Today I welcome to the podcast Drs. Risa Adams, Robin Beardsley, and Elizabeth Parsons. They are family physicians turned psychotherapists who came together during the pandemic to write, find community, and speak for their parts. What they found in that process and wrote about in their new book, It Doesn't Have To Be This Way: A Physician's Guide To Radical Self Care (by three physicians who've been there), is something most caregivers, doctors, healthcare workers, therapists, parents, partners, anyone who finds their worth in being needed, will recognize.

In This Episode

• The parts that helped you survive by taking care of everyone else
• Why fear and shame rarely get spoken out loud in medicine, or anywhere caregiving happens
• What finally broke each of them, and what helped
• Writing as a way to let parts be witnessed for the first time
• Why belonging and helping got tangled together so early

Takeaways

• Helper parts learned that helping was the price of belonging
• The parts that make you good at caring for others are often the same parts driving burnout
• Burnout is a signal that the strategy has run out of space
• Being witnessed by people who get it can reach parts that have never been spoken out loud
• The culture around caregiving, in medicine and elsewhere, rewards the helper and punishes the one who needs

This episode is for anyone who has ever made themselves smaller so there would be room to help.

Links:

Book: It Doesn't Have to Be This Way: A Physician's Guide to Radical Self-Care

IFS Canadian Community Conference: A two-day online gathering for professionals using Internal Family Systems in their work, and for those exploring how IFS may support their professional practice. June 5-6, 2026, online.

About the guests:

Risa Adams, MD, CCFP, is a family physician with a focused practice in perinatal mental health and complex PTSD. She is a Certified IFS Therapist, Approved Clinical Consultant and Trainer with the IFS Institute. Through her own travels with mental health she has come to appreciate the complexity of being a human while being a physician, with a special interest in intergenerational trauma. Risa lives in Elora, Ontario, with her partner and two children, and hopes to help bring IFS to doctors, patients and her own communities.

Robin Beardsley, MD, FCFP, a Family Physician with over 35 years' experience of comprehensive family medicine practice and psychotherapy with a focus on care for the caregiver. She is a certified IFS-I Therapist, approved Clinical Consultant, with extensive training in the Satir Model and is a trained teacher of Mindful Self Compassion. She also works with learners, as a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and teaches Self Compassion for Health Care Communities. These experiences of working with and healing from empathic distress in medical communities with IFS and Self-Compassion, along with her own journey of being a caregiver, personally and professionally, has given her a greater understanding of the complexity and multiplicity of our systems. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband and adult children nearby. Elizabeth Parsons, MD, FCFP, has been a physician for over 25 years, practicing psychotherapy since 2007. She is a Certified IFS therapist and an Approved Clinical Consultant with the IFS Institute. In addition to IFS, Elizabeth is trained in trauma therapy and has been facilitating psychotherapy groups since 2010. Her interest in physician well being goes back to residency, when she surveyed medical residents on their coping strategies. She has been closely involved with the Medical Psychotherapy Association Canada since 2007, launching a self-care retreat for physicians that has run annually since 2012. Elizabeth lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband and 3 children. About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

Today I welcome Irina Diyankova back to the podcast. Her last episode, Is It Trauma or Neurodivergence? was one of our most popular.

This time we explore what happens when "going inside" during an IFS session becomes hard for clients. She finds this is especially true with neurodivergent and C-PTSD clients.

Irina shares why externalization can be so helpful in these cases. Instead of relying only on what's happening internally, bringing things outside, like mapping, speaking out loud, connecting visually or relationally, really help.

We also talk about how IFS isn't a cookie-cutter model. We all respond differently, and part of the work is noticing what helps you stay engaged and attuned to a particular client's system.

One of my favorite segments was hearing her talk about building community inside with part-to-part relationships. This is where we help parts notice each other, listen, and begin to relate differently. These part-to-part connections are just as important in the healing process as Self-to-part.

We also talk about slowing things down in session, and how that's a small-but-critical opportunity for healing. Saying, "what you just said is important," or "tell me more about that." For many people, that kind of attention wasn't there growing up. It can feel unfamiliar, and also really supportive.

