Somatic IFS Newsletter - September, 2022

Welcome to those new to the email list, and welcome all to my long over-due newsletter/blog for Somatic IFS. As summer is fading in the northern hemisphere, I take time to enjoy the harvest and reflect on summer fun, including the Somatic IFS Training in July, and to begin plans for the future.

Here you see a few participants in the Somatic IFS Training in July enjoying a cool dip (ok,—a very cold dip!) in the spring-fed pond at the Ecology Retreat Centre north of Toronto. I like to believe that all of you benefitted from the Self energy co-created by the wonderful staff and participants in this in-person Training. I am delighted to welcome a new group of trained Somatic IFS Therapists. I hope to soon have a listing of all those who have completed the two programs that qualify them as Somatic IFS Therapists. The people on the list will be those who chose to be available to be contacted for S-IFS therapy or consultation.

Currently I am enjoying teaching an introduction to Somatic IFS through the IFS Institute’s Continuity Program. This special membership program and practitioner community was created to deepen the knowledge and skills of those who are enrolled in or have completed IFS Level 1 Training, and those who have already participated in the IFS Online Circle. The focus of this program is on an embodied approach to healing trauma. Although the first session has already happened, because of the interest they have kept registration open for a few more days. You can access the 2 tapes for the 1st session and participate in the next 3 sessions. The live calls will be 10/17, 11/21, and 12/12, all at 11:00-12:15 CT. You can sign up here https://courses.ifs-institute.com/sales/ifs_irs035390_continuity_fall2022_ifsihomepage-423252.

The Somatic IFS retreats planned for this winter are full, so I am looking at future programs. Because there has been some confusion about the Series, the Retreats, and the Trainings, it might help to explain them in a new way, as steps toward being trained in Somatic IFS. And there are only two steps. I will call them “phases” rather than the IFS term “levels.” Phase 1 is largely experiential, and is offered both online and in person. The online Phase 1 has been referred to as a “Series,” and the in-person has been referred to as a “Retreat.” Both of these programs are about 30 hrs. Completion of this Phase 1, along with the IFS Level 1 or the equivalent, makes one eligible for the 54-hr Somatic IFS Training, “Phase 2.”

Phase 1. Most of the Somatic IFS retreats have been held in Costa Rica and more recently in Molokai and in Bristol in the UK, and are being offered this winter in California, and in autumn 2023 in Ireland. The online version (the Series), was created in response to the pandemic and to meet the needs of those who can’t travel to these locations. Some people choose only this mostly experiential, “Phase 1” program. They benefit personally as well as professionally from experiencing the five Somatic IFS practices and gain greater access to their embodied Self energy. Especially with the in-person retreats, many people return again and again.

Phase 2. Those who want to be fully trained in Somatic IFS choose to take the 54-hr training after completing Phase 1, such as the one held in Ontario this summer. The teaching, discussion, demos, and supervised practice sessions train them to bring Somatic IFS to help their clients with every clinical issue. I am in the planning process for an online Training to be held this spring 2023.

Please stay tuned to my website www.embodiedself.net for the link to a listing of Somatic IFS Therapists, for information about the online Somatic IFS Training April 13-May 25, 2023, and for the Somatic IFS Retreat in County Kerry Ireland, October 2-9, 2023.