Introduction to Somatic IFS: An Embodied Approach to Healing Trauma

About this program: 

This program introduces Somatic IFS, a body-centered approach developed by Susan McConnell that integrates five somatic practices into the IFS model. You’ll learn how awareness, breath, resonance, movement, and attuned touch support healing at both individual and collective levels. Through experiential learning and clinical examples, the course explores how trauma can be gently witnessed and released from the body. This program offers practitioners practical tools for restoring embodiment, regulation, and Self energy. 

This learning program was held live in Fall 2022. 

Module 1: Trauma Happens to the Body 

This module explores how trauma is held and expressed through the body, shaping how parts attempt to contain untold stories. You’ll experience how awareness and breath, the first two Somatic IFS practices, support regulation, safety, and stability within the body–mind system. 

Module 2: A Somatic Approach to Collective Trauma 

This module explores how cultural, ancestral, and intergenerational trauma is carried in the body. You’ll learn how the Somatic IFS practice of Radical Resonance supports healing of both individual and collective trauma. 

Module 3: Witnessing the Body Stories of Trauma 

This module explores how trauma becomes frozen in the body through interrupted movement and autonomic nervous system responses. You’ll learn how the fourth practice, the Mindful Movement, supports the gradual release of these body held stories, restoring safety, responsiveness, and embodied Self energy. 

Module 4: Re-storying Trauma: Restoring our Birthright of Embodiment 

This module focuses on restoring embodiment and Self energy through somatic practices integrated with the IFS model. 

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.