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 C. Schwartz (Foreword)

Applying somatic principles to the Internal Family Systems model

Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy introduces a new therapeutic modality that blends principles of somatic therapy--like movement, touch, and breathwork--with the traditional tools of the Internal Family Systems framework. Broadening the benefits and applications of the IFS model, author Susan McConnell introduces 5 core practices that mental health professionals can apply to their practice: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement, and attuned touch. Clinical applications include the treatment of depression, trauma, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic illness, and attachment disorders.

Within the IFS framework, clients will learn to identify their "inner worlds"--the discrete subpersonalities within each of us that hold emotions, perceptions, and belief systems, and that affect our behavior and emotional wellness. Body-based somatic tools are incorporated into therapy as patients learn to recognize different facets of their internal family and reconcile the needs of subpersonalities--like their inner child or internal manager--to bring more harmony to their physical and emotional well-being.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Self Help, Counselling, Health, Bodies

306 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2020

Reviews

[Jasmine St. John]

"Although Self energy cannot be located definitively in the body, when it is experienced and anchored in the body it becomes a known and lived experience. Many qualities that describe the state of Self energy, named for those of us who appreciate mnemonic techniques, begin with the letter C. These qualities—clarity, curiosity, courage, compassion, confidence, creativity, calmness, connectedness—are inherent, embodied states."

[Lillian]

If I had read this book when I first started out as a therapist, and when I first started using IFS in my practice, I think much of it would have gone over my head. Over time, as I have gradually shifted my personal and professional focus toward somatic work, I have become much more open and aware of the possibilities available through somatic healing. I'm finding this book to be an excellent support in building the skills needed for integrating body awareness and movement into the healing process. I bought the book a year ago but just started reading it a few weeks ago. I guess the timing is right.

[Morgan Blackledge]

Somewhere between:

Meh 😐

and

Painful 😬

[judy-b. judy-b.]

There's a lot to digest here, and I wish I had encountered these concepts and practices years ago—and especially practitioners who were proficient in them, but these modalities are relatively new.

I would have preferred a different narrator; the author comes across with less authority in her matter-of-fact voice and limited emotional inflection. Also, in audio, the book structure was not grounding. The author would be talking about a patient and then suddenly encapsulated more details in a case study.

[bibliophagy]

this text goes a LOT of places and refers to MANY lineages, making the book feel long, arduous, confusing, and unmoored. the author has some important perspectives to share, but imo this text wasnt a good translation of that knowledge.

[Holl]

Took SO LONG to finish! Not sure how much of this I would use specifically/methodically with clients. Feels jargon-y and would come off as incredibly woo woo to many folks, I think. The general concepts are super important and accessible, though! Yes yes yes to resonance & attuned touch & movement & somatic awareness & breath! Incredible tools! I am a body and amorphous blob of sensations/energies/feelings ~

[Elena]

Way too long but useful information. It’s wild to me that at this point this understanding and framework isn’t mainstream work in our field when touch deprivation and preverbal childhood emotional/touch neglect is so profoundly common and damaging. We’re missing a giant opportunity to help heal our clients and their younger parts through this channel.

[Mark Mattek]

A must-read for therapists who want to show up authentically and unburdened - and also want to help their clients do the same. Soul-nourishing while also providing practical tips to help apply the concepts.

[Sage]

Ok so it turns out this book is more for therapists so I'm not exactly it's target audience but I found it interesting. It was more woowoo than I expected talking abt chakras and elements, but much of it also felt intuitively true to me about movement and being in my body being key to feeling and working through emotions to better be fully alive in the present moment
I've gotta work on shifting from empathy to compassion to avoid caregiver burnout and feeling flooded by others emotions
If the part is using ur body it's a protector if the part is telling it's story in/ thru ur body it's a vulnerable part.
Idk what the implications of introducing touch to psychotherapy will be she makes a good case but I am skeptical due to the history of the field.
The conclusion was kinda wild getting into quantum physics theory about fractals and holograms and the universe all being one really giving dr bronners bottle reading material.

[Sandra]

This is even worse than pretty terrible No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, and in a quite inventive way too.

[Carolyn]

Did not finish. I would have enjoyed this if it were half the length. The information was useful and interesting, but not presented well. Case examples dominated the text, and at times felt incomplete and vague. Psycho education was interspersed with observations and stories in a way that felt confusing to me.

