resolving traumatic memories.
Assess and identify appropriate clients for an integrated EMDR and IFS approach.
Use EMDR and IFS techniques to help clients identify and resolve inner conflicts that may be hindering their healing process.
Develop a treatment plan that incorporates trauma targets identified by the client and/or therapist and utilize EMDR and IFS techniques to effectively process these targets.
Guide clients through the EMDR and IFS process to promote a greater understanding of how their past experiences have influenced their current beliefs and behaviors.
Demonstrate how to teach and guide clients in using self-tapping as a form of selfregulation and coping skill both during and outside of therapy sessions.

Outline

EMDR and IFS: Shared Principles and Why Memory Consolidation is Key

EMDR & IFS: Shared Principles & the Differing Lenses of Trauma
Why the Memory Reconsolidation Process is Important to Both Models
Risks & Limitations of EMDR and IFS as Single-Model Approaches
Determining Factors to Integrate EMDR & IFS
Appropriate Client Candidates for Integrating EMDR & IFS

Setting Up Effective IFS-Informed EMDR

Benefits & Risk of Integrating IFS into EMDR’s 8 Phase Protocol
Applying an IFS Paradigm Shift into EMDR
Phase 1: History Taking, Treatment Planning, & Consent for Treatment Plan
Phase 2: Preparation & Resource Development
Introducing Self Tapping for Attachment Readiness and Repair

Inviting Self Presence into EMDR: Enhanced Assessment and More Comprehensive Trauma Processing

Finding Targets for Trauma Processing: EMDR vs IFS methods
Internal Relational Repair for Healthier Relationships with Themselves and Others
Phase 3: Assessment – Using IFS to Help Identify Targets
Phase 4: Desensitization – IFS Techniques for More Comprehensive Traumatic Material Processing

Practical IFS-Informed Interventions to Support Integration

Phase 5: Installing Positive Qualities – Using IFS to Counterbalance Negative Beliefs or Emotions
Phase 6: Body Scan & Future Template – IFS for Enhancing Sense of Safety and Trust in their Bodies
Phase 7: Closure – How Understanding Parts Helps Clients Reflect on Progress
Phase 8: Reevaluation

Integrating EMDR into the IFS Steps

Benefits & Risk of Integrating EMDR into the IFS Steps
How to Integrate Bilateral Stimulation into Steps of the IFS Model
The 2 Choice Points Within the IFS Steps to Integrate EMDR

Target Audience

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

Copyright : 10/20/2023

IFS Therapy Approaches to Shame, Anxiety, and Depression

Shame is the fuel which drives all of the problems therapists treat. And IFS views anxiety and depression as strategies adopted by our protective systems to cope with shame.

Join Dr. Frank Anderson for this engaging discussion with IFS Pioneer and Senior Trainer, Michael Elkin, LMFT as they explore the ability to be curious and compassion to these protectors caught in a trap, and help ease them out of their extreme roles, including:

How IFS compares and contrasts with other models of treatment for depression, anxiety and shame
How a relational and systemic approach can uncover and heal deep shame where other methods might get stuck
The impact of shame as an organizing principle in our internal systems
IFS interventions to unblend and promote healing of shame, anxiety, and depression

Don’t miss this in-depth exploration through the lens of the IFS model!

Program Information

Objectives

Appraise and analyze the roles of depression and anxiety as parts designed to protect from feelings of shame.
Investigate the process of using IFS interventions to unblend and promote healing of shame, anxiety, and depression.

Outline

Anxiety, Depression, & Shame
Anxious parts that feel they’re “bad”
Anesthetizing anxiety leads to depression
Anxiety & depression as ways to cope with the “badness”

Anxiety & Depression as Protective Manifestations
Anxious and depressive parts express themselves through sensations
Anxious and depressive parts as protectors
Negotiate with protective parts
Approach anxious & depressive parts using IFS
Approach with compassion & curiosity
IFS & phobias

Using Parts to Find/See Other Parts
Can a part look at your Self through the Self’s eyes

Intersectionality Between Biology & Parts
Physiology as a tool for parts to express themselves
Following the affect

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Addiction Counselors
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Healing Racial Trauma with IFS Therapy

The recent protests against racial injustice and police brutality have left many therapists wondering what they can do to be active forces for change in the therapy room and beyond.

Join Dr. Frank Anderson for this timely discussion about racial trauma with Founder of Black Therapists Rock & IFS Institute Online Ambassador, Deran Young, LCSW as they explore how clinicians can create a safe space in therapy for clients of color.

Using the framework of Internal Family Systems (IFS), this session offers practical skills to help heal the traumatic wounds of oppression. You’ll discover how to:

Apply the IFS model to help heal trauma, and acknowledge and own the parts of ourselves that become reactive when discussing issues of diversity
Increase your ability to avoid microaggressions and help clients explore emotional wounds with culturally sensitive techniques
Explore the ways in which Intersectionality affects therapy in order to better improve treatment outcomes for clients with diverse backgrounds.
And more!

You don’t want to miss this warranted conversation!

Program Information

Objectives

Assess culture and IFS parts to deepen the understanding of how they interact.
Investigates and elaborates on the 4 main legacy burdens of America: individualism, racism, patriarchy, and materialism.
Analyze the ways in which Intersectionality affects therapy in order to better improve treatment outcomes for clients with diverse backgrounds.

Outline

Intersectional Mental Health
Look at race, gender, class
Look at the person & context of where they come from

How IFS Helps A Therapist
Deconstruct power
Individualism vs system thinking

Collective Legacy Burdens

Racism
Patriarchy
Materialism
Individualism

Help clients navigate their own paths
Having a deep compassionate relationship with clients

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Addiction Counselors
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

IFS Therapy & Addictive Processes: Healing Wounds and Restoring Balance to the System of Parts

Join Dr. Frank Anderson and Senior IFS Trainer Cece Sykes, LCSW for this compelling, in-depth discussion that conceptualizes addictive processes within the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. In just one hour, they masterfully cover:

IFS’s view of addictive processes as system-focused, not symptom-focused
How polarization of parts impacts the clinical process
Healing the underlying wound by restoring balance to the system
Ways to manage inevitable countertransference within your own parts
And more!

If you work with clients who are struggling to overcome addictive behavior, you don’t want to miss this session!

Program Information

Objectives

Utilize an IFS-informed approach to case conceptualization with clients who present with addiction.
Differentiate between the manager, firefighter, and exiled parts in the IFS model.
Assess for common countertransference issues that may interfere with treatment.

Outline

The IFS-Informed Perspective of Addiction
It’s a system, not a symptom – every part is involved!
Polarization among parts when addiction is present
Finding the positive intention of negative behavior
How to heal underlying wounds and restore balance to the system
Codependence and early attachment wounds
Countertransference is inevitable but manageable when addressed

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Addiction Counselors
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals