Befriend Your Parts

One of the greatest gifts of Internal Family Systems is the reminder that the healing presence of Self is always available and can be trusted to lead. And yet, even seasoned therapists and practitioners can find themselves working harder than necessary with clients, blended with Helper parts who appear Self-like but are subtly attached to an agenda. When parts lead therapy, self-doubt grows, effectiveness slips, and burnout builds.

Which parts are working harder with clients than is sustainable? What do your parts need to start to trust that you are enough? Are you more attuned to your clients’ systems than to your own?

Join Laura Schmidt, Senior IFS Therapist, Approved Clinical IFS Consultant, and AAMFT Supervisor, for a restorative internal exploration designed to strengthen trust and connection between your protective Helper parts and your Self. Discover greater spaciousness and balance as parts begin to soften and trust your Self to lead. Be with your clients in ways that are attuned and effective without depleting your own system.

Supported by the group’s collective Self energy and the restorative setting of Kripalu, this retreat offers a rare opportunity to slow down and restore the energy so readily given to others. This time is just for YOU and your parts to receive—no one else to tend to.

Through experiential practice, somatic and creative exploration, live demonstrations, guided meditation, individual and group reflection, you will:

• Befriend hard-working Helper parts and strengthen their relationship with Self.
• Identify Self-led clinical practices that are effective, sustainable, and life-giving.
• Reduce internal expectations to fix, please, or accommodate.
• Cultivate greater ease in embodying Self energy in session.
• Explore how cultural and legacy burdens shape overworking clinical Protectors.

Return home with a deeper connection to your wise, loving, embodied Self who never tires and knows just how to be with clients, with ease, confidence, and clarity.

NOTE: This retreat is not an introduction to IFS. While IFS Level 1 training or equivalent is not a formal prerequisite, the retreat is designed for therapists and practitioners with prior IFS training and personal experience who actively integrate the model into their work. Your experience applying IFS to clients serves as the foundation for our time together. After registration, you will be asked to share your IFS training and experience to inform Laura’s preparation of the retreat.

NOTE: IFS-I and NBCC CEs pending approval.