Later in the conversation, Irina shares about her experience with cancer, being in remission, and what it's been like to be with her system in the process. She talks about holding different parts at the same time, and relating to cancer not as something to fight, but something to understand.

Don't miss my short extended interview with Irina over on Substack, where she shares what's giving her hope lately.

Takeaways from this episode:

• Externalizing can make parts work more accessible when staying inside feels hard

• IFS isn't one-size-fits-all; adjust based on what you need

• Slowing down and naming something as important can help people feel seen

• "Community inside" means parts noticing and relating to each other

• When Self isn't available, part-to-part connection still helps

• Orienting parts to the present can reduce overwhelm

• What helps you stay engaged when going inside feels hard?

Links:

Medium article: Dancing With Cancer

Using IFS with Complex Trauma Clients workshop

About Irina Diyankova Irina Diyankova, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, certified IFS therapist, Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, and a Co-Lead Trainer. She has private practice in Knoxville, TN, USA where she specializes in working with complex trauma in adults and adolescents and intersection of trauma and neurodifferences. Irina also maintains consultation practice where she offers individual and group consultation to the IFS therapists and those who are in the process of learning IFS. Being born and raised in Russia, Irina has a special interest in applying IFS across cultures, as well as working with cultural dynamics and burdens. Irina has completed all three levels of IFS training. SHe has also conducted multiple IFS workshops and consultation groups in the US and Russia. She is very passionate and excited about IFS Model and loves sharing it with other therapists and human services professionals. In her leisure time she loves practicing yoga, hiking, traveling, reading and writing.

You can learn more about her work at dr-irina.com

Episode Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Therapy Training Boston.

Therapy Training Boston offers live, in-person, and online workshops, plus consultation for therapists and other helping professionals, designed to support you as a whole person while satisfying your CE requirements. All of their offerings are taught with an eye toward context, power, and relational justice, and draw on the family systems theories and best practices that shaped the IFS model. They also offer an Intensive Certificate Program in Couples and Family Therapy to help you build confidence and capacity in community.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

On today's episode, I talk with Joanna Curry-Sartori, founder of the Self-Leadership Collaborative and author of The Self-Led Educator. We explore this idea of how to bring IFS into everyday life, to invite more Self Energy into our conversations and interactions.

Joanna teaches us her PAUSE model, a five-step process to help you slow things down and notice what's happening inside before you respond. Sometimes it's in moments where you can feel yourself starting to react, or a conversation begins to shift. Instead of pushing through, you pause, get curious about your parts, and then return to the interaction.

In This Episode We Talk About:

• How to bring IFS into everyday moments • PAUSE as a way to slow down and notice what's happening inside • Using IFS in relationships, parenting, and classrooms • How to stay with your parts instead of reacting • What do you notice in yourself right before you react? • What can change when you turn inward first

About Joanna Curry-Sartori

Joanna Curry-Sartori, LMFT, is the Founder and President of the Self-Leadership Collaborative. She leads work focused on bringing Internal Family Systems into everyday life—at home, at work, in schools, and in communities. With over twenty years of experience working with young people, educators, parents, and community leaders, her work centers on helping people access and live from Self leadership together.

Joanna is the author of The Self-Led Educator: An IFS Guide to Create Calm, Compassionate, and Confident Learning Communities. Learn more at www.selfleadershipcollaborative.com

Episode Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Souliology.

Souliology offers retreats and immersive learning experiences for IFS professionals, many led by IFS Senior Lead Trainers and eligible for continuing education credits.

Their programs support deep professional and personal growth, offering space to step away from the demands of daily life so you can return to your practice more present and resourced for the clients you serve.

Souliology: Where growth meets depth. Learn more at souliology.com

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

On today's episode I welcome Nitsan Joy Gordon, a dance movement therapist, IFS practitioner, and peacebuilder who lives in Israel.

Nitsan shares about growing up in Israel, living near the border, and what it's like to live in a place where war and trauma have been part of daily life for generations.

She also tells the story of how Internal Family Systems changed her own life. A powerful experience at Esalen with Dick Schwartz inspired her to use IFS in her work back home.

Nitsan leads Together Beyond Words, an organization bringing Israelis and Palestinians together to transform pain through deep listening and connection. Her work is guided by the belief that pain that is not transformed is transmitted.

