Here’s a Sunday nudge to encourage you to slow down and find something today that soothes your body and your spirit. What sounds good to your parts? Can you make that happen or have you already? What would help you start a new week feeling more grounded and Self-led?
Pause. Exhale. Listen Inside.
After enjoying the first extended, quiet morning alone in awhile, I spent some time on work and look forward to hanging out in and on cold water in a few hours on this hot summer day!
Speaking of cold water, here’s a photo and short video from an Austrian lake at about 8000 feet that called my name on a recent hike with Erik. He knows me well enough to try and include a lake whenever possible when he selects hiking routes. Although he may not tell me in advance (like this time) so I’m not disappointed if it doesn’t work out for a myriad of reasons! Hopefully you get a taste of the expanse and beauty that he unexpectedly captured from the ridge above. I had no idea I was creating ever expanding concentric circles of water until I saw the photos.
Isn’t nature magical?
Until I started a year-round cold water practice (a few short dips a week and at the end of most every shower), my goal had been just to jump in an alpine lake on hot days and get out as fast as I could. Now that the cold water and I have become better friends, the activity is much different. The goal isn’t just to do it and exit asap, it’s the inverse: stay in and receive the gifts of the cold for as long as possible.
I can still feel this refreshing water that no other hikers dared enter. Gradually increasing my tolerance to cold water the past year is paying off, enabling me to fully submerge and float in expansive bellies of unique, magnificent pockets of solace and beauty across the US and now overseas. I’ve been known to travel with water thermometers :~0 but am getting better estimating temperatures by feel. It’s based on how long I can keep my fingers, face and head below the surface. This water was likely low 50sF/10ishC, an inhospitable temperature a year ago, now one I delight in!
What does the cold have to teach me? How can the cold water replenish my brain, body and spirit? I never know how long I’ll be in and let my body tell me when it’s time to get out. This practice is a good lesson in slowing down because I can’t rush the process. This practice takes a cushion of time, and that’s a good thing!
Isn’t this how life’s challenges often present themselves? The less we resist and fight against them, the more bearable they become. Or the more open our heart becomes and the less stressful the process can be. When I resist cold water and keep commenting how cold it is, the colder it feels. Truly! When I enter and breathe into the cold, be with it and not fight it, it’s more doable, enjoyable and beneficial.
Nature is my sanctuary and always has been. Amen.
What physical experience replenishes you deeply?
or what physical experience would you like to try and venture into? expand your comfort zone and step into it? Feel free to reply here!
We’re working on setting these mailings up in a format where our community can interact with one another and see one another’s comments. I can’t wait for that to happen! If there are any Substack masters in the house, please let me know!
Part 2 of this mailing: If you’re an IFS Professional (or aspiring one!) with an active caseload, SCROLL down for Early Registration details for
Monthly Consultation groups!
Groups are starting to fill and seats are limited!
“In addition to being a very strong IFS therapist, Laura is able to teach and supervise IFS clearly and thoroughly.
I highly recommend her.”
Dick Schwartz, IFS Founder
Consultation Groups offer a supportive, confidential space for you to share clinical needs and vulnerabilities, challenges and victories. We can’t do this important work alone (or it sure is a lot harder and bewildering if we try to)! I’m committed to providing you and your hard-working internal system the support, teaching and community it deserves.
Some students initially join a group for the Certification hours. Others continue after experiencing the support and value this community offers their ongoing professional and personal development. Students build consultation into their monthly schedule and business expenses and know that this investment is time and resources well spent.
This has certainly been my own experience throughout my 24 year clinical career. I continue to prioritize my own consultation and could not serve my clients with Self leadership, competence and integrity without the support, accountability and mentoring consultation offers me.
It’s an honor and privilege for me to pass on my hard-earned lessons and experiences to other healing professionals and help you expand and share your own!
’22-’23 Groups are for IFS Professionals (and aspiring ones 🙂
with Active Caseloads
Sets run September – May
16 Hours. 8 meetings
Approved for IFS Certification if needed
All GROUP Times are Pacific Time / Seattle
➡️ TUESDAY: for PRE LEVEL 1 students who have had an IFS introduction
11am or 4pm PT
➡️ WEDNESDAY: for Advanced / L2+ / 5+ yrs IFS experience (or prior approval)
11am or 4pm PT
➡️ THURSDAY: for Level 1+ / Stepping stones grads (or prior approval)
11am or 3pm PT
Save $100 and your seat with Early Registration
$1395
(just $175 per month)
Refer a colleague who signs up for a group and receive a $100 thank you refund!
Be sure they mention you when they register 🙏🏼
A few partial scholarships are available to students experiencing financial hardship. Details on Registration Page.
Guided Meditation, Didactic Teaching, Q&A, Brief Demos, Case Consultation, Group Sharing
How to recognize and what to do when we’re working harder than our clients?
Which Parts get stirred up when sharing clinical challenges with colleagues?
How to use IFS with clients “resistant” to Parts language
How to navigate and befriend clients’ rigid Protectors
Recognizing when our Self-like parts are leading our sessions
How to Unblend from our Parts in session and increase our Self energy
How to be a more inclusive and culturally sensitive therapist / practitioner
How to work with Narrator, Story-teller, Intellectualizing Protectors who hijack sessions
Setting Boundaries with Clients. When to say No, Refer Out?
When to Self-disclose? How transparent should I be?
Direct Access (Explicit and Implicit)
Legacy & Cultural Burdens, Spiritual Bypassing, Unattached Burdens
Food Issues/”Disordered” eating, Sexual Trauma, Borderline, Suicidal Parts
