IFS THERAPY FOR THERAPISTS · CO, DC, ME, OR & VA
Do your own parts work, and become the Self-led therapist your clients need.
You can read the model. To practice it, your own system has to trust you. IFS therapy for therapists helps you unblend from your caretaker, fixer, and expert parts, befriend your protectors, unburden your exiles, and bring more Self-energy into every session.
“I should know how to fix this.”
“I’m working harder than my client.”
“I finished Level 1 and still can’t find Self in session.”
“Certain clients activate me, and I carry it home.”
“I hold space all day. Who holds mine?”
These are therapist parts. All of them are welcome here.
WHAT BRINGS THERAPISTS HERE
You know the model. Your system is still learning to trust you.
On the surface
You’ve read the books, taken a workshop or a Level 1, and started using parts language with clients. In the room, though, a manager takes over. You figure out, fix, or perform. You get blended with a client’s protector, or polarized with it. You leave sessions drained.
Inside
An impostor part that compares you to the demo videos. A caretaker that has been on duty since childhood. A part that fears your clients’ exiles because they sit too close to your own. Protectors that will not let you near what they guard.
What it means
You want to do therapy from Self. You want to trust your client’s Self to do the healing, and be the hope merchant their protectors need. You want to embody the model, and know it from the inside.
WHY YOUR OWN WORK MATTERS
Your Self-energy is the instrument
These therapist parts show up for most of us. See which ones you recognize:
The fixer, who needs the client to feel better by the end of the hour
The caretaker, who over-functions and cannot tolerate a client’s distress
The expert, who analyzes and interprets when it gets uncomfortable
The approval-seeker, who needs to be the good therapist
The one who goes foggy or sleepy when an exile comes near
The critic, who reviews every session on the drive home
Each of these is a trailhead. In your own therapy we follow it inward: a U-turn from the client to the part of you that got activated, and from there to what it protects.
YOUR CLINICAL THERAPIST
Kathy Manning, LCSW
Certified IFS Therapist · Level 3 trained · IFIO trained
I know what it is to learn this model while your own parts are still deciding whether to trust you. Therapists make wonderful and complicated clients, because our managers are so skilled. I welcome all of them.
I’m a licensed clinical social worker and a Certified IFS Therapist with Level 1, 2, and 3 training; have Program Assisted in numerous L1 and L2 trainings; and I’m trained in IFIO for couples. With me you’ll experience the full model as a client: the 6 F’s with your protectors, insight and direct access, witnessing, retrieval, and unburdening. I hold Self-energy steadily so your system can find its own.
Certified IFS Therapist, Level 3 trained
Advanced training in Internal Family Systems through the IFS Institute
IFIO trained
Intimacy from the Inside Out, the IFS approach to couples
Master of Social Work
Catholic University of America, with clinical training at the VA Medical Center in Washington DC
Licensed in five places
Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington DC
STEPS TO GET STARTED
Three simple steps to your first conversation
1. Fill out a short contact form
Tell me a little about yourself and what’s bringing you in. It takes just a few minutes and it is secure, your privacy is protected from the start.
2. Schedule a free 30-minute call
Pick a time that works for you. We’ll meet by secure video.
3. We talk
You tell me what’s been hard lately, and we see whether we’re a good fit. No pressure, and no commitment.
WHAT WORKING TOGETHER IS LIKE
The model, from the inside
We map your system
We start with trailheads from your life and your clinical work, and map the parts that show up: managers, firefighters, and the polarizations between them.
We befriend your protectors
Find, focus, flesh out, feel toward, befriend, and learn its fear. You unblend, build a Self-to-part relationship, and earn permission to go further. Nothing happens without it.
We unburden your exiles
With protectors on board, you witness what an exile carries, retrieve it from where it’s stuck, and help it release its burden. Protectors are then free to choose new roles.
The gardener needs tending too. What you receive in your own work is what you’ll have to offer in the room.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Your clients can go as far as your parts allow
If something changes
Therapists often describe sessions that feel lighter and go deeper. You notice a part blend and ask it to step back. You trust the client’s Self. You go home with energy left for your own life.
If nothing changes
Your managers keep running your sessions. You steer clients away from the exiles your own system can’t bear to be near. The work stays effortful, and burnout creeps closer.
WHAT CHANGE CAN LOOK LIKE
A Self-led therapist
You’ll know Self-energy is present by the 8 C’s, in you and in the room.
Calm
You stay steady with a client’s firefighter
Connectedness
You feel with your client, without merging
Clarity
You can tell Self from a Self-like part
Creativity
Sessions stop following a script
Confidence
You trust the model and the client’s Self
Curiosity
“What is this part afraid of?” replaces “How do I fix this?”
Courage
You can stay present with an exile’s pain
Compassion
For the client’s protectors, and your own
And the 5 P’s that carry a session: presence, patience, perspective, persistence, and playfulness.
Not ready to call yet? Read my plain-language guide to IFS. It’s written for clients, and you’re welcome to share it with yours.
WHAT THIS IS, and ISN’T
Your therapy, in your own system
This is psychotherapy for you, the person in the therapist’s chair. Like any therapy I provide, it begins with a clinical assessment and diagnosis and follows a treatment plan. We will use trailheads from your clinical work, because that is where your parts get activated, but the focus stays on your system.
It is not supervision, case consultation, or training. If you’re looking for those, the IFS Institute lists approved consultants and training programs, and I’m glad to point you there.
QUESTIONS
Before you reach out
Do I need IFS training before I start?
No. Some therapists come before Level 1 to see whether the model fits. Others come after training, when their own parts have been stirred up. Either is a good time.
Does my own therapy count toward IFS certification?
Certification requirements are set by the IFS Institute and can change, so please check them directly. What I offer is personal therapy, which is separate from the consultation hours the Institute requires.
Our professional world is small. How is my privacy protected?
Your therapy is confidential, the same as any client’s. If we share professional circles, we’ll talk about that openly at the start and decide together whether it’s a workable fit.
Can I work with you from any state?
Because this is psychotherapy, you need to be located in a state where I’m licensed during our sessions: Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, or Washington DC.
I’m not an IFS therapist. Can I still come?
Yes. Therapists of every orientation do this work. Many find it deepens whatever model they practice.
Do you take insurance?
I’m in network with Moda for Oregon clients. Otherwise my practice is private pay, and I can provide statements you may be able to submit for out-of-network reimbursement. See the out-of-network reimbursement page for details.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Ready to make the U-turn?
Fill out a short form and schedule a free 30-minute video call. We’ll talk about where your system is and whether working with me is a good fit.