AUGUST 2026 UPDATE
Responding to the remarkable surge of interest in both IFS and a somatic approach to psychotherapy, Somatic IFS is experiencing a considerable expansion. This newsletter will outline this expansion in programming, staffing, and the development of Somatic IFS beyond primarily English-speaking staff and participants.
First, the programming.
New Programs
EMBODIMENT BOOSTER
This September I am delighted to offer the very first Embodiment Booster— a unique opportunity created exclusively for graduates of my Somatic IFS Step 1 and Step 2 programs.
Join me and your fellow Somatic IFS graduates on 22 & 23 September 2026 for 12 hours of live, online learning designed to deepen your personal embodiment, refresh your practice, and reconnect with the Somatic IFS community. Through live teaching, demonstrations, guided experiential practices, reflection and integration, we will take a rich, immersive journey into the two foundational practices of Somatic IFS--Somatic Awareness and Conscious Breathing.
This first-of-its-kind workshop, exclusively for graduates of my Somatic IFS Step 1 and/or Step 2 programs, offers a dedicated space to slow down, practice, and explore these essential foundations in greater depth.
EMBODIED SELF, EMBODIED SYSTEM
An additional brand-new opportunity for IFS-informed Practitioners, Coaches and Healers
Up until now, Somatic IFS has only been available to those who have completed an IFS Level 1. We are delighted to be offering this Somatic IFS workshop to explore the powerful integration of somatic practices with the Internal Family Systems model.
This exciting 18-hour online workshop, Embodied Self, Embodied System, will take place on March 11, 12, 18 & 19, 2027 and will be led by two of my highly experienced Somatic IFS Co-Lead Trainers, Marcella Cox and LaDonna Silva.
If you—or someone you know—is IFS-informed and would benefit from deepening their practice through an embodied approach, we would love to welcome you.
SOMATIC IFS STEP 1s
We continue with our in-person Step 1s in the US, Costa Rica, and Europe. The US Step 1 retreat will be in Asheville in October, and the two Costa Rica Step 1 retreats will be in February. Both of these Step1 retreats are fully booked.
Registration is now open for the European Step 1 retreat in Sesimbra, Portugal, April 28 - May 5th, 2027. If you couldn’t make it into our US or Costa Rica Step 1’s, there is still an opportunity to join us in Portugal and I would love to welcome you onboard.
SOMATIC IFS STEP 2s
Registration will be open September, 2027 for the next Step 2 Online Training beginning November 2027 for those of you who have completed the Step 1 and wish to be formally trained in the model.
Somatic IFS for non-English speaking IFS therapists
My books have been translated into 9 different languages, and Somatic IFS has long been welcomed in many countries other than English-speaking. I have taught Somatic IFS in Germany from 2012 to 2021, in Barcelona in 2017, and for Russians and Ukrainians in 2020. We are now experiencing the results.
German trainers Christine Bombosch (also a Somatic IFS PA) and Martina Beckhäuser have continued to teach Body and IFS to many IFS therapists in German-speaking countries. Maritza Erazo, Somatic IFS Assistant Trainer and IFS Assistant Trainer, will be introducing Somatic IFS to a Spanish-speaking audience of 25,000 at the 4th Hispanic Summit on Trauma, Resilience, and Wholeness. Plans are underway for SIFS staff members to lead a Step 1 retreat in Spain in 2028, including Maritza Erazo, Imma Lloret, Ana Morante, Betlem Malloret, and Rosa Wramble. The long-range plan is for Spanish-speaking Somatic IFS staff to lead Somatic IFS retreats in Latin and Central American countries.
All of our programs include participants and staff for whom English is not their first language. My US staff and I have learned so much from the many attendees of SIFS programs as they bring their rich cultures to our groups and help US staff to recognize and work with our US-Centric parts. I personally, and Somatic IFS as a method, have learned and grown so much.
I want to share with you how deeply I have been touched by staff and participants from countries suffering from war and natural disasters--Ukraine, Venezuela, and Jordan.
Recently, a young Ukranian woman, Kateryna Vashtalova, joined our Portuguese SIFS retreat. Having felt so brokenhearted about the war for years as I closely followed the media accounts, I was astonished by Kateryna’s lively spirit and radiant energy. I discovered her website - https://somatic.style/ -- and am impressed by all she has studied and founded in her country. In the midst of grief and despair, I feel grateful for our resilience.
Venezuelan SIFS staff member and clinical social worker Rosa Bramble, shared with Beth and I how the IFS Latine community all over Latin America and Spain has come together with extraordinary compassion and commitment to support the people of Venezuela. When Beth and I asked Rosa for her recommendations for earthquake relief funding, she wholeheartedly recommended FUNDANA. In partnership with FUNDANA they are building a volunteer network of IFS-informed therapists to provide trauma-informed psychosocial support to those affected by the earthquake. Rosa recently guided Venezuelans gathered at Queens Park in New York with SIFS meditation and movement. Rosa is excited to be introducing Somatic IFS and IFS with FUNDANA and hopes these healing approaches can continue to support the people of Venezuela beyond the current crisis.
To learn more about FUNDANA or to donate to the Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund, visit: https://www.fundana.org
Many SIFS staff are also IFS staff, and are bringing a somatic approach to their teaching of IFS. Most recently, Ann-Katrin Bockman, a German IFS Solo Lead Trainer and Somatic IFS staff member taught an IFS Level 1 in Jordan. Ann-Katrin shared with me some paintings from a participant, Shada, which Ann-Katrin describes as “so raw and expressive that I simply could not help but encourage her to let herself be seen…I am so moved that there are courageous souls like Shada in this world — souls who have lost everything that was dear to them and yet still give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves…What touches me most is that I speak no Arabic, and Shada speaks little English — and yet something so tender and true passed between us regardless. It was, quite simply, beyond language.”
I am honored to share Shada’s artwork and her words with all of you.
"I met Ann during my Level 1 Internal Family Systems (IFS) training. I thought I was there to learn a therapeutic model. Instead, I discovered a new way of seeing—one that transformed not only my work as a psychologist, but also my life as an artist.
Before IFS, I was drawn to the body. I painted rib cages, throats, hearts, teeth, and bones because I sensed they held emotions beyond words. Yet I was still painting anatomy.
IFS changed the question I was asking.
The body was no longer simply a structure.
It became a home.
A rib cage could shelter a frightened child.
A throat could hold a voice that had learned to disappear.
A tooth could become a refuge for an exile who had been waiting, quietly, to be found.
I realized I was never painting organs.
I was painting relationships.
Since then, every artwork begins with listening. I listen until an inner part feels safe enough to emerge, until silence finds a form, and until what could never be spoken can finally be witnessed.
These artworks were born in deeply private places. For a long time, they belonged only to my own inner journey. Sharing them became an act of trust—a belief that what is most personal can also become deeply human.
I hope these artworks offer more than something to look at. I hope they invite people to pause, to meet their own inner world with curiosity and compassion, and to remember that beneath every burden is a part that has never stopped hoping to be seen.
If someone leaves these artworks feeling less alone than when they first arrived, then they have already fulfilled their purpose."
As old structures are shifting and transforming around the world, we open to the unprecedented invitation for awakening and healing. During these extraordinary times, I am happy to introduce you to these extraordinary humans.
May you all be filled with loving kindness, be safe from harm, and find happiness and ease.
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