After the attacks of October 7 and the immense grief and trauma that followed, Nitsan realized the need for healing had grown beyond what her organization had been doing. Today nearly 80 volunteers are offering ongoing support, and dozens of groups have been created where Israelis and Palestinians can process trauma, grief, and fear together.

As you listen, I invite you to notice your own parts. What comes up for you as you hear these stories? What do you feel in your body?

For me, this conversation was a reminder of the power of curiosity, one-on-one connection, and the courage it takes to stay present and open in our divided world.

In This Episode We Talk About:

• What it's like living in Israel today.

• Nitsan's organization Together Beyond Words, which brings Israelis and Palestinians together to transform pain through shared healing.

• The idea that "pain that is not transformed is transmitted."

• A powerful IFS session she had with Dick Schwartz.

• How the events of October 7 changed her work.

• Why people need separate spaces to grieve before they can reunite.

• When she realized the level of trauma requires an "army of healers."

• How the Healing for Peace initiative grew from a handful of volunteers to nearly 80.

• Why facilitators working in conflict zones are learning IFS tools like unblending and working with polarizations.

About Nitsan Joy Gordon

Nitsan Joy Gordon is a Dance/Movement Therapist, IFS therapist, and peacebuilder who has been working in Israel/Palestine for over three decades. Her work lives at the meeting point of movement, deep listening, and compassionate presence, creating spaces where pain shaped by conflict can be felt, witnessed, and transformed. She is the author of Together Beyond Words: Women on a Quest for Peace in the Middle East and the initiator of Army of Healers, an offering of safe spaces to feel and heal across deep divides. Learn more at: Together Beyond Words.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

On today's episode I welcome psychotherapist and author Meg Josephson to the podcast.

Her book Are You Mad at Me? names something so many of us feel but rarely say out loud: Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?

Meg and I talk about the fawn response, people-pleasing, and the parts of us that learned early on to stay ahead of conflict. We explore how "being nice" can disconnect us from ourselves, why grief and anger are essential to healing, and how mindfulness helps us slow down enough to notice what's really happening inside.

If you've ever swallowed your needs to keep the peace, felt resentful after saying yes, or worried that one mistake could cost you connection, our conversation will resonate.

We Explore: • Why "Are you mad at me?" isn't really a question, but a feeling. • The difference between being nice and being compassionate. • How grief challenges the hope that if we try harder, we'll finally be seen. • Small corrective experiences that help our parts learn we're actually safe.

Here's a link to the workshop she mentioned in the episode.

About Meg Josephson

Meg Josephson, LCSW, is a licensed psychotherapist and the author of the New York Times bestselling book Are You Mad at Me?, which has been translated into over 20 languages. In her private practice, she specializes in trauma-informed care through a mindfulness-based, compassion-focused lens. She holds a Master of Social Work from Columbia University.

Episode Sponsor: Cape Cod Institute

Deepen your IFS practice at the Cape Cod Institute this summer, now in its 46th year.

Choose from 38 half-day courses, either in person on Cape Cod or live online. Spend your mornings learning, and your afternoons applying insights, connecting with colleagues, or exploring the Cape.

If you use IFS, this is a rare opportunity to learn directly from the people shaping the model. A dedicated IFS Week features Richard Schwartz and IFS practitioners teaching couples work, addictive processes, leadership, disordered eating, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

Learn more and register at cape.org, and use code theoneinside2026 for $50 off.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

In today's episode, I welcome my friend Marcella Cox back to the podcast.

Marcella is a certified IFS therapist, approved consultant, and somatic IFS assistant trainer. She's also a certified Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Rest and Restore provider, and the lead author of the new guidelines for integrating IFS with these listening therapies.

We talk about:

• The basics of polyvagal theory

• How our nervous system states impact our parts

• Why co-regulation is central to healing

• The difference between SSP (connection to others) and Rest and Restore (connection to Self)

• How listening therapies can support safety in the body and allow more Self Energy to emerge

I also share my own experience trying SSP with Marcella. I experienced some surprising physical shifts and insights that came up after a few short listening sessions.

If you're curious about nervous system regulation and how it can deepen your IFS work, I think you'll really appreciate this conversation.

