Somatic IFS Newsletter November 29, 2021

Whether for you today is The Day After Thanksgiving and you are digesting food and time with family and/or friends, Native American Heritage Day, Black Friday, or, simply, November 26, I hope you are enjoying it. As the days darken and get colder, I find myself snuggling under knitted afghans and gazing at candles. My gaze also turns inward to reflect on this past year’s Somatic IFS programs. We completed five online Somatic IFS programs in 2021 which brought together people from all over the world with the click of a button. We were surprisingly able to connect and resonate with people we can only see in 2 dimensions from the shoulders up as we supported each other to become more deeply embodied in our Self energy.

I am also looking forward to anticipating the return of in person programs this winter. The first is in a week as we meet in Molokai, HI for a Somatic IFS Retreat. Dick Schwartz has been leading retreats there for several years and has found the healing energy on this island to be transformative. The staff at the retreat center, Hui Ho’olana, love the IFS Model as well as embodied approaches so we will be warmly welcomed. In January and also in March we will be gathering at Pura Vida in Costa Rica for our 14th year of retreats. I am wondering how it will be for us all to be with each other in the flesh. Will it feel like a return to pre-pandemic workshops and trainings? How have our nervous systems—all of our physiology-- been affected by the isolation, seclusion, social distancing, mask-wearing, and screen time of the last year and a half?

I am also planning more online programs for 2022. In addition to the Series starting February 1, a new Somatic IFS Training begins February 17. We will be initiating our first hybrid Training in the summer of 2022. Our in-person training week will be in sandwiched in between online sessions as we enjoy The Ecology Retreat Centre nestled in the forested Hockley Valley near Toronto.

There has been some confusion about eligibility for these SIFS programs. Because Somatic IFS programs integrate somatic practices experientially with the IFS Model, participants need to have knowledge and experience with IFS. The Retreats and the online equivalents, the Series, need a minimum grounding in IFS either through introductory workshops or other programs that provide both didactic and experiential exposure to the IFS Model. Graduates of either of the online Series or in-person Retreats that want training in the clinical application of somatic practices with the IFS Model, there is the 54-hr Somatic IFS Training. The training requires completion of either the Retreat or the Series. It also requires completion of the IFS Level 1 or an equivalent, such as IFSCA’s courses. With both programs I am assisted by an amazing staff of Somatic IFS Therapists with experience in leading and supervising IFS and SIFS programs.

Speaking of this amazing staff, many of them are offering Somatic IFS Consultation Groups and Book Discussion Groups. Lois Ehrmann, Fran Booth, Beth Rogerson, Sherry Rubin in the US, Christine Bombasch and Rachel Culver Dodds in Europe, and Soyoung Park in Asia. I will also be offering a 3 hr class through IFSCA on Somatic IFS and Chronic Illness on January 7.

My day is coming to a close, and so will this letter to you. If this finds you too in a reflective as well as a planning mood, I hope these words provide some clarity and inspiration.