Q & A

Is it normal to experience going from high to low emotions after a session?

How to process feelings after IFS Therapy

When we feel elated at the conclusion of a session and then experience fear, anger or sadness later, we term that backlash. Backlash occurs when other parts feel the shift in the system after helping one part and they worry about how it will effect them, so they rise up with anger, fear and sadness because most parts carry elements of those emotions as part of their role. This is a good sign because significant impact was made and is the nature of establishing relationship, accepting that tough conversations will need to be had and that parts will process differently, like people. We want to lean-in when any strong negative part shows up by thanking it for acknowledgment, and then assuring it we will spend more time with it the next time but for now, “could they give space”? If they feel understood that their sadness, fear or anger is OK and that you’re not trying to get rid of it, the symptoms can dissipate. Other parts will try to figure out why these negative feelings are here, but that also points to the hope that the system longs to feel better. This makes the IFS process a build upon one, because it could take a lot of time for each part to share its story before it unburdens. We can ask it to dial back its strength in percentages so that relief will convince it to unburden eventually.

Do Group Sessions help?

GROUP SESSIONS, IFS Therapy

Maintaining the integrity of ethics means building upon it in a true holistic fashion for success. Putting out fires need not be the focus when you gain understanding of the multiple emotions (parts) inside your psyche that really want to help you even if they make you behave badly.  As a previous successful business owner who employed troubled teens for entrepreneurial success, I integrated the IFS Psychotherapy model into group sessions which compel individuals to compassionately work with their parts in front of peers. The organic concept of wholeness and personality integration becomes attainable when parts within, release heavy responsibility in exchange for positive qualities. No two people are alike so it makes sense to draw upon the strength and weaknesses of others who spiritually desire to complete life through the pursuit of change. And the bonus is that group sessions are $65 for 1.5 hours of peer practice.

how long will transformation take?

IFS Sessions are slow and steady

Anyone who has inquired about deep inner healing will wonder if their past is still affecting them today, and then reach out for answers to personal questions. There is nothing that cannot be healed. Every circumstance, impression, suggestion and belief that resulted as parts within your system is meant to aide you in recovery. There is not a moment in history that cannot be revealed or redeemed from the soul. The beginning sessions of IFS Therapy will feel odd and hypnotic for some, but nonetheless a connection to emotions that you may have wanted to subside, purge or deny. Thankfully our brains were created by God to heal through passageways of feeling that need to be expressed and understood. Weekly or bi-weekly sessions prove to be consistent connection that form trust for decision making and to repair relationships that may have suffered through past choices. Each session we will re-connect to the parts that surfaced from our previous meetings before we seek new encounters with different emotional parts. As long as the client is willing to consistently speak to sensations, beliefs, thoughts, feelings or forms within, inner healing can respond. The average session is 1.5 hrs to allow the brain to acclimate to heart and body signal. It is a build-upon process, where each new part that shares and gets unburdened of its responsibility, makes room for new emotional parts to surface for a chance at healing. The average length of time one spends in IFS Therapy depends upon their frequency or commitment and can bring true wholeness in as little as one year. This is not a 20 year saga that lingers to pad the pocket of the counselor, this is slow progression toward sustainable healing that will last a lifetime because the healing comes from the inside out.

The 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences that happen to us before adulthood have the propensity to shape our worldview. Little “t” trauma covers daily disturbances that erode our emotional fortitude which affects our nervous system to the same degree of one traumatic event that thwarts our future such as big “T” trauma. These circumstances are greatly intertwined with psychosomatic disorders and illness that can be debilitating. IFS Therapy allows you to re-visit these instances without being re-traumatized so that the parts stuck in history can tell their story and heal. For further information on the ACE’s click here: Adverse Childhood Experiences