[Justin]

Woo woo with lots of filler

[Alena R]

Wrote a research paper on this modality. There is some great practical advice on bringing in somatic practices into IFS, but it is surrounded with a LOT of nonsensical physics and other assertions about the nature of reality. I've studied physics as part of my engineering degree and I wish people explaining their spiritual theories would just leave quantum mechanics alone.

Here's an example

We are primarily holographic fields of energy and information and secondarily physical beings. [...] The body’s informational field has within it the blueprint for health, theoretically able to heal any disease. We just need to eliminate the blocks. The late Rockefeller University physicist Heinz Pagels, like many other theorists, believed that quantum physics is a kind of code that interconnects everything in the universe, including the physical basis of life itself.

Also, for what it's worth, the earth and the human body's cells do not share the same frequency, as the book claims. They are different by a factor of 1000-10000. Where is this information coming from?

[Alex Sippel]

Although not exactly geared towards non-practicing therapists, I enjoyed learning about the framework of Somatic IFS presented in this book. In particular, I got a lot out of the mix of scientific background on each of the elements of Somatic IFS with the more spiritual / energy body elements. I can see how the practices of Somatic Awareness, Conscious Breathing, Radical Resonance, Mindful Movement, and Attuned Touch can come together to make for a very healing modality. This was clarified and reinforced by the many case studies at the end of each chapter. Reading this has encouraged me to be open to many more body sensations and patterns that might be the result of early developmental difficulties, and has given me tools to explore and unburden/integrate those parts for a more holistic self.

[Ann Parkinson]

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and there were some helpful take aways. I think that there is quite a bit of good information in this book, however it was not always easy to follow especially because at times it was a bit repetitive and a bit vague. The case examples were helpful, even with not being a psychological therapist (I work as a specialist physiotherapist & integrative somatic practitioner). I think that I would have found this book challenging to read if I hadn’t already read No Bad Parts, studied IFS & already have integrated its principles into my work. There were some parts of the book that resonated and it has helped to deepen my understanding of IFS.

[Steph Mecham]

Had to abandon this one. I'm such a fan of IFS and sensorimotor psychotherapy, so I assumed this would naturally be a total hit with me, but I couldn't get over how woo-woo everything was and the lack of citations/scientific evidence for her claims. I'm sorry but humours and the four elements have been debunked. I am such a fan of body-based approaches and I know that science doesn't "know" everything, but I felt like the author was just saying words that sounded fancy without any proof. I want my therapeutic approaches to be credible!

[LaDonna Silva]

This book was introduced to me after I started my IFS journey and when I read this book, it deeply supported my journey with IFS. With a Somatic Psychology background, I felt like Susan's work demonstrated elements of my work and I knew I wanted to learn more! This book is beautifully written and Susan's years of dedication to the mental health field demonstates the depth and brilliance of her work. It's a gem and for anyone wanting to learn about healing through the body, this book is a great read!

[Maggie]

I had to step away from this book bc I need a break from reading about therapy and somatics LOL. overall, I didn't rlly resonate with awareness, breathing, resonance, movement, and touch as a way of looking at somatics and I didn't rlly feel this approach was that different from IFS as it currently is.
but again, I think this is more about my saturation w somatic content

[Bob]

In retrospect, I was looking for a way to bring Gendlin-style Focusing to IFS. This book’s use of “somatic” is broader, and the framework it lays out is more complex than what I want to add to my practice.

[Book Belle]

Great information. Made me want to find an IFS therapist. Just very informational and a lot of it went over my head. I think it was written more for those wanting to be IFS therapists themselves. Not as much for those wanting the therapy themselves.

[Jessica]

It gets a little woo-woo there at the end...I mean I guess you could argue that IFS is inherently a little woo-woo, but this was maybe next level in a way that I just couldn't really connect with. Other than that it was a great book with lots of good nuggets!

[Sherry Rice]

I enjoy somatic work and IFS. I like how they pair together. Just felt like it was repetitious towards the last part of the book. This can be said for a lot of nonfiction books though.

[mmmm]

There were some quite useful things for myself as a practitioner and as a client.

Sometimes the woo came out of left field!

[Katie]

Reading this book was an exercise in persistence.
It’s full of really good information, but for me, presented in a way that made it very difficult to read.

[Candy Sparks]

Nice.

[Ralique]

skimmed

[Kaitlin]

4.5, very dense on Somatic terminology.

[Carol Shaw]

Phenomenal book

It is a wonderful book for anyone, but especially those in the fields of healing. Developing one's embodied self can only improve every aspect of one's life.

[Susannah Anderson]

Pretty science heavy/a bit dry.

[Meghan Emma]

3.75 rounded up! Great book