Advanced Training
Motherhood is loaded with vulnerability and responsibility. Moms are hyperfocused on the health and wellbeing of their children, all while being under-resourced and under pressure to get it right. As mothers encounter the inevitable frustrations, disappointments and losses inherent to their role, they commonly attribute those pain points to their own failures and shortcomings: there’s something wrong with me, I didn't do enough, I’m a bad mom, etc. Our culture of perfectionistic mothering both amplifies and silences shame and grief and encourages moms' protector parts to muzzle their pain. When grief and shame are exiled, moms experience themselves as unwell and disordered. Isolation and mommy wars make matters worse, intensifying symptoms and activating protective parts.
About this Advanced Training
We as practitioners are very often participants in this allergic reaction to big pain. Shame and grief terrify us too, and we seldom receive the support we need to expand and cultivate space in our hearts for holding these, the most profound wounds. It may be cliche to say “we need to feel to heal,” but we as practitioners can only take our clients as far as we ourselves have ventured. This workshop is its own ritual, inviting participants to engage and explore their personal relationship with grief and shame. Using an IFS framework, we will lean against collective Self-energy and venture just a bit further into the corners of our own vulnerable parts. New ways of understanding and being with maternal grief and shame will be explored, enabling us to bring fresh courage, curiosity and compassion into uncharted territory, expanding confidence that can be shared with the mothers we are supporting.
Do you hear the call to become more courageous? I would love to meet you in the sacred space of our most tender parts.
This course requires you to have basic knowledge of IFS terminology and concepts. You do not need to have extensive IFS training - but I will assume you are familiar with parts language and how parts can ally and polarize together. Check out my "Intro to IFS Terms and Concepts" video if you need a refresher. You must also have knowledge of matrescence and awareness of maternal mental health concepts to engage meaningfully with this course.
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Introduction & Learning Objectives
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Invocation
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When You Were a Child
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Losses in motherhood
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Inevitable Losses
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Exceptional Losses
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Wanting - invisible and devastating loss
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Grief and shame
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Contributing factors to maternal grief and shame
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What do shame and grief have in common? How are they different?
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Shame: what it is and what it needs
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Grief: what it is and what it needs
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Grief as medicine
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EXPERIENTIAL #1
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Two Internal Resources: Inner Mom and Protectors
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IFS and Mom Parts Terminology
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The inner system chart
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Inner Baby and Inner Mom
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EXPERIENTIAL #2
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Unblending (When You Need to Unblend handout)
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Therapists Have 2 Internal Resources
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Empathy or compassion?
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Therapist Parts
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When the therapist is triggered
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What does healing look like?
Details
What I hope you will leave with:
Upcoming Dates
Registration Information
Los Angeles In-Person
Location
Santa Monica/Brentwood border
*exact location details provided upon registration
Lunch Included
Date
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Time
9:00am –4:00pm PST
5 CE's will be provided by Integrative Journey Modern Psychotherapy co. at an additional charge of $25.
See FAQs for more information.
