The One Inside: An Internal Family Systems (IFS) podcast
The One Inside: An Internal Family Systems podcast is for anyone looking to find balance and harmony. IFS can help you understand the tug-of-war within your mind and rediscover your natural calm, creativity, and clarity. IFS can also heal the parts of you who hold pain. Hosted by certified IFS therapist, Tammy Sollenberger, this show aims to educate, support, and encourage those who are curious about IFS model of psychotherapy. Join Tammy each episode for a fun, warm, engaging conversation with various members of the IFS community.
Wiring or Parts? ADHD and IFS with Carol Shilliday
On this week's episode I'm excited to chat with Dr. Carol Shilliday, a clinical psychologist, IFS assistant trainer, and author of the new book Inside ADHD: An Internal Family Systems Workbook to Understand Your Parts and Emotionally Thrive. We discuss ADHD, shame, acceptance, and keeping a spare set of keys.
Takeaways
Is it brain wiring or parts? Yes. IFS lets us stay curious instead of picking one "Am I ADHD enough?" Not struggling as much as someone else doesn't mean you're not struggling The compensation and anxiety link Traits that come with ADHD get labeled as...IFS, Non-Duality, and Presence with Dr. Laura Patryas
On this week's episode I'm excited to chat with Dr. Laura Patryas, a psychologist, author, spiritual teacher, and 2026 IFS Annual Conference presenter. We discuss non-duality, presence, wholeness, and Cabbage Patch dolls.
Takeaways
Honoring all of our parts while remembering the wholeness underneath them Every part has Self at its core. The burdens obscure it, but they don't change what's underneath Multiplicity and unity coexist--you can be a in part and be whole at the same time Tantra means to weave and to become whole--so does IFS Either-or thinking is often a burdened part, where Self offers...Poems For My Parts with Emma Coyne
Emma Coyne wrote over a hundred poems inspired by her IFS training and her own therapy. She sent them to people who told her they recognized themselves in many of them. That "me too" response encouraged her to share them with the world in her new book, but not before working with all of her parts to make sure everyone was on board.
She is a clinical psychologist and Level 3 IFS therapist based in Nottinghamshire, UK. She has spent 17 years working with people living with kidney failure, transplantation, and end of life care. Emma also writes a...
IFS Health Therapy with Nancy Sowell
Episode Description
This week I welcome Nancy Sowell to the podcast to kick off Season 8. She spearheaded the intervention program behind the landmark study with medical patients that helped establish IFS as a promising treatment, and she wrote a book about what IFS has to offer our physical health.
This one also feels like a full circle moment. Nancy was my lead trainer when The One Inside was just getting started.
In this episode we talk about how chronic stress, childhood adversity, perfectionism, and burdened parts affect our physical health, and what IFS...
Living Into Divine Essence with Brian Jaudon (Season 7 Finale)
Brian Jaudon is back on the podcast to help us wrap up Season 7.
We talk about soul alignment, what it means to organize your life around your divine essence, and what happens when a chapter closes and something new wants to emerge.
Takeaways
The question Brian has asked clients for 30 years: what has your life been organized around, and what would you like to reorganize it around? Invitation is a spiritual state. Have you invited what you want into your consciousness, your body, and your whole being? Soul misalignment shows up as a felt s...Self Unbroken with Robert Falconer
On today's episode we welcome Bob Falconer back to the podcast. Bob is an IFS teacher, consultant, and author who has devoted decades to trauma healing and the study of mind and spirit. He co-authored Many Minds, One Self with Dick Schwartz and wrote The Others Within Us. His memoir, Self Unbroken, is out now.
It's hard to pick a favorite "Bob" episode, but this one might be my favorite so far. We talk about his daily practice of dialoguing with Spirit, the sewer path to wisdom, what skeptical parts need, and the monk who changed everything...
Connection After Loss with Liz Brenner
This episode didn't go as planned, and I'm grateful it didn't.
I invited Liz Brenner on the podcast to talk about the Family Process article on the family systems roots of IFS she co-authored with Dick Schwartz and Carol Becker in 2023. Instead, we found ourselves talking about grief.
A month before we recorded, my dad died unexpectedly. Liz lost her partner, Dan, in 2018, just six weeks after his cancer diagnosis. We both came into the conversation still processing our losses, and grief was the conversation we needed to have.
