IFS with Neurodivergent Clients (Individuals and Couples)

Kim Bolling and Richard C. Schwartz

About this program:

This program explores how Internal Family Systems (IFS), approached through a neuro-inclusive lens, can effectively support neurodivergent clients, including those with ADHD and/or Autism. You’ll learn how to adapt IFS and Intimacy from the Inside Out © (IFIO) to better support neurodivergent clients and mixed-neurology relationships. Through teaching and case examples, the course offers practical tools and guidelines for better serving neurodivergent and neurotypical clients alike within the IFS framework.

This learning program was held live in Summer 2025.

Module 1: The Neurodiversity Paradigm

This module explores the core principles of the neurodiversity paradigm and how they align with the IFS model. You’ll examine common misconceptions and stereotypes about neurodivergence and learn how IFS supports neurodivergent clients in non-pathologizing ways.

Module 2: Autism and IFS

This module deepens your understanding of Self within autistic systems. You’ll learn how to distinguish neurology from parts and adapt the model to support autistic clients in ways that honor how they experience parts.

Module 3: Using IFS With Neurodivergent Individuals

This module explores how thoughtful adaptations to the therapeutic environment and the IFS model can improve treatment and increase safety for neurodivergent clients. You’ll also identify therapist parts and biases that may shape your work related to neurodiversity.

Module 4: Using IFS and IFIO With Mixed-Neurology Couples

This module explores common challenges faced by mixed-neurology intimate partners and how IFS and Intimacy From the Inside Out© (IFIO) can support them in meeting their relational needs.

What’s included:

This course includes approximately 4 hours of core teaching on the program’s main topic, along with around 5 hours of recorded live Q&A sessions facilitated by the instructor.

You’ll also get approximately 4 hours of exclusive bonus content featuring Dr. Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS. These recorded demonstrations and case consultations offer rare, behind-the-scenes access to see the model in action. While these sessions may not always align directly with the program’s primary theme, they’re designed to deepen your overall clinical understanding and help you see how IFS principles show up across different contexts.

What are on-demand programs:

IFSI’s on-demand courses are recordings of some of our most loved advanced IFS programs led by IFS trainers and thought leaders who bring deep experience and insight. Learn anytime, at the pace your system needs.

Who is it for:

These offerings are ideal for those who are enrolled in or have completed IFS Level 1 Training, and those who have already participated in the IFS Online Circle. They’re designed to help you deepen specific skills, build confidence in niche areas, and feel more grounded in your work with clients.

CE Credit & Certificate of Completion:

Please note that these programs don’t offer professional CE, but each provides 14 IFS CE Credits to support your IFS certification or recertification path. An IFSI Certificate of Completion will also be available upon completion of this program.

Note: Materials and methods included in this course may include interventions or practices that are beyond your scope of practice. As a professional in your given field, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined by applicable law as beyond the boundaries of your practice, and applying your learning in compliance with your professional standards.

Meet Your Instructors

Kim Bolling

Kim Bolling, PsyD, is a Licensed Psychologist, IFS™ Certified Therapist, and approved IFS-I Clinical Consultant. Kim is a Co-Lead Trainer for Intimacy from the Inside Out® (IFIO), a transformative approach for healing relationships based on the IFS model of therapy. She and her husband Rick live in southern New Hampshire. Kim holds a BA in Computer Science and Linguistics from Cornell University and an MS and PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University New England. A former engineer, she has lived and worked in communities comprising both neuro majority and neuro-minority individuals. As a committed humanist, Kim advocates for a shift to the non-pathologizing neurodiversity paradigm in how neuro-minorities are perceived in research and supported in therapeutic practices. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Kim has presented her work to groups in the U.S. and Europe, on podcasts and conferences geared toward mixed-neurology couples, and at IFS Conferences. She maintains a private practice specializing in work with mixed-neurology couples and complex PTSD.

Richard C. Schwartz

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, is the creator of Internal Family Systems, a highly effective therapeutic model with a growing evidence base that de-pathologizes the multi-part personality. Richard is also the founder of the IFS Institute, which primarily offers training for professionals. He is currently a Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate. Richard has authored or co-authored more than ten books on Internal Family Systems and related topics, including No Bad Parts and Internal Family Systems Therapy. He lives near Chicago with his wife Jeanne, Vice President of the IFS Institute, close to his three daughters and six grandchildren.