About Marcella Cox

Marcella Cox, LMFT, is a therapist, author, and presenter devoted to exploring the intersection of embodiment, trauma healing, and eating disorder recovery. She is a Level 3 Certified IFS Therapist, an Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, and an Assistant Trainer for Somatic IFS, the model developed by Susan McConnell.

She provides consultation and leads workshops, trainings, and retreats for professionals on IFS for disordered eating, Somatic IFS, and integrating IFS with the Safe & Sound Protocol and is the lead author of the IFS and Listening Therapies (Safe and Sound Protocol and Rest and Restore Protocol) Combined Delivery Guidelines, published through Unyte in January 2026.

Marcella is the founder and executive director of Kindful Body, which provides online therapy and nutrition counseling for eating and body concerns in California. She is also the co-founder of the IFS Consultation Collective, offering weekly consultation with IFS lead trainers.

To learn more about combining IFS and Unyte's listening therapies: https://integratedlistening.com/resources/ifs-and-listening-therapies/

Marcella's SSP & IFS groups: https://www.kindfulbody.com/somatic-ifs-and-ssp-group/

Sign up for Marcella's newsletter to find out about upcoming offerings

Kindful Body on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kindfulbody/

Episode Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Therapy Training Boston.

Therapy Training Boston offers live, in-person, and online workshops, plus consultation for therapists and other helping professionals, designed to support you as a whole person while satisfying your CE requirements. All of their offerings are taught with an eye toward context, power, and relational justice, and draw on the family systems theories and best practices that shaped the IFS model. They also offer an Intensive Certificate Program in Couples and Family Therapy to help you build confidence and capacity in community.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

On today's episode I chat with Keith and Courtney, cohosts of the podcast Tripping Over Love. Keith is licensed therapist and a Level 3 IFS Consultant, and Courtney is journalist and podcaster. They joined me to share their beautiful, messy love story.

We dive into the courage it takes to start over, the "trauma" of the dating apps, and how they've used Internal Family Systems (IFS) and psychedelics to navigate the "breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs" of their relationship .

We discuss:

• Starting relationships with truth instead of performance.

• Radical transparency — "starting with the ending" — as a foundation for trust.

• Why telling the truth early can save a relationship later.

• Loving someone while still grieving a past life.

• Speaking for parts instead of from them in moments of conflict.

• Finding the courage to try again after loss and heartbreak.

• Dating is messy: Getting honest about the "thrift store shopping" energy of dating apps.

• The difference between loving someone and being "in love."

• IFS as "four-wheel drive": Turning toward the model when relationships get stuck.

• How psychedelic-assisted journeys helped unlock grief — and create space to love again.

Extended Interview

At the end of our chat, I asked them each for one piece of advice for couples. This extended interviews is available for paid subscribers over on The One Inside Substack.

Connect with Keith and Courtney:

• Podcast: Tripping Over Love

• Substack

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

On today's episode I welcome my friend David Stern to the podcast. This conversation feels so perfect right now. It's full of the kind of hope we all need. David has this beautiful way of seeing the spiritual dimension in everything we do.

David calls us to remember our "Pure Soul"—the part of us that is already peaceful and cannot be destroyed. He talks about parts as "angels in disguise," the ones inside that have taken on difficult roles to protect that inner light. If you're looking for a way to stay connected to yourself in a chaotic world, this episode is a sacred reminder that your essence is always already okay.

We Explore:

• Why David looks for the unbridled aliveness in every person he meets.
• Reimagining our parts as refractions of a primal, divine intelligence.
• How to hold the "horrors" of the world while still choosing to love our people and stay present.
• Practicing "remembrance" to help shift out of the noise and back into your heart.

About David

David Stern, Psy.D. is a licensed psycholgoist, certified IFS consultant, dedicated teacher, and the creator of the Thinking Heart IFS Intensive. He also co-founded IFS Healers, an online Community of Practice designed to foster connection, deepen learning, and build community among IFS practitioners. David has trained hundreds of students worldwide and has presented at the IFS International Conference and consults with practitioners globally.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

In this episode, I'm joined by my friend Daphne Fatter for a timely and honest conversation about what so many of us are navigating right now, as therapists, as parents, and as humans living in a polarized and chaotic time. We talk about nervous system overwhelm, numb and checked-out parts, news consumption, activism, community connection, and how to stay grounded when things feel "too much." We also touch on Daphne's new book: Integrating Internal Family Systems Interventions into EMDR Therapy.