Takeaways
Grief can...Trauma Coaching and Addiction Recovery with Achara Tarfa
My guest on today's episode is Achara Tarfa. She is a certified IFS practitioner, co-founder of the Global Trauma Institute, and director of the PATH program. We talk about finding IFS, what trauma coaching offers that therapy often doesn't, and why she and her co-founders built GTI to create the spaces they needed but couldn't find.
Takeaways
IFS gave Achara language for her own anger for the first time When the people you turn to for help fail you, the harm compounds. Achara experienced this firsthand and it shaped everything she built Trauma coaching isn't replacing...Parts and Perimenopause with Melissa Monahan — IFS for the Transition Nobody Warned Us About
I didn't know frozen shoulder was a perimenopause symptom. Neither did Melissa Monahan, this week's podcast guest, and she's a therapist living through it herself.
This week Melissa joins me on the podcast to talk about the mental health side of perimenopause and menopause, and what IFS can offer women going through it. She's an IFS Level 2 therapist and host of Mindfully Meni, a podcast and Substack for women in this chapter of life -- and the people who love them.
In this episode we talk about the changes happening in our inner worlds during...
When Good Moms Feel Bad with Jessica Tomich Sorci
On today's episode I welcome Jessica Tomich Sorci to the podcast. She's a therapist, perinatal mental health specialist, and creator of the Mom Parts Method. She's spent 15 years working with moms and noticed the same parts showing up, so she began naming them, then created a methodology and a new book.
Her Mom Parts Method is a five-step IFS-based process specifically for mothers. It starts with a meditation to connect with a triggering experience, then moves through naming which parts showed up, speaking truths on their behalf, noticing underlying shame or grief, and identifying what those parts...
Grieving Wholeheartedly with Audrey Davidheiser
Today I welcome Dr. Audrey Davidheiser back to the podcast. Her latest book, Grieving Wholeheartedly: Bringing Healing for Every Part of Your Soul, is an IFS guide to loss that views grief as a collection of parts, each carrying something specific, each needing to be met.
Audrey is a licensed psychologist, certified IFS therapist, and founder of the Los Angeles Dream Center, where she specializes in trauma and religious trauma. She's also someone who lost her father suddenly seven years ago and rebuilt her practice and her inner life from the ground up.
Takeaways
...Move Toward: IFS Simplified with Jenna Riemersma
I'm excited to welcome Jenna Riemersma back on the podcast for the third time to talk about her new book. She's a certified IFS therapist, bestselling author, and someone committed to making IFS accessible to everyone. Her new book, Move Toward: A Simplified IFS Therapy Tool to Welcome All Parts of You, gives you a simple way to work with parts in the real world, in real time.
In This Episode
The three-step Move Toward tool: Notice, Know, Need How Self Energy can transform a room of people What Self-led action looks like when you're in...Hope and Care for Caregivers with Risa Adams, Robin Beardsley, and Elizabeth Parsons
Today I welcome to the podcast Drs. Risa Adams, Robin Beardsley, and Elizabeth Parsons. They are family physicians turned psychotherapists who came together during the pandemic to write, find community, and speak for their parts. What they found in that process and wrote about in their new book, It Doesn't Have To Be This Way: A Physician's Guide To Radical Self Care (by three physicians who've been there), is something most caregivers, doctors, healthcare workers, therapists, parents, partners, anyone who finds their worth in being needed, will recognize.
In This Episode
The parts that helped you...Externalizing IFS for Neurodivergence and Complex Trauma with Irina Diyankova
Today I welcome Irina Diyankova back to the podcast. Her last episode, Is It Trauma or Neurodivergence? was one of our most popular.
This time we explore what happens when "going inside" during an IFS session becomes hard for clients. She finds this is especially true with neurodivergent and C-PTSD clients.
Irina shares why externalization can be so helpful in these cases. Instead of relying only on what's happening internally, bringing things outside, like mapping, speaking out loud, connecting visually or relationally, really help.
We also talk about how IFS isn't a cookie-cutter...
IFS for Everyday Life with Joanna Curry-Sartori
On today's episode, I talk with Joanna Curry-Sartori, founder of the Self-Leadership Collaborative and author of The Self-Led Educator. We explore this idea of how to bring IFS into everyday life, to invite more Self Energy into our conversations and interactions.
Joanna teaches us her PAUSE model, a five-step process to help you slow things down and notice what's happening inside before you respond. Sometimes it's in moments where you can feel yourself starting to react, or a conversation begins to shift. Instead of pushing through, you pause, get curious about your parts, and then return to...
