IFS™ Certification Video Reviewers

INTERVIEW

Ralph Cohen, PhD, LMFT is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy at Central Connecticut State University where he was the director of the Master's program in Marriage and Family Therapy and currently coordinates the Internal Family Systems Continuing Education Program. He is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Dr. Cohen was a founding co-editor of the Journal of Self Leadership, and IFS-oriented professional publication. As a licensed psychologist and Marriage and Family therapist, Dr. Cohen has a private practice in West Hartford, Connecticut, providing IFS-based therapy for individuals, couples, and families.

Paul Neustadt, MSS, LICSW is an IFS Co-Lead Trainer and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. He has a private practice in Arlington, MA where he specializes in couples therapy, parent coaching, and IFS consultation. For 17 years he was the director of a community counseling and prevention program for children, adolescents, and their families, and before that he worked in a college counseling center and a community mental health center. He taught couples and family therapy at a family therapy institute and in two graduate programs. As a trainer Paul creates a safe and accepting atmosphere, attending thoughtfully to group process and making sure all parts are welcome. He teaches the Model with a clear, down to earth and open-hearted manner.

INTERVIEW
Ann L. Sinko, LMFT has over 30 years of clinical experience and is licensed marriage and family therapist in Connecticut. She is in private practice and has been teaching as a adjunct Professor in the Marriage and family therapy program at Central CT State University for 26 years. She has integrated IFS theory and technique in all facets of her creative work with families, couples, individuals and groups. She establishes a safe environment in which clients experience unconditional acceptance. She has a background in gestalt therapy and uses sandtray therapy and in her work. Ann is passionate about teaching and believes that theory is best integrated though experiential learning. She brings has a down to earth, concrete style along with a sense of humor to her teaching. Ann is a seasoned world traveler, loves the outdoors and is a avid gardener

Nancy Sowell is an Internal Family Systems lead trainer and consultant in private practice on Cape Cod and in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a teaching associate at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance, where she has been a clinical supervisor for many years. Nancy has been a psychotherapist since 1992, working with individuals, couples, and groups. She has pursued training from many therapeutic schools of thought and in various therapeutic techniques, such as hypnosis, biofeedback, EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and meditation. She integrates mindful awareness of the body, emotions, thoughts, and deeply held beliefs, as they influence our mood, behavior, health, and relationships. Specializing in behavioral medicine and IFS-based treatment for pain and illness, Nancy co-created an IFS treatment program for rheumatoid arthritis patients in a pioneering research study at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. She knows both personally and professionally the power of Self compassion in healing and restoring health.

Mona Barbera, PhD, CC, is a psychologist in private practice in Rhode Island. She offers IFS couples therapy, IFS couples workshops and is the author of the award-winning IFS relationship book, Bring Yourself to Love: How Couples Can Turn Disconnection into Intimacy. She is a former board member of the New Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, and is trained in EMDR and Imago Relationship Therapy. She is an Assistant Director and Shambhala Assistant Director for Shambhala Buddhist meditation.

Kevin Davis, LCSW, LMFT, LCAS, Approved AMFT Supervisor, is an IFS therapist who specializes in addiction, trauma and the impact of early imprints. She has a passion for helping clients connect to and use the inherent treatment plan that lives in all of us as individuals, relationally and in community. Kevin is Co-Founder of Hospice at Charlotte, and founder of the Family Therapy Training Institute at United Family Services. With over 30 years of experience, Kevin uses mind/body approaches to help others enhance resilience and achieve purpose.

Rina Dubin, Ed.D, is a solo lead trainer and a licensed psychologist practicing in Newton, MA. She provides psychotherapy to individuals and couples and offers consultation for individual, dyad and small groups. She also offers workshops to larger groups on various topics which always include an experiential focus.

IFS has been foundational for Rina since her first immersion in 2004. She has found IFS to be the deepest and most profound approach for healing and expansion and highly values how this work is an approach to living and not a “model.”  More recently, a focus of Rina’s work has been to expand not only how up-close systems (family, school) impact our parts but how the larger systems through which we all navigate impact our parts and our different identities. This feels much more complete and ties to her legacy heirloom of “make the world better.”

Dr. Steven Krantz has been an IFS Trainer for many years and is currently a Solo Lead Trainer. He is also a full-time Associate Clinical Professor at Touro University Graduate School of Social Work. He has an online private psychotherapy practice from Long Island, NY and leads numerous online IFS consultation/supervision groups. Alongside his generic IFS practice, he has a specialty in working with addictions and adolescents.  Steve is passionate about the model and it's ability to access healing.  

Einat Avni Bronstein, MSW, graduated from Law school in Tel Aviv University, Israel, and earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work at Washington University, USA. Einat is an experienced psychotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She has lived and worked with IFS since the early days of the model, and learned closely and directly from the IFS founder Dr. Richard Schwartz. Einat is a certified IFS therapist, a certified supervisor and a Senior International Lead Trainer for IFSI, leading Level 1,2 and 3 trainings.

