Presence of Self Scale: A Simple Tool for Assessing Self-Presence

The Presence of Self™Scale is a deceptively simple yet incredibly versatile tool that can be used to detect blended parts in the therapist or client or find and resource inherent but hidden capabilities. This 2-hour workshop introduces the scale, a simple and powerful tool for assessing the client’s or therapist’s Self-energy in real time. Based on basic IFS concepts of protective parts that blend and block Self-energy that is essential for healing. Only minimal IFS background is necessary to start using this tool. More experienced IFS practitioners will find more varied and nuanced applications suitable to their expertise.

Syzygy Model Full Session Demo: Healing Protectors

This 90 minute course is a live demonstration on zoom before an audience of over 60 predominantly EMDR trained mental health professionals who observed and supported a beautiful healing session for Jackie (a mental health professional herself), conducted by Bruce Hersey, a leading figure in the integration of IFS and EMDR, specifically as the originator of the Syzygy Model™, which also incorporates a memory reconsolidation perspective from Coherence Therapy. In this session, he aptly demonstrates and teaches this model as he guides Jackie through a deep healing process focused on a compulsively over-responsible helper part that protects against falling into despair, aloneness and grief experienced with the loss of her sister when they were teens in a dysfunctional alcoholic family system. The session is followed by a rich debrief and Q & A with this informed and astute professional audience. Additional teaching points have been edited in, post recording, for enhanced learning.

Implicit IFS: Direct Access With the Part that Doesn’t Know it’s a Part

In this 3.5 hour workshop Bruce shares various perspectives and tools to help you master Implicit Direct Access so that you can feel confident working with your client’s blended parts. You will learn that Direct Access is not just ‘regular talk therapy’ until you can do IFS, nor is it a less productive alternative to InSight. You may even realize that leaning into Direct Access can sometimes, paradoxically, be more powerful than any other IFS method you know. It consists of a PowerPoint slide presentation with plenty of discussion with the live audience, two video demonstrations (role-plays with therapists-in-consultation playing their client blended with a part) and discussion of the video demonstrations. There is also a spontaneous live demonstration with a workshop participant who is blended with a part and discussing a case that activates this therapist part. During this piece, Bruce effectively demonstrates the approach he is teaching.