Internal Family Systems
Powerful healing from the inside out
My experience with IFS
IFS is a deeply powerful approach for working with Trauma. The most powerful and effective process I have personally experienced in my life. On my own path of healing trauma, C-PTSD and the resulting anxiety and depression, I tried many different therapies. Whilst each of them played a part in supporting me on some level at that time, I was always left feeling that my fundamental inner beliefs and experiences remained the same. The term ‘neuroplasticity’ and the possibility of my brain changing was a beacon of hope for me but I couldn’t understand how to drop from intellectually understanding the concept of healing to ACTUALLY healing and shifting my inner experience of life.
Internal Family Systems finally allowed this. It is so much more than a ‘therapy’. It really is a way of being. A paradigm for seeing the world and ourselves within it. Rather than dealing with what we can see, our symptoms or the ‘tip of the iceberg’, IFS offers a safe, loving, gentle and extremely powerful way of befriending, supporting and healing our experience of life from the inside out. Through previous therapeutic approaches, I found that I kept receiving new labels which perpetuated this innate feeling that something was inherently ‘wrong’ with me. Through IFS I have learned to find compassion and curiosity to understand the survival strategies that my system so intelligently developed to protect me. This offers such a beautiful reframe. For example, understanding that our inner critic is actually pure protective LOVE in action. Not the baddie that we so often assume.
IFS has quite simply transformed my life. I am so grateful for that gift and I am utterly committed to sharing it with as many people as possible, so they might find the same freedom and peace.
Here is me sharing a little more about Internal Family Systems and how it works…
And, here is a recorded 1:1 Internal Family Systems Session with an Inner Alchemy Programme Client…
It can be really hard to grasp what happens in an IFS Session, how it works and how it might be different to alternative therapies. One of my Clients very kindly and courageously offered to have a recorded session so you can get a sense of how we work in this process. I recommend finding a quiet space to listen to this session (around 1 hour long)…
How it works
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerful and deeply effective Psycho-therapeutic and Psycho-spiritual approach for gaining clarity and insight into our inner world and the ways in which it defines our external experience of life. It helps to identify long held emotional beliefs and patterns and find ways to heal past emotional experiences and develop emotional resilience. Through a beautiful experiential journey to your inner system, this practice allows you to explore emotional ‘reparenting’, heal early Attachment wounds and cultivate Self-Leadership so that we may live life with greater peace, compassion and curiosity and break free from any painful or limiting beliefs and experiences that have come to define us.
“IFS is more than a therapeutic technique. It is a conceptual framework and practice for developing love for ourselves and each other.” Dr. Richard Schwartz, Founder of Internal Family Systems
IFS forms the foundation of my Inner Alchemy 1:1 Therapeutic Coaching and supports the cultivation of greater awareness, emotional resilience and a platform to navigate the challenges of modern-day life including Perfectionism, Anxiety, Stress, Burnout, low Self-Esteem, Loss and working with the Inner Critic.
“If you’re tired of getting hijacked by your emotions, or want to improve your relationships with yourself and those around you, then IFS could be a great tool for you. The Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach to self-coaching will teach you the skills and mindfulness techniques you need to return to internal balance and harmony.” Beth Rogerson PhD
Sound interesting?
I’m passionate about sharing this work so it you’d like to find out more and see how Internal Family Systems and Therapeutic Coaching might support your healing journey, let’s have a chat.
You can get in touch using the links below to arrange a complimentary Connection Call with me.
An open hear and listening ear awaits.
Clients share their experience of Internal Family Systems…
“Thank you for helping guide me through so much pain and helping me to find a light within that. I’ve spent years feeling lost and not knowing what to do, but from the moment I went on your Soulshine journey, I’ve been recovering, exploring, finding ways to heal and find a true love within myself. There is no way on earth I could have done that without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
‘Soulla brings a gentle grace to the coaching process. She nourishes, listens and cares deeply - she also prods or prompts where needed - which can be a vital part of the process! My experience over three sessions has stayed with me on many levels - even informing the work I do with others. Connecting with different parts of me, bringing them to life in a compassionate and clear-eyed way, has enabled me to do the work to resolve a past trauma and love a part of myself I always used to turn away from. I am deeply grateful for the retreat time I have spent with her and the dedicated coaching sessions - and count them as key stages in my journey.’
‘When Soulla first told me about Internal Family Systems, I could instantly relate to the feeling of ‘parts’ within me. The coaching sessions flow naturally because Soulla is such an amazing, attentive and compassionate coach. She provides a safe space for me to explore my most deepest and sometimes darkest emotions. She guides the process beautifully, encouraging self compassion and I now have a much greater, deeper understanding of myself. I’m loving being guided on this spiritual and healing journey and I couldn’t ask for a lovelier coach!!’
‘IFS was a completely new concept and experience for me. I had been to counselling/therapy before and was looking for something that felt a little more progressive. I had meditated on and off for years but I did often find it difficult to 'drop in' and there was always a little barrier there that would stop me from going any deeper, which I found frustrating.
IFS was an amazing experience. I was a little daunted at first but Soulla was so good at setting up the system so I understood how it was all going to work and then she took it all at my own pace, listening to me and really thinking about where we should lead each session. It felt like I was actually working through things and understanding my emotions and reactions. There was no judgement, all reactions and emotions were accepted and then we worked on figuring out what part it came from and why it was there. It was just fascinating!
I feel more knowledgeable of myself, my parts, and I also have a sense of calm that everything is there, doing a job for a reason. It has made me check in (something I have often found difficult) and get comfortable with the process of recognising what is there. It really was a meaningful and powerful experience and I would recommend it to anyone.’
“Trauma is not about what happened to you;
it’s about what happened inside of you as a result of what happened to you.”
Dr. Gabor Maté
Understanding IFS
Here are some short presentations, interviews, books and podcasts to help get a feel for the IFS process…
This is a very short animated video about Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).
IFS Reading
I recommend reading Inner Harmony, Putting Your Self Back in Charge to all my Clients. It’s a very short, concise and clear introduction to the practice of Internal Family Systems and also explains the connection of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion in the process. All of which form the basis for our Soulshine approach. The other books are also great resources to understand the process more clearly.
IFS Meditations
Check out the Founder of IFS Dr Richard Schwartz as he leads you through some guided meditations over on the Insight Meditation App…