Einat is also the co-founder and co-director of The Israeli Institute for IFS who brought IFS to Israel and trained hundreds of Israeli therapists in the model since 2008. She taught family and couples therapy in Tel Aviv University, presented multiple times at the IFS Annual Conference and led IFS trainings, seminars and workshops all over the world. Einat is married, has 4 children, one grandchild and lives in Israel.

Osnat (Ossi) Arbel, PhD, LMFT is a Lead Trainer in Israel. As the Co-founder of the Israeli Institute for IFS she is training, supervising, and facilitating groups while living the IFS model both personally and professionally. In her private practice she provides IFS-based therapy for individuals, couples, and families. Dr. Arbel is an AAMFT Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor currently dividing her time between Israel, and Colorado. In Israel she is teaching MFT courses at Tel-Aviv University and Tel-Hai Academic College and supervising MFT practicum courses. In Colorado she holds an Assistant Professor appointment at Argosy University/Denver campus, teaching at the Counseling and MFT programs. Visit her on the web: www.ifs-israel.org ; On facebook: facebook.com/DrOsnatArbel ; Join her on LinkedIn: il.linkedin.com/in/oarbel

Jory Agate, LMHC, MDiv., MA, IFS Certified, is an Internal Family Systems therapist, trainer, and consultant with a private practice in Cambridge, MA.  Jory is committed to creating a collaborative clinical space that honors the cultural uniqueness of her clients. She specializes in treating trauma without pathologizing individuals for the creative ways they may have learned to cope. Jory had previous careers as a Unitarian Universalist minister and Sign Language interpreter/Deaf educator in the US and abroad.  She works in English and ASL with hearing and Deaf individuals, families, couples, clergy, staff teams, and parents of individuals with major mental illness. Jory is a trainer/presenter for the IFS Institute, PESI, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).  In addition to her private practice, she provides training and consultation in IFS therapy, cultural agility, sexuality education, leadership development, and group dynamics.  The mother of two young adults, one hearing and one Deaf, she lives with her wife and their pandemic puppy in Cambridge, MA. 

Leslie Petruk, LCMHC-S, NCC, BCC is an IFS-Level-3 and IFS Certified therapist, a Board Certified Coach and the Director of The Stone Center For Counseling and Leadership (www.thestonecenternc.com) in Charlotte, NC. Her group private practice serves children, individuals, couples and families.  One of her specialty areas is working with parents utilizing the IFS model.  In addition, Leslie provides consultation and supervision to individuals and groups seeking licensure or IFS Certification.  She has taught introductory IFS workshops as well as the application of IFS for clinicians working with children and parents.  Leslie has presented at the IFS National Conference on Parenting, The Application of Sandtray to IFS, IFS and Play Therapy, and applying IFS to Work with Children and Parents.  She has also developed a parenting program that applies IFS principals for all parents which she offers in a workshop format.

Kirsten M. Lundeberg, LPC, LMFT, is a Northern-Virginia-based psychotherapist in private practice.  Kirsten works with individuals and couples, and is deeply committed to supporting therapists and practitioners who are interested in learning the IFS model through offering individual consultation and group consultation. She enjoys being a part of IFS trainings, and brings playfulness and creativity (music and poetry are passions of hers) to her teaching and to her work. She is grateful for the model both personally and professionally, and is especially grateful to be connected to the expanding and increasingly diverse community of IFS therapists and practitioners. For more information: www.kirstenlundeberg.com

PILAR DE LA TORRE has been a psychologist and gestalt psychotherapist for more than twenty-five years.  Certified trainer in the IFS model and co-founder of the IFS Institute. She organizes the official IFS training in Spain.  She has supervision groups and for fifteen years she has been accompanying individuals, families and couples in psychotherapy based on IFS.  She is founder and director of the Institute of Nonviolent Communication.  She is trained in gestalt body therapy.  IFS has transformed her life and the lives of many people she accompanies. She has a strong commitment to spread this vision of the human being in the world.
 

Imma Lloret is a psychologist and has been a psychotherapist for over 30 years in Barcelona, Spain. As the co-founder of the Spanish IFS Institute, she organizes IFS trainings, supervises, and facilitates groups along with her private practice where she provides IFS-based therapy for individuals and couples.  Imma also worked as an Associate Professor in the degree of Psychology at UOC (Open University of Catalonia).  She is also certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing, and has advanced training in AEDP.  IFS has transformed her life and her view of the world and she is honored to be able to contribute to its spread.
 

Liz Martins is a Certified IFS Therapist, supervisor and trainer based in the UK and working in private practice. Liz has worked to support healing, growth and development for over 30 years, including as a social worker, therapist, supervisor, organisational and group facilitator, mentor and trainer. She has a particular interest in integrating IFS in supervision/consultation and in supporting the practice of newly trained IFS therapists.  

Be patient towards all that is unsolved in our heart and try to love the questions themselves

by Rainer Maria Rilke, says what IFS means to me and how I work with clients.

