I am ecstatic to announce the launching of Self Expressions: a free website for Part Artists to share their work and communicate with each other. Part Artists are people who represent the various parts of themselves through visual art. Many of these artists understand their internal landscape through the ideas described in Internal Family Systems Therapy, founded by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. Read the rest of this entry »

We have now created a free website where you can find people to pair up with for doing IFS peer counseling. Click on http://www.personal-growth-programs.com/home/login.

This is for people who have taken our IFS classes, who have read my book Self-Therapy, or who know IFS in some other way. If you are looking for people to work with doing IFS peer counseling, this is the place to find them. You can create a profile for yourself that lists your background with IFS and your interest in peer counseling. You can also browse through or search the profiles of other people on the site to find someone to work with. Let us know how this works for you and any suggestions you have for improving the service.

In the Power Dimension of the Pattern System, there are two healthy capacities that complement each other-Assertiveness and Cooperation.

• Assertiveness means the ability to think and act for yourself and to exert power to get what you want, protect yourself, or achieve what you think is right.
• Cooperation means the ability to be receptive and work well with others. Read the rest of this entry »

In March I posted a conversation between myself and a friend on facebook.   Since the post we have gone back and forth and I wanted to share the rest of the conversation with you.   To see the original post, click here.  I would love feedback or comments about how you feel on the matter.

Comment:  Gererald Rubin – Over a month later I am clearer on the role of Internal Family Systems in activism. It is a completely different approach than I had inquired about. I believe that it is probably impossible to deal with the managers of destructive leaders. There’s too much narcissism and grandiosity in them to deal with such people. I use these terms to be descriptive rather than pathologizing as IFS does not pathologize and I agree with that. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently posted the below in my status on Facebook and it generated a great conversation which I thought was worth sharing.

STATUS: Today I stand with the teachers, nurses, and all public employees of Wisconsin who are fighting for their rights. If you do too, change this to your status for the rest of the day.

COMMENT: Gerald Rubin – From an IFS perspective, I wonder how one can most effectively deal with the aggressive managers in politicians or corporate leaders. Richard Schwartz talks about Entitled managers that play a big role in such people. In my own dealings …with people, it is easy to see how they close down protectively and no real dialog is possible. For many, the adage of talking thing out just doesn’t work. Entitled managers are easily upset and are defensive and supported by managers who work by denying. Such people rarely get involved in therapy. Is it possible to use IFS approaches during dialogs with such people to bring more agreeable managers to the fore? Read the rest of this entry »