Richard C. Schwartz – Using IFS to Advance Trauma Therapy with Couples and Families: Coming Full Circle

Using IFS to Advance Trauma Therapy with Couples and Families: Coming Full Circle – Richard C. Schwartz

The Trauma Center is excited to announce its Sixth Annual Summer Training Institute! Conducted by Senior Faculty of the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, this intensive program undertakes a depth exploration of the complexity of adaptation to trauma, cutting edge interventions, and integrative approaches to healing for impacted children and adults.

In this never before offered workshop, Dr. Richard Schwartz founder of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, will recount the evolution of his work over the past four decades. Beginning with his training and practice as a family systems therapist and clinical supervisor, he will recount how this work informed his development of IFS, a hopeful and non-pathologizing model used initially to help clients integrate fragmented self-states and conflicted “parts” or subpersonalities, and ultimately to treatment highly dissociative adults with histories of complex childhood trauma. Coming full circle, he will share lessons learned from intensive IFS practice, training and consultation that have come to inform a deeper understanding of the challenges presented within and effective clinical approaches to couples and family therapy. Dr. Schwartz will show videotape of couples therapy illustrating application of the IFS model.

The session will culminate in Dr. Schwartz partnering with members of the Trauma Drama ensemble to demonstrate for the first time in his career a live enactment and unscripted, real-time intervention response to a family therapy trauma case utilizing the IFS model. The workshop will conclude with an interactive discussion between Dr. Schwartz and participants about his conceptualization of this case and clinical decision-making regarding choice points and specific applications of the IFS model depicted in the live demonstration.

1. Present the IFS Model and design ways to integrate IFS into your clinical practice.
2. Specify and work with your client’s parts.
3. Model how to work with clinician’s own parts.
4. Compile what a well-executed client session utilizing IFS should encompass.
5. Communicate how IFS increases the therapist’s curious and compassionate self when working with difficult and challenging clients.

Begins: 8:00 AM

• IFS
• Development & evolution
• Lessons learned
• Future challenges

Break: 10:30 – 10:45 AM

• Trauma Drama ensemble – live demonstration
• Participant discussion & questions

Ends: 1:00 PM

GET USING IFS TO ADVANCE TRAUMA THERAPY WITH COUPLES AND FAMILIES: COMING FULL CIRCLE OF AUTHOR RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