Our parts have wisdom for our healing, whether they come as questions, experiences that leave us wondering what that was about, or experiences that leave us feeling more aware of who we are, what we are about and what we want.  My background in private practice over the last 18 years is a combination of exercise psychology and psychotherapy with humor and fun added to the mix. Currently, as an Assistant Trainer with IFS, my work has deepened as my depth of understanding about IFS as evolved.  Please see my website: www.lewisburgcounseling.com

Jenny Fiebig is a licensed professional counselor in both Montana and Colorado, with a private practice dedicated to helping individuals and couples heal from trauma, particularly trauma related to outdoor accidents. Her unique approach draws on her first career in outdoor education and guiding, where she discovered the deep potential for connection to self, others, and nature during extended wilderness experiences.

In 2010, Jenny pursued a graduate degree in Mental Health Counseling at Montana State University. While working in a group practice in Bozeman, MT, she was introduced to Internal Family Systems (IFS), a highly effective trauma modality. She has since become deeply specialized in IFS and is now a trainer with the IFS Institute, working globally to empower healers to be more efficient and compassionate in supporting their clients and addressing their own trauma.

Dawn Balcazar, Ph.D. is a doctoral level clinical psychologist, certified IFS therapist, and IFS approved consultant in private practice remotely and in person in Massachusetts. She received her BA from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. from University of MA/Amherst and has been a clinical supervisor at The Trauma Center and Wellesley College. Alongside working within the IFS model, Dawn specializes in psychological trauma, bereavement and enjoys working with the diverse local college student population, particularly first-generation students. Dawn is a nature lover, hiker, sailor, and a dedicated animal rescuer who runs a Caribbean based non-profit cat shelter and rescue.  

    Amy is a graduate of Saint Joseph's College in Maine and the Columbia University School of Social Work.  After serving in the Army as a social worker, she served combat Veterans and survivors of military sexual trauma as a therapist and director of the Sanford Vet Center (part of the VA).  She currently enjoys training other professionals in IFS as a Lead Trainer and through consultation.

    Amy's IFS journey began in 2013 and since that time, she has found IFS to be a source of healing for herself, her wife and her clients.  She is excited to be part of the movement to bring IFS to many different communities.  She wholeheartedly believes that this model offers an opportunity for connection and healing on a societal level.

Melissa Costa, LMFT, is a Certified IFS Therapist, IFS Clinical Consultant, and educator. Melissa lives and works in the flat lands of central Florida where she serves clients regionally and internationally.  Her heart lives somewhere where the leaves turn crimson and gold in the fall and the winding mountain paths beckon. With over 25 years of experience in health and wellness education, yoga and bodywork, Melissa weaves extensive mind/body/spirit knowledge and awareness into her psychotherapy practice.  She specializes in working with Fire Fighter parts, and with IFS therapists and practitioners, who seek to deepen their knowing of the IFS model.  Melissa’s Managers and Fire Fighters love to work and play in Self-land and are excited to get to know you wherever you are in your journey to the home in your heart.

Emma Diamond is a Certified Internal Family Systems therapist, case consultant and trainer with a Masters in Family Therapy from Newcastle University, Australia. Emma has 18 years of clinical practice working with complex and relational trauma. She has worked with IFS in the context of individual and family therapy including with children and young people across culture, complexity and identity. She currently works in private practice as a psychotherapist and supervisor specialising in CPTSD in NSW Australia. Emma is known for her warmth, openness and inclusivity. In her down time she enjoys forest bathing, beach walks with her dog and all adventures in the natural world.

Ellie Cunanan-Petty, LMFT, is a Certified IFS Therapist with nineteen years of clinical experience.  She is licensed in Virginia, Washington DC and New Jersey and has a private practice in Falls Church, Virginia, where she works with adults and couples.  She also provides supervision to therapists working toward licensure in Virginia, as well as clinical consultation to therapists learning IFS.  Ellie has an interest in working with people in improving their relationships, both within themselves and with others.   

Analía Castaños-Davis (she, her, ella)  is our first Latin American IFS Trainer. She offers consultation and psychotherapy in English and Spanish. 

She received her masters in Systems Counseling in 2009 from Bastyr University in Seattle, and has worked in community mental health and private practice since then. Analía created the first online IFS-Intro-Training in Spanish course, and is actively invested in growing IFS within the Spanish speaking community.

Besides IFS and IFIO, Analía has been trained in psychedelic therapy at the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and in Indigenous Medicine by Amita Academia Indígena in Mexico. 

Analía is originally from Guadalajara, México, lived in Seattle for 22 years and is now sharing time between Mexico and Seattle. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, dancing, hiking and eating delicious food and desserts.

Her work focuses on teaching,  group therapy, couples therapy, and offers IFS consultation to individuals and groups seeking IFS certification.

