Working with Trauma Through the IFS Lens

 

 

 

 

 

OUTLINE

• 4 live sessions (1 per week)
• Each session: 90 minutes
• Includes didactic teaching, experiential practices, and Q&A

SESSION BREAKDOWN

 

Session 1: Foundations of IFS & Trauma

• What is Internal Family Systems? (Parts, Self-energy, system dynamics)
• Understanding trauma through the IFS model
• Types of trauma (acute, complex, developmental)
• How trauma fragments the system
• Intro to protectors and exiles
• Practice: Guided parts mapping
• Q&A

 

Session 2: Working with Protectors in Trauma Systems

• Roles of Managers and Firefighters in trauma responses
• Gaining permission to work with Exiles
• Building trust with protectors
• Trauma-informed pacing and containment
• Practice: Internal dialogue with a protective part
• Q&A

 

Session 3: Healing the Wounds – Accessing and Unburdening Exiles

• How trauma burdens parts and the system
• What does unburdening mean? When is a system ready?
• The neurobiology of trauma healing (Frank Anderson’s approach)
• Supporting the unburdening process safely
• Practice: Self-led visualization with compassion for exiles
• Q&A

Session 4: Integration, Legacy Burdens, and Complex Trauma

• Working with legacy and systemic trauma (cultural, generational burdens)
• Common challenges with complex trauma (polarizations, distrust, dissociation)
• Tracking and cultivating Self-energy in therapy
• Integration practices for clinicians and clients
• Practice: Guided reflection on your own system’s role in the therapy room
• Q&A

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the core principles of the IFS model and how they apply to trauma work
2. Identify the roles of protectors and exiles in trauma systems
3. Apply trauma-informed techniques for working with internal parts
4. Demonstrate approaches for unburdening and integration within IFS
5. Utilize culturally sensitive strategies for addressing legacy burdens in clinical work

 

DATES

4, 11, 18 & 25 February 2026

 

 

SCHEDULE

 6pm - 8pm
*TIME ZONE: GMT LISBON/LONDON

 

For other time zones please check the time converterusing the following link: https://savvytime.com/converter/portugal-porto)

 

TARGET GROUP

This training is designed for mental health professionals, coaches, and healing practitioners who are using or beginning to use Internal Family Systems (IFS) in their work. Both those new to IFS and experienced practitioners seeking a trauma-informed lens are welcome.

 

LANGUAGE:

The course will be taught in English, without consecutive translation.

 

TRAINER

Frank Anderson, MD,is a world-renowned trauma expert, Harvard-trained psychiatrist and global speaker. He is the co-author of the IFS Skills Training Manual (2017),acclaimed best-selling author of Transcending Trauma (2021) and newly released memoir, To Be Loved: A Story of Truth, Trauma and Transformation (2024). Dr Anderson has a long affiliation with Bessel van der Kolk at the Trauma Research Foundation and is a lead trainer at the IFS Institute under Richard Schwartz. He is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with cutting edge models of therapy.

Dr. Anderson believes that traumatic events can have a lasting effect on the health and well-being of individuals and that addressing these events will help lead people down a path of love, connection and unity. He is the director and cofounder of the Trauma Institute (traumainstitute.com) and Trauma-Informed Media (trauma-informedmedia.com), organizations that provide educational resources and promote trauma awareness. As a result of his early childhood experiences and personal journey transformation, he is dedicated to bringing more trauma healing to the world. He splits his time between Boston and Los Angeles where he lives with his husband and two sons. Follow him at FrankAndersonMD.com and on Instagram at frank_andersonmd.

 

 

COST:

370 euros + 23% VAT = 455,10 euros

 

REGISTRATION:

The limit date for registration is the 15^th December 2025. After this date we won’t accept any further registrations.

 

The number of places is limited, so we advise your registration as soon as possible.

 

To register in the workshop

Working with Trauma Through the IFS Lens

 

 

REQUIREMENTS

 

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