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IFS & The Future of Recovery

Mon 15 Jun 2026 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM CEST Online, Zoom
Reserve Your Spot

IFS & The Future of Recovery

Mon 15 Jun 2026 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM CEST Online, Zoom
Reserve Your Spot

IFS & The Future of Recovery

Mon 15 Jun 2026 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM CEST Online, Zoom
Reserve Your Spot

An Open Community Gathering

IFS & The Future of Recovery

Bringing Internal Family Systems into Addiction Treatment & Recovery Peer Spaces

With Cece Sykes, LCSW, ACSW & Jackie Re, MACC, LCADC, CCS

About the session

The reach and influence of IFS keeps growing. From therapy offices into treatment centers, from rehab programs into peer spaces, Zoom rooms, book clubs, and online communities. Something real is happening, and this feels like a good moment to look at it together. Join us for a conversation at the frontier of one of the most significant developments in addiction treatment and recovery today.

Internal Family Systems, the parts-based model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, has been reshaping how clinicians understand and treat addiction. Now it is finding its way into peer recovery spaces, community groups, and the daily lives of people in recovery who may never have sat in a therapist's office. This session explores both sides of that journey: what IFS looks like inside a professional treatment setting, and what it can mean for the peer communities and individuals who carry it forward after treatment ends.

We'll discuss:

  • How IFS integrates into traditional 12-Step rehab settings
  • What a peer-led space needs to practice "Parts Work" safely
  • What individuals carry with them into everyday life after treatment

Format: 45-minute facilitated conversation followed by 45 minutes of open Q&A with our recovery community. All parts welcome. All pathways welcome. All levels of experience with IFS welcome (we'll start at the beginning and go from there).

Everyone is welcome here. This is an open community gathering and there is no fee to attend.

If you are able to contribute, your support helps us keep these gatherings going. Contributions of any amount are gratefully received.

The recording of this session (without the Q&A) will be shared on our YouTube channel after the event.

Times by region

This gathering is at 7:30 p.m. Berlin time (CEST), that's:

UK & Ireland (BST)6:30 – 8:00 PM
Eastern US (EDT)1:30 – 3:00 PM
Central US (CDT)12:30 – 2:00 PM
Pacific US (PDT)10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
🕒 Your local time isn't listed or you're not sure?
Tip: On this website, add your city and hover over CEST – 7:30 p.m. to see what time that is where you live.

About the panelists

Cece Sykes, LCSW, ACSW is a Senior Trainer with the IFS Institute and one of its founding trainers, with over forty years of clinical experience specializing in recovery from trauma and addiction. Since 2004 she has led Level 1, 2, and 3 IFS training programs across the United States and internationally, including in Spain, Australia, the UK, Russia, Ireland, France, and beyond. She co-authored IFS Therapy for Addictions: Trauma-Informed, Compassion-Based Interventions for Substance Use, Eating, Gambling and More (2023) with Martha Sweezy and Richard Schwartz, the definitive clinical manual on the model as applied to addiction. Cece is a familiar and beloved presence in this community, having presented at both of our live Recovery Reimagined conferences. Her central conviction: addiction is not a pathology to be confronted but a system of protective parts to be understood with compassion.
cecesykeslcsw.com
Jackie Re, MACC, LCADC, CCS is Vice President of Programming at High Watch Recovery Center and Alina Lodge, a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Certified Clinical Supervisor, Certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant, and a Level 3 IFS Practitioner, the highest level of IFS training available. She has spent more than a decade designing innovative programs that integrate psycho-spiritual principles with evidence-based practices, with a steadfast belief in holistic, individualized care. She has presented on IFS at numerous conferences and professional workshops, including a two-day immersive workshop for clinicians in Iceland and the 2025 IFS Annual Conference in Chicago. High Watch itself holds a unique place in recovery history: founded in 1939, it is the oldest 12-Step treatment center in the world. Jackie's work represents one of the most thoughtful integrations of IFS into a traditional 12-Step residential and IOP setting anywhere.
highwatchrecovery.org

Our workshops and community gatherings are educational and recovery-supportive. They complement, rather than replace, professional mental health care or your existing recovery program. Guest presenters contribute as independent experts and their participation does not constitute a therapeutic relationship.