Español:

Analía Castaños-Davis (ella) es nuestra primera formadora Latinoamericana en el Instituto IFS de Estados Unidos. Es consultora y psicoterapeuta certificada en IFS. Bilingüe en Español e inglés y bi-cultiral.

Recibió su maestría en Psicología Sistémica en el 2009 de la Universidad Bastyr en Seattle Washington y ha trabajado en salud mental comunitaria y práctica privada desde entonces. Analía creó el primer curso en línea  de Introducción a IFS en Español y está activamente comprometida con el crecimiento de IFS dentro de la comunidad de habla hispana.

Además de IFS e IFIO, Analía se ha formado en terapia psicodélica en la Asociación Multidisciplinaria de Estudios Psicodélicos de California (MAPS) y en Medicina Indígena por Amita Academia Indígena en Tuxcueca, México. 

Su trabajo se enfoca en dar formaciones IFS, terapia de grupo, parejas multiculturales y consultoría con terapeutas que buscan certificarse en IFS de forma individual o en grupo.

Kim Paulus, LMFT (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a psychotherapist and IFS approved consultant in private practice in the Ohlone territory of Oakland, California.  She is a queer and mixed-race Vietnamese American cisgender woman, and she specializes in treating trauma with folks who live at the intersection of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC, including multiracial people and first generation children of immigrants.  She has been practicing IFS since 2004, and integrates IFS with Somatics and Interpersonal Neurobiology, while holding a keen social justice lens and a strong sense of humor. She has a passion for bringing the healing power of IFS to marginalized communities, in hopes of co-creating a world where all can be free. Learn more about Kim and her work here:  https://kimpauluslmft.com/.

Daria Matkowska, a psychologist in Poland and clinical psychologist in Australia, IFS Certified Therapist and Approved Clinical Consultant. 

In addition to IFS, Daria is trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and clinical applications of the Polyvagal Theory and the Theory of Structural Dissociation. She specialises in complex trauma recovery, eating disorders, psychosomatic and chronic health conditions, grief and loss, legacy and intergenerational themes, and impacts of working with traumatised clients (vicarious and secondary trauma). 

Daria has a passion and extensive experience in developing and delivering group therapy, workshops, and presentations to participants in therapeutic, educational, and business settings, including university, hospitals, community, government, non-for-profit, and private organisations. She greatly enjoys supporting underserviced populations, in particular culturally and linguistically diverse and LGBTQIA+ communities. 

Born and raised in Poland, Daria currently lives in tropical Queensland and offers therapy and consultation in English and Polish. 

If she were not a therapist, Daria would be a musician, veterinarian, or wilderness guide. 

Alessio Rizzo MA, MSc (He/They) is an accredited psychotherapist for individuals and groups, a writer, a group facilitator and trainer. Based in London, UK, he is the first native Italian speaker on the IFS Trainers Directory. 

At the heart of Alessio’s work is the provision and expansion of IFS to reach underprivileged communities, especially the LGBTQAI+ and the neurodivergent ones, which he is openly a member of. Merging these two areas together, and based on his clinical experience and studies, Alessio will co-present a workshop on “Neuroqueering IFS” in the 2024 IFS Conference. He offers multiple other workshops, including IFS for ADHD, and IFS for LGBTQAI+ therapists. He also co-presented a workshop on IFS for OCD.

First trained as a Gestalt Psychotherapist, Alessio holds a postgraduate qualification in teaching and pedagogy and worked as a psychotherapy lecturer before shifting to becoming an IFS trainer. He has led various groups, including a group for LGBTQAI+ asylum seekers, IFS consultation groups and personal development groups.

Alessio’s IFS blog attracts readers from all over the world, and he has created a community and a website for Italian psychologists interested in IFS, to whom he regularly offers meditations, workshops and clinical consultations in Italian. 

Lauren Spaulding, LMFT-S, LPC is a Certified IFS Therapist licensed in Texas. She has a virtual private practice, where she works with adults and couples, specializing in working with therapists.  She also provides supervision to counseling students and MFT Associates, as well as clinical consultation to therapists learning IFS. Lauren enjoys supporting therapists as we navigate our own parts that come up in our work with our clients.

Lara has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of the West Indies, and has been practising neurofeedback and psychotherapy in private practice from Trinidad and Tobago for past fourteen years. As a certified IFS therapist, Lara provides individual, couples and group therapy for clients around the world.  Lara is passionate about the benefits of using the IFS model for therapists as well as our clients and is dedicated to providing consultation and training in the IFS model.   

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Lara has Afro Trinidadian and white English heritage, and has lived in both countries. Her life experiences include childhood trauma, neurodiversity, and chronic physical health issues which inform her work where she specializes in working with people who have experienced childhood and relational trauma, those who identify as neurodiverse and those who are living with health challenges. Lara is passionate about creating a therapeutic space where clients can unburden and heal from wounds caused by systematic oppressions such as ableism, racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty, colonialism and imperialism. 

