See also: History of LiveIFS & My Practice
Hi, I’m James
I am not a licensed therapist or counselor. I’m not advertising or engaging in professional or clinical work, I don’t receive or accept money for this project or anything related it. I have no affiliation or certification from the IFS Institute.
I’m doing this for the love of sharing the magic and power of conversation informed by the IFS model, to document my learning journey, and to make IFS more available to every one.
My story
I’ve always loved working with kids, in schools & churches, as a tutor, coaching sports, and as a Certified Child Life Specialist in hospitals and hospice. Seeing the same patients over and over, I realized that children’s health & well-being is limited by that of their families. To help them, I needed to learn how to help their parents.
I started sharing some of the tools and techniques I learned, hosting workshops, I created a couple podcasts, and steered conversations toward what I consider the most pressing issue of our time: the better treatment of children. But most of these conversations, intended to help, didn’t help…
Eliminating variables, I gave up my “for the kids” agenda, and looked for ways I might help adults with any issue. I studied other therapeutic models and became a professional coach. The conversations improved, but not drastically. I was ready to give up and accept my fate as someone great at helping kids through difficulty, crises, and trauma… but unable to help adults.
Then in 2021 I found IFS. Well, found again. I had seen some demos over the years, and experimented with meeting parts, but was unaware of its use in clinical settings; it seemed so fantastic, I had always assumed it was fantasy!
I started studying the tools to talk to “protectors” and the doors flew open. Suddenly my superpower: recognizing and communicating with children-in-need, and my mission to teach others how, had a way in. Turns out there’s a child-in-need in each of us.
Please send your criticisms & suggestions!
What would make this project / podcast / community awesome?
Contact:
liveifs.com@gmail.com