An Army of Healers with Nitsan Joy Gordon
On today's episode I welcome Nitsan Joy Gordon, a dance movement therapist, IFS practitioner, and peacebuilder who lives in Israel.
Nitsan shares about growing up in Israel, living near the border, and what it's like to live in a place where war and trauma have been part of daily life for generations.
She also tells the story of how Internal Family Systems changed her own life. A powerful experience at Esalen with Dick Schwartz inspired her to use IFS in her work back home.
Nitsan leads Together Beyond Words, an organization bringing Israelis...
Are You Mad At Me? with Meg Josephson
On today's episode I welcome psychotherapist and author Meg Josephson to the podcast.
Her book Are You Mad at Me? names something so many of us feel but rarely say out loud: Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?
Meg and I talk about the fawn response, people-pleasing, and the parts of us that learned early on to stay ahead of conflict. We explore how "being nice" can disconnect us from ourselves, why grief and anger are essential to healing, and how mindfulness helps us slow down enough to notice what's really...
Integrating IFS and Listening Therapies with Marcella Cox
In today's episode, I welcome my friend Marcella Cox back to the podcast.
Marcella is a certified IFS therapist, approved consultant, and somatic IFS assistant trainer. She's also a certified Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Rest and Restore provider, and the lead author of the new guidelines for integrating IFS with these listening therapies.
We talk about:
The basics of polyvagal theory
How our nervous system states impact our parts
Why co-regulation is central to healing
The difference between SSP (connection to others) and Rest and...
The Courage to Start with the Ending - with Keith Miller and Courtney Corona
On today's episode I chat with Keith and Courtney, cohosts of the podcast Tripping Over Love. Keith is licensed therapist and a Level 3 IFS Consultant, and Courtney is journalist and podcaster. They joined me to share their beautiful, messy love story.
We dive into the courage it takes to start over, the "trauma" of the dating apps, and how they've used Internal Family Systems (IFS) and psychedelics to navigate the "breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs" of their relationship .
We discuss:
Starting relationships with truth instead of performance.
Radical transparency — "starting with the en...
Our Parts Are Angels In Disguise with David Stern
On today's episode I welcome my friend David Stern to the podcast. This conversation feels so perfect right now. It's full of the kind of hope we all need. David has this beautiful way of seeing the spiritual dimension in everything we do.
David calls us to remember our "Pure Soul"—the part of us that is already peaceful and cannot be destroyed. He talks about parts as "angels in disguise," the ones inside that have taken on difficult roles to protect that inner light. If you're looking for a way to stay connected to yourself in a...
When The World Feels Too Heavy with Daphne Fatter
In this episode, I'm joined by my friend Daphne Fatter for a timely and honest conversation about what so many of us are navigating right now, as therapists, as parents, and as humans living in a polarized and chaotic time. We talk about nervous system overwhelm, numb and checked-out parts, news consumption, activism, community connection, and how to stay grounded when things feel "too much." We also touch on Daphne's new book: Integrating Internal Family Systems Interventions into EMDR Therapy.
In this episode:
Why so many of us feel numb, frozen, or checked out right...
Integrating IFS and EMDR with Bruce Hersey, David Polidi, and Joanne Twombly
Today I welcome David Polidi, Bruce Hersey, and Joanne Twombly on the podcast to talk about their new book, IFS-Informed EMDR: Creative and Collaborative Appraoches.
We talk about why this book is needed, what it took to bring together more than 20 contributors, and why integrating these models can create more options, more flexibility, and more hope for clients.
We talk about:
Bringing together 21 contributors and creating a true community project
Why integration can help when clients get stuck in one modality
The idea that there is a natural, underlying...
Inside IFS with Richard Schwartz and Jeanne Catanzaro
Today's episode is a little different, in a really wonderful way.
I sit down with Dick Schwartz and Jeanne Catanzaro, President and Vice President of the IFS Institute, and partners in both leadership and life. This isn't a traditional interview; it's more like listening in on friends and colleagues talking about the things they care about, the serious, the personal, and the very human.
I've been feeling curious about what's happening inside IFS leadership right now. The model keeps growing, reaching more people, and carrying more responsibility with it. I wanted to hear directly from...
A Self-Led Approach to Numbing Parts with Tammy Sollenberger and Jeff Schrum
We all feel numb sometimes. Our numbing parts protect us from stress, pain, and overwhelm. But what happens when numbness lingers?