Natalie Yvette Gutiérrez, LMFT, is a certified IFS therapist in New York. She identifies as Latine, of the Puerto Rican diaspora (aka Boricua). Much of her work is dedicated to supporting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color healing from Complex Trauma, working with ancestral trauma and the impact of systemic racism and oppression on parts. She often blends the understanding of IFS and Liberation. Natalie is the author of The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color. She is a proud mother of two, currently living in Puerto Rico.

Amy Crawford, PhD is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been a psychotherapist for over twenty years. Amy Specializes in severe, chronic trauma and back in the day to help her perfectionistic parts feel equipped to work with her complicated clients, she became well trained and certified in many models. Then, that all shifted in 2010 when she fell in love with IFS and has never looked back with any other modality. Not only is IFS what Amy utilizes professionally, it is also the roadmap that she lives her life by and as a result is passionate about bringing it to the world at large to assist in systemic change, internally and externally. Amy has a private practice, is the Executive Clinical Director of an IFS informed trauma residential program and the host of the Turning In podcast. Amy loves to teach, cook, play and laugh. 

Risa Adams, MD, CCFP is a family physician with a focused practice in perinatal mental health care in Elora, Ontario on the traditional lands of the Attawandaran, Wyandot, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. Risa loves making connections and building IFS community, and is thrilled to be part of an emerging team of trainers in Canada. Having experienced educational trauma herself, she is acutely aware of and sensitive to shame in learning environments, and prioritizes relationship and consent in all of her IFS work.

Hi! I'm Sand Chang, PhD (they/them), and I'm a Chinese American nonbinary psychologist and DEI consultant who works at the intersection of trans health, eating disorders, trauma recovery, and body liberation. I'm a Certified IFS therapist, consultant, and trainer, Body Trust provider, and EMDR therapist. I am passionate about integrating IFS and Somatic Experiencing.

Supporting others’ learning process is one of my number one passions, and I feel grateful to have had opportunities to work with a wide range of groups and organizations. I started my teaching career in psychology graduate programs, and from there I branched out to provide trainings to educational institutions, medical systems, grassroots organizations, non-profits, startups, and the corporate sector. I've spent much of my career working in trans health and co-authored A Clinician's Guide to Gender Affirming Care, as well as the APA guidelines for working with trans communities and the WPATH Standards of Care Version 8. Eating disorders from an anti-diet, fat liberation perspective is also an area of emphasis in my work. You can learn more about me here: https://www.sandchang.com/

Jenn Pagone, LCPC has a full-time private practice, Pagone Psychological Services, PLLC, and is the Founder of Whispering White Horse Stables, a therapeutic horse ranch located in Marengo, IL. Cordelia, pictured above, is amazing at helping others connect and find their own Self-Energy while holding compassion for their parts that emerge in relationships. Jenn has created a parts work equine engaged psychotherapy model called “Equid-Nexus™”, which is based upon the Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and is focused on healing relational trauma. An important component of Equid-Nexus is a new perspective on partnering with equines, called Self-Led Horsemanship™.

Jenn is advanced trained and certified in IFS (L3) and is an approved EMDR Consultant. She has specialized in treating women with complex trauma for over 15 years. Her other specialties include somatic disorders, eating disorders, attachment ruptures, grief and loss, and women with cancer and infertility. Prior to opening her private practice in 2012, she worked as a rape crisis counselor and medical advocate, a clinical therapist on inpatient and outpatient eating disorders units, and managed a group home for women with eating disorders and trauma.

Jenn has a background in teaching clinical psychology as an adjunct professor, is a conference presenter and clinical consultant, and offers professional workshops and trainings in the Equid-Nexus facilitation model. She is a contributing author to the book “Integrating Horses into Healing” with a chapter on IFS with equine engagement.

She is grateful to be an IFS-I Assistant Trainer Mentee, has been a Natural Lifemanship Trainer since 2020 and also an Assistant Trainer for the Syzygy Institute. Believing that “the personal is the professional”, Jenn loves to foster others’ journeys towards healing and secure attachment with themselves and others. She enjoys life with her husband, nine horses, two goats, 3 dogs, and many cats. 

Kasi Shanmukanathan (MSW) is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She has a private practice in Kitchener, Ontario on the traditional lands of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people. She is a Certified IFS Therapist and uses both IFS and EMDR in her clinical work. Prior to starting private practice, Kasi worked in a Postpartum Mood Disorder Programs and with family health teams. Kasi was born in Sri Lanka, and she immigrated to Canada at a young age. She loves supporting BIPOC clients in exploring the nuances of belonging to two distinct cultures. 

Ana Morante, LMFT, is a bilingual, bicultural Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified IFS and EMDR therapist, and Certified Family Life Educator. Ana was born and raised in Lima, Perú, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology. She earned a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from San Jose State University after immigrating to the US. She has been in private practice since 1995 and has worked in numerous mental health and community organization settings. Most of her professional work has been dedicated to low income, Latino, immigrant populations. For the past 25+ years, Ana has been a Family Wellness Partner and Trainer, and has trained numerous instructors in this program throughout the United States and the world.  

