Introduction to Working Somatically with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Workshop

Introduction to Working Somatically with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Workshop

April 30th to May 2nd 2027

Workshop Description

Welcome to an introduction to working somatically with Internal Family Systems—where the wisdom of IFS meets the intelligence of the body. This residential workshop is for therapists ready to bridge the gap between insight and true embodied change, helping your clients (and yourself) move from understanding their parts to actually feeling the transformation.

This special residential workshop will be an introduction to working somatically with IFS and will focus on integrating somatic practices including the practices of Somatic IFS - awareness, breath, resonance, movement and touch - developed by IFS Senior Trainer Susan McConnell. This will help you to access your inner healer – your core Self – to heal and integrate body and mind, creating safety for somatically focused work.

You will experience how somatic practices can be incorporated into the IFS Model to restore Embodied Self Energy and facilitate the presence of Self Energy in your life and work with clients.

In this residential workshop participants will have opportunities to:

Take an experiential dive into the heart of working somatically with IFS including through practices developed by the founder of Somatic IFS, Susan McConnell:

• Somatic awareness — tuning into the body's signals and sensations
• Conscious breathing — using breath as a bridge to safety and presence
• Radical resonance — meeting clients (and parts) with deep attunement
• Mindful movement — inviting the body to express and release
• Attuned touch — exploring appropriate, consent-based touch when helpful

How You'll Learn

This workshop blends teaching with practice. You'll experience guided somatic exercises, engage in experiential learning, and walk away with practical tools you can use right away in session. We'll also focus on your own embodiment and access to Self energy as a therapist.

What You'll Take Home

• A solid foundation in principles and practices of working somatically with IFS
• Confidence in guiding clients through body-based parts work
• Tools to help clients move through stuckness and into integration
• A deeper relationship with your own system—and the systems you support
• Skills to help clients sustain healing long after sessions end

Who This Is For

A basic understanding of the Internal Family Systems model is required. This workshop is open to professionals e.g. counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, coaches, bodyworkers and other mental health and wellbeing professionals who are curious about IFS, and who have completed a thorough Introduction to IFS workshop or the IFSI Online Circle or the IFSLevel 1 training.. Whether you're brand new to somatic work or looking to deepen your embodied practice, you'll find support here for cultivating a more compassionate, connected, and effective approach to healing.

Workshop Details

• When: April 30th to May 2nd 2027
• Time: Friday arrival from 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 9am to 3pm
• Residents are asked to arrive between 5 and 6pm on Friday evening for dinner at 6pm.
• Where: Teach Bhríde, Tullow, Carlow Google Maps
• Facilitators: Olivia Lester and Marie Tierney, IFS Lead Trainers, supported by Samantha Yap, IFS Therapist and Supervisor
• Fee: €395 payable on booking
• Cancellation policy: If you need to withdraw, a refund (less €100 administrative fee) will be given up to April 2nd. No refunds are available after this date.
• Accommodation: Teach Bhríde has accommodation available in single rooms. The cost for 2 nights’ accommodation with full board from Friday dinner (at 6pm) to lunch on Sunday is €200 per person for an en-suite single room, and €180 per person for a standard single room, payable to Teach Bhríde on arrival. We are collecting information about accommodation on behalf of Teach Bhríde. Please direct any enquiries about accommodation to Marie, rather than the venue, and I will pass the information on to Teach Bhríde on your behalf.
• ·Non Residents: Non-residents are charged €70 (covering both days), payable to Teach Bhríde on arrival, which includes an overhead charge of €40 for non-residents, and lunch and refreshments on both days. All non-residents are required to pay this charge, and it is not possible to opt out. You can let us know of any dietary requirements on the booking form.
• A certificate of attendance will be sent following the workshop
• Open to professionals who have completed a thorough Introduction to IFS workshop or the IFSI Online Circle or IFS Level 1 training
• Please note this workshop is an introduction to Somatic IFS and not the core training in the Somatic IFS model.
• Places are limited to 24
• Further Information: For further information or questions please contact Marie Tierney by e-mail marietierney@gmail.com

Somatic IFS

Somatic IFS is a branch of IFS founded by Susan McConnell that blends the principles of somatic therapy - like movement, touch, sensation and breathwork – with the traditional tools of IFS. Somatic IFS explores the embodiment of the internal family with the goal of restoring the client’s Self to leadership and allowing parts that express through the body to come into relationship and alignment with the client’s Self.

You know those moments when clients get it intellectually but something still feels stuck? When parts stay protective no matter how much understanding happens? Somatic IFS creates new doorways. By weaving body-based practices into parts work, access to Self energy expands and helps transformation take root—not just in the mind, but in the nervous system, the breath, and the lived experience of being in a body.

Suggested Reading

While it’s not necessary to read any books before the workshop, people have asked us to recommend reading material and we suggest any of these books may be helpful.

• Somatic Internal Family Systems: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement and Touch in Practice by Susan McConnell
• The Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy Workbook by Susan McConnell
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• Bodymind by Ken Dychtwald