SEAN CUTHBERT 

In Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy (and trauma therapy in general), dissociation is a protective strategy to understand, rather than one to try and eradicate, or get rid of. When a client zones out, becomes foggy, goes blank, loses track of the conversation, or suddenly feels disconnected from themselves, something very intelligent is happening in their internal system. The client is showing how they survived overwhelming circumstances, or their childhood as a whole.

Providing options between keeping the eyes open versus keeping the closed in IFS can add depth to the Internal Family Systems process by adding choice.

Speaking for parts rather than from them - a key IFS Therapy skill - can enhance communication and emotional clarity.

Using the IFS model to work with procrastinating parts can transform how you see parts that seem like they are trying to hurt, into adaptive strategies that are trying to prevent pain.

Embodied curiosity is the quiet superpower in IFS. Discover one of the key 8c's of IFS can transform your relationship with your parts.

When people first hear about the 8 C’s in IFS - calm, curiosity, compassion, confidence, courage, creativity, connectedness, and clarity - a lot of Parts nod along like they’ve just been given a checklist. Yes, got it, and I’ll think my way into that. What took me a while to learn is this: the 8 C’s aren’t concepts to understand. They're actually signals in the body, practical somatic markers that help you recognise your flavour of Self-energy when it shows up. So, you do