Given her passion for “Intentional Motherhood”, Ana founded “Resilient Families Gilroy” in 2017, which is a mindfulness-based, trauma-informed, community led program geared to facilitate intergenerational healing in low-income immigrant communities.  In addition to running this program, Ana has a private practice and provides lectures and trainings on mental health and family wellbeing to different organizations and communities globally on an on-going basis.

Denise Caldwell, LCSW, is a certified IFS therapist in private practice in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, USA.  She is also trained in the IFIO model and works with individuals and couples in her private practice.  She is certified as a Structural and Contextual family therapist and has used play and sand therapies in the past with children, teens, and families in her 40 years of social work experience.  She is a consultant and supervisor for individuals for IFS and IFIO clinicians. Her goal is to make changes for equality and opportunity for as many individuals in her own community as well as on a larger scale through teaching and involvement with groups devoted to change.  She lives with her wife and dogs and loves to kayak, bike, swim and take relaxing walks in nature.  She loves all types of music and singing at her local church. 

Marina is a Registered Social Worker, a Certified IFS Therapist and Approved Consultant with over 20 years experience working with individuals, couples and families, facilitating groups, and developing and leading workshops in Canada, Israel, Russia, and other countries. She specializes in treating attachment trauma, PTSD, challenging relationships, life transitions, and more.

Marina was introduced to the IFS in 2008, learned the model directly from its creator, Dr. Richard Schwartz. The IFS model has tremendously impacted Marina personally and professionally, and she is passionate to share her knowledge, understandings and discoveries with other people. 

Having experienced several immigrations herself Marina understands and cherishes multi-culturalism and diversity, and knows firsthand the challenges and gifts of being different in a mainstream culture. She fluently speaks English, Hebrew and Russian.

Irina Diyankova, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, certified IFS therapist, Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, and a Co-Lead Trainer. She has private practice in Knoxville, TN, USA where she specializes in working with complex trauma in adults and adolescents and intersection of trauma and neurodifferences. Irina also maintains consultation practice where she offers individual and group consultation to the IFS therapists and those who are in the process of learning IFS. Being born and raised in Russia, Irina has a special interest in applying IFS across cultures, as well as working with cultural dynamics and burdens. Irina has completed all three levels of IFS training. SHe has also conducted multiple IFS workshops and consultation groups in the US and Russia. She is very passionate and excited about IFS Model and loves sharing it with other therapists and human services professionals. In her leisure time she loves practicing yoga, hiking, traveling, reading and writing. 

Video review Openings: Currently only for Russian Language Reviews

Dr. HeaKyung Kwon is a licensed psychoanalyst and creative arts therapist in New York with more than 25 years of experience. As a trauma therapist, she has been trained in many different treatment modalities such as IFS, EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, AEDP and the Theory of Structural Dissociation. Among all these approaches, IFS has become the foundation of her work. She received her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Music Therapy from NYU, and her Certificate in Psychoanalysis from the National Institute for the Psychotherapies in New York City. On top of serving a wide range of clients in her private practice and supervising therapists, she has been teaching extensively and conducting workshops on trauma and IFS.

She was born and raised in Korea and moved to the US as an adult. She currently resides in both New Jersey and South Korea with her husband and two daughters. She loves bridging the two cultures and enriching both through a deep understanding shaped by her lived experience. She is also a Korea IFS training organizer and dedicated to planting the roots of IFS in Korea and Asia.

Gaby Satarino is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and Certified IFS Therapist. She has 25 years of clinical experience working in community mental health and primary care settings providing trauma-informed psychotherapy for at-risk youth, refugees, the homeless, and incarcerated populations, as well as survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and torture.

Gaby’s clinical work is undergirded by a passion for understanding the ways in which Latinx cultural values impact engagement and treatment outcomes in mental health, and it has focused on community outreach work aimed at reducing utilization gaps among Latinx communities. She authored a chapter on Latinx and IFS in the Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trend book.                 Website: www.gabysatarinocounseling.com 

Ann-Katrin Bockmann, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and speech therapist, certified IFS and Somatic IFS therapist and IFS approved clinical consultant. She works at the Institute of Psychology at Hildesheim University (Germany) and in private practice, remotely and in person with clients of all ages and from different socio-cultural backgrounds (individuals, couples and groups). 

Her special focus is on bringing IFS into the world outside of psychotherapy (IFS Application Integrity Network, Self-Leadership Collaborative), working with children, adolescents and their families from an early age on and integrating IFS, spirituality and the body. 

She is engaging in (self-led) research on IFS and in bringing IFS to refugee mothers in Jordan and Lebanon (Leylaprojekt).

Brenda Aufderhar, RN, LICSW, IFS Certified, is in private practice in Spokane, Washington, USA. She has used IFS since 2000 with individuals, couples, therapy groups, and integrated IFS into play therapy with traumatized children in a community health center. Her passion for including the body in IFS therapy is informed by her training as a nurse, along with her Hakomi and Craniosacral Therapy certifications. Being raised in South America for 10 years, Brenda marinated in other cultures that permanently broadened her sense of others and added depth and flavor to her inner landscape of parts.