In this episode:

• Why so many of us feel numb, frozen, or checked out right now

• Normalizing survival responses and protectors during times of stress

• How polarization shows up both culturally and inside our own systems

• Staying curious about people with different political perspectives

• Finding ways to stay informed without burning out on the news

• Why connection, shared humanity, and community matter so much right now

I get blended a few times in this episode and say, "I can't believe I said that." This is such a great example of how quickly any of us can blend with passionate and opinionated parts when navigating stressful topics.

Be sure to check out my extended interview with Daphne over on Substack.

About Daphne

Daphne Fatter, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, integrative trauma consultant, author, and international speaker specializing in integrative trauma-informed therapies. She is the author of Integrating Internal Family Systems Interventions into EMDR Therapy and is widely recognized for her expertise in blending parts work with evidence-based trauma modalities.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.

Today I welcome David Polidi, Bruce Hersey, and Joanne Twombly on the podcast to talk about their new book, IFS-Informed EMDR: Creative and Collaborative Appraoches.

We talk about why this book is needed, what it took to bring together more than 20 contributors, and why integrating these models can create more options, more flexibility, and more hope for clients.

We talk about:

• Bringing together 21 contributors and creating a true community project

• Why integration can help when clients get stuck in one modality

• The idea that there is a natural, underlying healing process beyond any single model

• Coping skills, resourcing, and the diverging views on when and how to use them

• Joanne's "fire drill" and using IFS to work with therapist countertransference

• Why strong foundational training in both IFS and EMDR matters before integrating them

• The belief that there is no "perfect model," and that relationship and Self Energy matter most

There's a lot of heart here, a lot of theory, and a lot of love for clients, the field, and each other. I'm excited for you to listen, and be sure to catch my extended interview with them over on Substack.

About the Guests

Bruce Hersey, LCSW is widely recognized for his work integrating EMDR and IFS. Together with Michelle Richardson, he created the Syzygy Institute, which offers training and certification in IIE. Bruce is an Approved Consultant in EMDR and an IFS Approved Clinical Consultant, providing individual and group IFS and IIE consultation. He has led numerous IFS workshops and presented at the IFS International Conference, as well as EMDRIA and international EMDR conferences. www.syzygyinstitute.com, www.brucehersey.com, and www.emdrifs.com.

David Polidi, LICSW, M.Ed. is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and a Certified EMDR Consultant in Training, and has also been trained in IFS. He has worked with children and families since 2000 and has been in private practice for the past five years. David developed and facilitates the online couples workshop Deepen the Conversation, and hosts the podcast Empowered Through Compassion, where he speaks with innovators in psychology about integrating EMDR, IFS, and other trauma-healing approaches. www.empoweredthroughcompassion.com.

Joanne H. Twombly, LICSW is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with over thirty years of experience working with Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders. She is a Certified EMDR Consultant and an IFS Certified Therapist. Joanne is a Trauma and Recovery Humanitarian Assistance Program Facilitator and a Clinical Hypnosis Consultant. She is the past president of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and has received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, where she is also an ISSTD Fellow. Joanne recently published Trauma and Dissociation Informed Internal Family Systems: How to Successfully Treat Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders. www.joannetwombly.net.

About The One Inside

I started this podcast to help spread IFS out into the world and make the model more accessible to everyone. Seven years later, that's still at the heart of all we do.

• Join The One Inside Substack community for bonus conversations, extended interviews, meditations, and more.

• Find Self-Led merch at The One Inside store.

• Listen to episodes and watch clips on YouTube.

• Follow me on Instagram @ifstammy or on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

I co-create The One Inside with Jeff Schrum, a Level 2 IFS practitioner and coach.

Resources

• New to IFS? My book, The One Inside: Thirty Days to Your Authentic Self, is a great place to start.

• Want a free meditation? Sign up for my email list and get "Get to Know a Should Part" right away.

Sponsorship

Want to sponsor an episode of The One Inside? Email Tammy.