In this episode focused on our journeys as therapists and counselors, we welcome back Cece Sykes. Cece has over 40 years of experience of clinical work with individuals, couples and families, specializing in recovery from trauma and addictive processes. She is a Senior Trainer of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and travels internationally teaching, lecturing and consulting. Cece also developed workshop retreat as part of an ongoing worldwide project to explore the personal narratives of therapists and the impact on their work. Podcast Feedback and Interview Request welcome at https://internalfamilysystems.pt/ifs-talks

Our Journeys as Therapists: a Talk with Cece Sykes

IFS Talks is an audio series to deepen connections with the Internal Family Systems Model through conversations with lead trainers, authors, practitioners and users. In these audio interviews, we will have the opportunity to draw out aspects of IFS Lead Trainers and skilled presenters to create a user-friendly format for listeners to get to know each trainer or practitioner, their background, in and before IFS. With candid, self-led dialogue, trainers and practitioners can share their specific interests with listeners interested in deepening their inner knowledge and IFS practice. Cece Sykes, Susan McConnell, Mary Kruger, Pam Krause, Lisa Spiegel, Martha Sweezy, Art Mones, Ann Sinko, Paul Neustadt, Frank Anderson, Larry Rosenberg, Toni Herbine-Blank,  and many more among the interviewees. Among the topics in theTalks:

- All Erotic Parts are Welcome, with Larry Rosenberg
- IFS, Trauma and Neuroscience, with Frank Anderson
- From Reactive to Self Led Parenting, with Paul Neustadt
- IFS as a Metamodel of Therapy, with Art Mones
- The Role of Legacy Burdens on Anxiety, Depression and Shame, with Ann Sinko
- Shame and Guilt as central for IFS work, with Martha Sweezy
- Bringing IFS to Children and Parents, with Lisa Spiegel
- IFS with Children and Adolescents, with Pam Krause
- IFS on Addictions and Eating Disorders, with Mary Kruger
- Embodying the Internal Family, with Susan McConnell
- Bringing IFS to Extreme Parts, with Cece Sykes

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Today, we revisit Joanne Twombley’s amazing episode from 2022 on Trauma- and Dissociation-Informed IFS. Joanne H. Twombly, MSW, LICSW  is a psychotherapist in private practice in Arlington, MA. She has over thirty years of experience working with C-PTSD and dissociative disorders, provides trainings and consultation. She has written on EMDR and Dissociative Disorders, EMDR and Internal Family Systems, and on working with perpetrator introjects. Her commitment to helping her clients heal and to providing quality training has resulted in her becoming an EMDR Consultant and a Trauma and Recovery Humanitarian Assistance Program Facilitator, Internal Family Systems Certified, and an American Society for Clinical Hypnosis Consultant. She is a past president of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. In recognition of her achievements and her service on committees and the Board of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) she was honnored with ISSTD's Distinguished Achievement Award and is an ISSTD Fellow.

Trauma and Dissociation Informed IFS with Joanne Twombly

In this episode, we discuss understanding OCD through an IFS lens. We explore particular challenges in treating OCD that arise from the interplay of the neurological and psychological factors that underly the condition. We also discuss how IFS integrates effective elements of other empirically validated treatments for OCD, and why IFS enhances the effectiveness of these interventions.  Melissa Mose, LMFT, has been in private practice for 30 years and has specialized in working with OCD for roughly half of that. She is currently the president of OCD Southern California, an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation and she is an international speaker and educator on Obsessive Compulsive disorder. As a Level 3 trained and certified Internal Family Systems therapist and an IFSI-approved professional consultant, Melissa is committed to developing a more compassionate, IFS-informed approach to evidence-based treatment for OCD. She is currently working on several projects designed to raise awareness, improve early identification and a wider range of treatment options for individuals with OCD. 

IFS-informed OCD treatment  with Melissa Mose

In this episode, we explore the nature and healing of exiles. We discuss finding and connecting with exiles, approaches to dealing with protectors’ fears of overwhelm, the healing and integration process, and more. Einat is a psychotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She has lived and worked with IFS since the early days of the model and learned closely and directly from Dr. Richard Schwartz. She is a certified IFS therapist and supervisor and a Senior International Lead Trainer for IFSI. She is also the co-founder and co-director of The Israeli Institute for IFS that brought IFS to Israel and has trained hundreds of Israeli therapists in  the model since 2008. Einat taught family and couples therapy at Tel Aviv University, presented multiple times at the IFS Annual Conference, and has led IFS trainings, seminars and workshops all over the world. She is married, has 4 children and one grandchild, and lives in Israel. She feels that all aspects of her life have been greatly influenced and shaped by the loving and spacious perspective IFS offers, for which she is deeply grateful.

Exiles and the Healing process with Einat Bronstein

Today we are welcoming IFS Lead Trainer, Paul Neustadt. Paul is a clinical social worker who has worked in community mental health and the counseling program of a working class state university, and he has been the director of a community based counseling and prevention program. He is an IFS senior co-lead trainer who also provides IFS consultation for individuals and groups. He has given workshops on The Gifts of Our Exiles: Reconnecting with Our True Self; Direct Access: An Essential Skill of IFS; Self Led Parenting; Self Led Feedback; Skeptical Parts; and other topics. He has written a chapter called “From Reactive to Self Led Parenting” in a book edited by Martha Sweezy and Ellen Ziskind. Today, we will be talking with him about the process of finding our own way with the IFS model as therapists and practitioners. You can contact Paul at probneus@gmail.com

Finding Your Own Way as an IFS Therapist with Paul Neustadt

Having worked in community mental health at the outpatient department of the Cambridge Health Alliance for 18 years as a therapist, supervisor and the associate director of the DBT program, Martha Sweezy experienced with a wide variety of mental health challenges, many related to the sequelae of trauma. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a clinical and program development consultant at Cambridge Health Alliance. Until January, 2015, Martha was the Associate Director and Director of Training of DBT at Cambridge Health Alliance. In addition to being the author of several articles, Martha is a co-editor or co-author of eight books related to IFS (see Publications), and co-leads (with Toni Herbine-Blank) workshops for IFS trained therapists on shame and self-compassion, fondly nicknamed “Shame Camp” by participants. Martha has an online private practice.

Our Journeys as Therapists: a Talk with Cece Sykes

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