Crystal R. Jones is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Lead IFS-I Trainer who passionately spreads the healing essence of the IFS model worldwide. Known for her embodied compassion, relatability, and heart-led approach to her work, Crystal has personally experienced the transformative power of the IFS model in her own healing journey. This profound experience fuels Crystal’s dedication to creating safe spaces for marginalized communities, particularly Black women and women of color, to feel connected, seen, heard, and valued as they embark on their healing journeys individually and collectively. Crystal is fervently committed to teaching the model in a way that illuminates and speaks to the global majority, ensuring its adaptability, accessibility, and relevance to diverse populations. 

Crystal has been a featured expert on several podcast and esteemed organizations such as Clinicians of Color, NPR, IFS Talks, Pesi, Boston Scientific, California Institute of Integral Studies, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a contributing author of Positioned to Pivot, where she explores navigating life’s pivots while nurturing parts that hold fear and self-sabotage. 

Outside of her professional achievements, Crystal finds joy in international travel, tending to her plants, great food,  and deep belly laughter with loved ones. 

Crystal eagerly looks forward to sharing in the transformative journeys of all inspired and touched by Internal Family Systems.

Margaret L. Conley is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in the Atlanta, Georgia area and happens to be licensed in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Missouri. Margaret primarily uses the Internal Family Systems Model in her work with individuals, couples and families. She is particularly focused on working within the Black Faith Community integrating IFS and other relational methods of healing from an Afrocentric perspective.  

Michael Fitzgerald, PhD, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor is an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Science at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In addition, he sees clients (individuals, couples, and families) and provides individual and group consultation. Michael has been in IFS since 2017, served as a PA in nearly two dozen Level 1 and Level 2s, and is level 3 trained. His clinical background is working with individuals, couples, and families that have experienced trauma and addictions having worked in both outpatient community mental health settings as well as intensive outpatient and inpatient treatment centers focusing on eating disorder and sex addiction. Michael is also trained in EMDR and completed a year long certificate in the treatment of traumatic stress from the Trauma Center in Boston, MA. 

Michael has taught a variety of courses to MFTs (notably treatment of trauma and addictions), undergraduate (family systems and family trauma) and doctoral students (research methods and advanced statistics). Michael has published over 50 peer reviewed articles, including several empirical studies on IFS. He conducts research on the effects of childhood trauma and ACEs on adult mental and physical health with a focus on how couple and familial relationships serve as either a risk factor or a protective factor. Additionally, he is leading a project looking a communication difficulties between 1st and 2nd generation Hispanic immigrants due to the lack of a shared language and examining whether communication difficulties account for known health disparities. 

Dora Dui Chen, LCSW (朵拉陈, she/her/hers), is a Certified IFS Therapist, Consultant, and Trainer with a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. She specializes in holistic, experiential therapy for individuals and families, focusing on complex trauma, attachment wounds, and challenges related to immigration and minority experiences. Dora also offers clinical consultation, training, and workshops to fellow clinicians, actively contributing to the development of future IFS therapists. 

As a first-generation immigrant from China to the U.S., Dora’s personal journey enriches her compassionate and culturally attuned approach. She holds a healing space that honors both personal and collective stories, drawing on cultural and ancestral wisdom. Dora is also dedicated to expanding IFS within the Chinese-speaking community, regularly offering workshops and clinical consultation in Mandarin Chinese.

To learn more about Dora and her practice, please visit https://coc.care/

Loranie Leas, DPsych, is a clinical/health psychologist and Australian Psychology Board Approved Supervisor.   Loranie has enjoyed working across community mental health, corrective services, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings and is currently in private practice in Sydney, Australia.  Her areas of special interest include complex trauma, peri-natal mental health, parenting/families, life transition and adjustment issues and loss and grief issues. 

Loranie is an approved certified Level 3 IFS therapist and consultant and a certified administrator and coder for the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI).   She is particularly passionate about the impact of early significant relationships on child development and adult development. 

Loranie is originally from Cambodia but has called Australia home for the past 37 years. In her free time, she enjoys family gatherings, travelling, being in nature, meditation and martial arts. 

Cath Leith is a Certified IFS Therapist with master’s degrees in social work and teaching. Cath runs a private online practice offering IFS therapy and clinical consultation, based in Australia.  She draws on over 18 years of experience working with individuals, children, families, and communities across government, non-government and private settings in the healing from complex trauma, systemic abuse, and profound marginalisation and relational disconnection.  Cath facilitates nurturing and community building retreats for IFS therapists and has a passion to contribute to the awareness of invisible disability.  She is known for her depth, her warm, compassionate presence, and her sense of playfulness and delight in others. Cath lives by the beach and finds joy in bushwalking, kitesurfing, dancing, playing music, and diving into wilderness and adventure wherever she finds it. 

