Life Practice Workshops

Internal Family Systems

Internal family systems (IFS) is a relatively recent advance in psychotherapy that was formulated by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the mid-1980s. It gained organisational structure in 2000 with the creation of the Center for Self-Leadership (soon to be called IFS Institute), and has taken off in the last five years due primarily to two factors. First, the endorsement by one of the leading world experts in trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, who dedicated a chapter to IFS in his widely-acclaimed book The Body Keeps the Score. Second, by its recognition in the US as an evidence-based practice, which brought it into the mainstream.

IFS is, at the same time, a therapeutic protocol, a map of the psyche, and a life practice. In our Open Heart workshops – which we have designed in different formats: one-day, weekend and three-day workshops held in Barcelona; and four-day workshops held either by the sea or in the mountains – we focus on the latter two aspects, while also preparing the terrain for those who wish to undertake training themselves in the therapeutic protocol and thus become IFS practitioners.

The IFS map of the psyche, both simple and elegant, sees the mind as consisting of protector and vulnerable parts, and identifies a core essence or essential nature that it calls Self. This Self possesses a number of qualities like curiosity, compassion, clarity, calm and courage, and has the ability to heal extreme or vulnerable parts by witnessing their story and accompanying them with these qualities.

The focus of our various IFS workshops is to offer an exploration of this map of the psyche, a demonstration of IFS in action and, above all, a number of practices that allow participants to get to know their protective parts, to develop an ongoing dialogue with them and to ask them to open up space so as to access Self. In this way, we can begin to develop a deeper understanding of, and more open-hearted approach towards, both ourselves and others. They are designed to provide enough knowledge and tools to allow participants to take their first steps using IFS as a life practice, as well as offering an introduction to IFS for those who wish to undergo their own official training as IFS practitioners.

Check out the section on Upcoming Workshops on the home page for news of the next IFS as a Life Practice workshop.