As we kick off The One Inside's seventh season, Jeff and I share what we've learned about working with numbing parts. We led a workshop at the recent 2025 IFS Annual Conference called Why Check In When You Can Check Out: A Self-Led Approach to Numbing Parts.
In this episode we walk you through the highlights of our workshop and share a few of the insights we brought home from the conference.
We...
From Broken to Badass with Joe Bielling
In this episode I chat with Joe Bielling, a Level 3 IFS practitioner, licensed therapist, and co-author of From Broken to Badass. We talk about what happens when coping, adapting, and belonging slowly pull us away from ourselves, and how to find your way back.
Joe shares parts of his personal story, including a period he describes as a mental breakdown and spiritual awakening, and how IFS helped him slow down, notice his parts, and reconnect with his body, heart, and Self Energy.
We discuss:
Self-forgetting, people-pleasing, and the "chameleon" strategies of belonging
<...The Sacred Art of Slowing Down with Anna Christine Seiple
In this episode I talk with Anna Christine "AC" Seiple about slowing down, embodiment, and what it means to listen to our bodies and our parts.
AC is a licensed counselor and the author of The Sacred Art of Slowing Down. She lives in St. Andrews, Scotland, where she's working on her PhD exploring the intersection of ancient contemplative practices and modern mindfulness.
She shares why she felt called to write her book, how slowing down was not something she chose at first but something life required of her, and how chronic pain, illness, and...
Making IFS Make Sense: Neurodivergence, EMDR, and Finding Self in the Real World with Kendhal Hart
This week I talk with IFS therapist and teacher, Kendhal Hart, about the real-world practice of IFS, how she integrates it with EMDR, and her view of IFS as a neurodivergent clinician.
Kendhal is the author of Treating Trauma with EMDR and IFS, a new book that offers clinicians a practical and compassionate guide to integrating the two models.
She shares openly about her recent autism diagnosis and how her neurodifferences shapes the way she understands, lives, and teaches Internal Family Systems. We explore what it looks like to practice IFS in real time, outside...
You're Not Broken: An IFS Client's Story with Ronda Bonfanti
In this episode I talk with Ronda Bonfanti, an IFS client, memoirist, and self-described "IFS cheerleader," who reached out to me earlier this year to share her beautiful memoir, Talk to the Trees: From CPTSD to Loving Me.
Ronda has been on a healing journey for more than 25 years. She's done "all the therapies," read over 250 self-help books, and spent years trying to understand why she felt so broken inside, even though her life looked beautiful on the outside. When she found IFS, something finally clicked.
We explore:
Her early years in therapy...
IFS Therapy for Gay and Queer Men with Max Littman
In this episode, I talk with Max Littman, an IFS therapist, consultant, and writer. Max's new book, Internal Family Systems Therapy for Gay and Queer Men: A Companion for After Coming Out, launched the morning we recorded this conversation.
His work centers on attachment, attunement, cultural burdens, and the relational impact of trauma — especially for gay and queer men who are still healing the parts shaped by growing up without safety, guidance, or representation.
We talk about why this book matters, the parts that continue to carry burden even after coming out, and the places wh...
Unburdening Motherhood with Angele Close
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Angele Close, a clinical psychologist, motherhood coach, and certified mindfulness meditation teacher. Her work weaves together Internal Family Systems, mindfulness, and matrescence to help mothers reconnect with themselves and embrace the process of becoming.
She opens up about her own season of disconnection in early motherhood and how discovering IFS helped her find language, clarity, and compassion for the parts within.
Her upcoming book, Unburdening Motherhood: A Guide to Breaking Cycles, Healing Trauma, and Becoming a Self-Led Mom, offers that same roadmap to others.
Together, we...
The Courage To Be Your Self with Caitlan Siegenthaler
In this episode, I chat with Caitlan Siegenthaler, a Level 2 IFS licensed therapist and podcast host who specializes in IFS and Human Design. What I love about Caitlan's work is how she treats both frameworks as paths home to Self.
She shares how Human Design entered her life and how she integrates it with IFS to help clients befriend their parts. She recently led a Human Design reading session with Dick Schwartz, founder of IFS.
In this conversation, we explore:
How IFS and Human Design work together to help us return to our...
Self as Medicine: IFS and Psychedelics with Nick Brüss
How can Internal Family Systems help us prepare for, experience, and integrate psychedelic journeys in a truly Self-led way? And what if Self itself can be the journey, without medicine at all?
