Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement, and Touch in Practice--Endorsed by top experts in therapeutic healing modalities

by Susan McConnell, Richard Schwartz PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

Discover the innovative intersection of somatic therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS), featuring 5 core practices to transform modern therapeutic approaches.

Enhance your clinical practice and patient outcomes by skillfully uniting body and mind through an evidence-based therapeutic modality—endorsed by leaders in the field, including Richard Schwartz.

Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy introduces a cutting-edge therapeutic modality that merges the elements of somatic therapy, such as movement, touch, and breathwork, with the established principles of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. Authored by Susan McConnell, this multifaceted approach is crafted for therapists, clinicians, somatic practitioners, mental health professionals, and anyone interested in innovative healing techniques. A valuable contribution to mental health treatment, this guide offers a new horizon for those engaged in the well-being of others.

This comprehensive, bestselling guide presents:

• 5 core practices: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement, and attuned touch, designed for seamless integration into therapeutic work.
  
• Strategies to apply these practices in addressing a range of clinical conditions including depression, trauma, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic illness, and attachment disorders.
  
• Techniques to assist clients in identifying, understanding, and reconciling their 'inner worlds' or subpersonalities, leading to improved emotional health and behavior.
  
• A compelling combination of scientific insights, experiential practices, and real-world clinical stories that illuminate the theory and application of Somatic IFS.
  

Highly regarded mental health professionals, such as IFS founder Richard Schwartz, have applauded this essential guide. By weaving together holistic healing wisdom, modern neuroscience, and somatic practices expertise, this book serves as a crucial resource for psychotherapists across various disciplines and laypersons seeking an embodied self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623174880
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	130,081
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

SUSAN MCCONNELL, senior trainer for the Center for Self Leadership, has taught Internal Family Systems (IFS) in the U.S. and internationally since 1997. Somatic IFS, which McConnell developed in 2004, is a synthesis of her forty years of study, teaching, and clinical practice with bodywork, psychotherapy, and spiritual practices. McConnell holds a Master's Degree with an emphasis on Somatic Psychology, and is a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist and a Certified Hakomi Therapist. She was also instrumental in curriculum development for IFS trainings and, as a Hakomi faculty member, for a training for bodyworkers using the Hakomi Method to explore through touch the way mind, body, heart, and spirit weave together to form the client's experiential world. McConnell has had a private practice since 1983 in Chicago, where she offers bodymind integration and consultation.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction My Journey to Integrate Mind and Body 1

Chapter 1 Introduction to Somatic IFS and the Practices That Lead to Embodied Self 19

Chapter 2 Somatic Awareness: Reading the Body Story 61

Chapter 3 Conscious Breathing: Integrating Inner and Outer Worlds 93

Chapter 4 Radical Resonance: Potentiating Relational Realms 127

Chapter 5 Mindful Movement: Restoring the Flow 175

Chapter 6 Attuned Touch: Exploring the Power of Ethical Touch 213

Chapter 7 Embodied Self: The Internal System Embodied 255

Notes 293

Index 299

About the Author 307

Editorial Reviews

I am very honored and excited that Susan McConnell has finally written this book that brings all of her wisdom from years of somatic study and practice to the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.”
—Richard Schwartz, PhD, founder of Internal Family Systems therapy and the IFS Institute
 
“Susan McConnell brilliantly weaves together science, clinical stories, and experiential practices to bring Somatic IFS to life for her reader. The deep wisdom she embodies from years of studying the bodymind is felt in each of the five practices that are the foundation of Somatic IFS and in her clear yet lyrical explanation of the body systems that inform each practice. McConnell is an expert guide to learning to listen to somatic stories and finding the way to Embodied Self.”
—Deb Dana, LCSW, author of The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy

“Referencing many other body-oriented practices, therapists, and researchers, this book offers an up-to-date, pragmatic method of working somatically with people: a methodology which other psychotherapists—especially those from non-somatic disciplines—can readily learn from.”
—Courtenay Young, UK body psychotherapist, editor of the International Journal of Psychotherapy

“Susan McConnell writes from her heart and her embodied experience, as a counselor and an explorer in the somatic world. This book is an expression of her whole life and career, and yet the ideas are kept alive and honest through the immediacy of her practices—in psychotherapy, in somatics, and in spirituality. I hope that this book is read widely both in and beyond the IFS community.”
—Susan Aposhyan, LPC, author of Body-Mind Psychotherapy

“A brilliant psychotherapeutic integration of mind and body by a wise and experienced somatic practitioner.… Through descriptions and explanations of the five practices of Somatic IFS, illustrative case examples, and guided practices, the author connects the gifts of ancient medicine and contemporary neuroscience to the benefit of professionals and laypersons alike. A unique and timely book.”
—Marcel A. Duclos, LCMHC, LPC, ACS, Diplomate, AMHCA, certified Core Energetics therapist, certified IFS therapist 

From the Publisher