Samuel is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer based in Toulouse, France. Certified in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR, he draws on more than 15 years of experience in healthcare, psychiatry, and psychotherapeutic support. His practice is deeply informed by his commitment to people living with complex trauma and dissociative disorders, as well as by additional training in CBT and Ericksonian hypnosis.

A former president of an inclusive rugby association, Samuel is strongly committed to valuing diversity and promoting the inclusion of minorities, particularly LGBTQIA+ individuals. These values are reflected in his way of working, which is both human, welcoming, and deeply respectful of each person’s unique path.

He trains and provides therapy in French, Spanish, and English, and enjoys creating lively and warm learning environments where everyone feels invited to grow. His guiding principle:
“In meeting our parts, we learn the inclusion of the world.”

Maria Moskova has a PhD in psychology and have been working in the mental health field for over 25 years. She was introduced to IFS in 2015. In 2019, Maria co-founded IFS Russia.

She lives and works in Moscow, Russia. Maria supervises a lot of beginning IFS therapists and find that IFS approach is very gentle not only for clients but also for therapists.

Charlie is a Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist and corporate wellness consultant.  She partners alongside high performing leaders to help them strike the best balance between work, life and wellness. Charlie has partnered with organizations such as Red Hat, Inc. (a subsidiary of IBM), North Alabama Chapter of The Society for Human Resource Management and the Virginia Anti-Violence Project. She has been regularly featured on WTVR CBS6 providing expertise in the area of emotional health and wellness for Central Virginia residents. Charlie also serves as a board member for  Henrico County Area Mental Health and Disabilities Services Board and the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, both which advocates for persons living and thriving with mental health challenges.

Charlie graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and holds master’s degrees in Social Work and Women and Gender Studies from Eastern Michigan University.   Prior to transitioning into her career as a licensed clinical therapist and consultant, she enjoyed a fulfilling career in higher education for more than 15 years; serving in roles such as the Assistant Director of Education and Training with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Program Coordinator for the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Adjunct Professor with the Department of Women & Gender Studies at Eastern Michigan University. 

Alexis Kamakanoe Ornellas (she her), LPC, Certified IFS Therapist and Approved Consultant, is a truth teller and soul committed to collective liberation and the land back movement.  

She identifies as a mixed race Kānaka maoli (the indigenous peoples of the Hawaiian islands) queer woman in a light skinned body, a mother, a wife, an artist, a dancer, an activist and a person who stutters.  

She has been a psychotherapist  in Colorado on the lands of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho nations since 2010. She started out providing psychotherapy in the mental health industrial complex working with women suffering from severe complex trauma, addiction and systemic oppression.  She entered private practice in 2014 and was introduced to IFS around the same time.  Her private practice, Mana Counseling Services, focuses on  IFS therapy through a social justice and decolonizing lens for therapists, BIPOC and multiracial people, and parents who are committed to stopping the  intergenerational cycle of trauma, along with LPC supervision and IFS consultation through a social justice and decolonizing lens for groups and individuals.  

Her IFS specialties include: decolonizing IFS, IFS for complex trauma, legacy burdens and historical trauma, working with challenging protectors and polarities, IFS and perinatal mental health, IFS for chronic pain/chronic illness, unattached burdens and IFS and spirituality.  You can learn more about her and the work she does here: www.manacounseling.com/

Devorah Hochstadter, MSc is a certified IFS therapist and supervisor, trained in Levels 1, 2, and 3 of the Internal Family Systems model. She has also completed training in IFIO and is a Co-Lead in the IFS trainer community.

Devorah has extensive clinical experience, specializing in trauma, relational wounding, and the therapeutic relationship. She is known for her calm, attuned presence and her ability to support both clients and therapists in accessing Self energy and deep inner connection.

Originally from the U.S., Devorah has lived in Israel for nearly two decades. She offers individual and group consultations, and maintains a global private practice from her home in Ramat Beit Shemesh, where she lives with her husband and eight children.

Hello! I’m Bridge Kiley (she/her), a licensed mental health and certified IFS therapist in the Greater Boston area.

I was named Bridget after the Gaelic term Bríd (meaning Strength) and the Irish Saint Brigid (connected to poetry, healing, care for people and Imbolc - new life and growth). With the nickname Bridge, the qualities represented in my name highlight what I aim to bring to my work and life: care, creativity, tapping into strengths, and connections that facilitate growth, self-compassion and ease.

I offer therapeutic services: this includes weekly therapy, therapy intensives, and consultation for therapists. 

My work aims to support each person connecting to: internal wisdom, needs, community and collective wisdom, and self-compassion in addressing shame, grief and the impact of systemic oppression. Various healing modalities in addition to IFS inform my work: EMDR, Doula birth support, Reiki, contemplative, liberation, LGBTQ+ affirming and Health at Every Size frameworks. My website is: www.bridgekiley.com