In this episode, I talk with Nick Brüss, an IFS practitioner and licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in psychedelic-assisted therapy. What I loved about this conversation is how grounded and humble Nick is about the work. He reminds us that psychedelics can open the door, but Self is what does the healing.
Why listen: Many people are curious about how p...
The Safety to Come Alive: IFS and the Nervous System with Steve Chee
In today's episode, I talk with Dr. Steve Chee, an integrative East-West physician and certified IFS therapist. Steve is offering an IFS continuity program through the IFS Institute this fall called "The Sacred Nervous System," which brings together neuroscience, mysticism, and relational medicine to help people who have been told they are "too much" or "too sensitive".
In our conversation Steve shares his personal story of being a sensitive child who felt he had to hide what he loved, and the journey of finding relational safety to heal this dynamic. We discuss the importance of love as...
Resolving Conflict Using IFS with David Hoffman
In today's episode, I chat with David Hoffman, a lawyer, mediator, and a founding member of Boston Law Collaborative. David was named "Lawyer of the Year" in Boston, and he even teaches at Harvard!
I love how he's using IFS to help people with conflict. We talk about how IFS has shifted his focus from getting people to settle, to helping them make Self-led choices.
We discuss:
How does a lawyer and mediator bring the language of parts into a legal setting? What is the "reasonable reason" behind "unreasonable behavior" in conflict? How can...Where Parts Meet Belief with Bob Falconer, Chelsea Odhner, and Jonathan Rose
On this week's episode, I welcome Bob Falconer, Chelsea Odhner, and Jonathan Rose, the co-authors of the new book, Opening the Inner World. We dive into what it means to be both spiritual and plural. If you've ever found yourself wondering how inner work and spiritual seeking overlap, this episode is for you.
We explore:
What happens when we bring the language of parts into our spiritual lives?
Can the concept of "Self Energy" connect with notions of divine presence?
How does the idea of God resonate differently for various people...
IFS and Manifesting with Michael and Leela Hunter
In today's episode, I talk with Michael and Leela Hunter, the creators of UpSpiral Life — a year-long program and community that combines IFS, manifestation, and neurofeedback.
We explore what manifestation really means through an IFS lens, how subconscious parts shape our experience, and why "feeling good" is a nervous system state we can track and train.
Our conversation explores how IFS intersects with manifestation, nervous system states, and the beliefs our parts hold about what's possible.
Key takeaways:
How parts influence what we manifest
Self Energy as a measurable fr...
Bringing Your Whole Self to Prayer with Julie Honeycutt
In this week's episode, I sit down with my friend Julie Honeycutt, a licensed professional counselor, certified IFS therapist, and approved clinical consultant. Julie has been integrating faith and counseling for over 20 years, and in this conversation, we explore how our attachment styles, parts, Enneagram, and developmental stages all shape our prayer life and spiritual connection.
Julie shares that our attachment patterns and spiritual experiences are deeply linked, and how IFS offers a pathway to spirituality and how our different parts, even those with doubts
We explore the idea that prayer doesn't have to look...
Mastering Direct Access in IFS with Dave Adamusko
On this week's episode I'm thrilled to have my friend and colleague, Dave Adamusko, join me to demystify "direct access"—a powerful technique that allows IFS practitioners to speak directly to a client's parts.
Dave and I dive deep into why direct access is so essential, especially for clients with trauma histories or deeply blended parts who might struggle with more traditional "insight" methods. Dave leads me in a brief session to demonstrate explicit direct access, engaging with a part of me that was feeling annoyed and ignored, and we trace its origins back to a childhood ex...
Parenting, Parts, and Repair with Anna Purpero
What if the magic in parenting doesn't happen in the moment you get it right, but in the moment you come back and repair?
This week, I talk with educator, children's book author, and Self-led parent Anna Purpero, and I just loved this conversation so much. Anna has two little boys and a big heart, and she shares so honestly about what happens when our protectors take over in parenting and how IFS helped her find a new way forward.
We talk about:
What happens in our bodies when our kids fight (and...
Align Your Mind with Britt Frank
Britt Frank escaped a cult, rebuilt her life after addiction, and is one of the most grounded, funny, and inspiring IFS speakers and educators around.
In this week's episode, we talk about her new book Align Your Mind, and how parts work helped her move from chaos to clarity.
We get into all of it...motivation, procrastination, inner critics, cults, menopause, and what alignment looks like beyond the buzzwords.
Britt shares how she uses parts language in her own life, how she reframes procrastination as protection, and why your most extreme parts might...
