Explorations in Psychotherapy

The new IFS Couple Therapy (IFIO) Skills Manual - with Martha Sweezy

Explorations in Psychotherapy

Show Notes

Today on Explorations in Psychotherapy, we are joined by Dr. Martha Sweezy. Dr. Sweezy is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, a program consultant and supervisor at Cambridge Health Alliance, and the former assistant director and director of training for the dialectical behavior therapy program at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She is a co-author of multiple books, including Internal Family Systems Therapy; The IFS Skills Training Manual; and Intimacy from the Inside Out: Courage and Compassion in Couple Therapy. She is also an author and the co-editor for Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy and Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions. She has written articles on IFS for the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and the American Journal of Psychotherapy. Most recently she has co-authored, along with Toni Herbine-Blank, the Internal Family Systems Couple Therapy Skills Manual: Healing Relationships with Intimacy from the Inside Out. She has a therapy and consultation practice in Northampton, Massachusetts. INTRO/ LEXI: Today, on Explorations in Psychotherapy, we are joined by Dr. Martha Sweezy. Dr. Sweezy is an assistant professor, part-time, at Harvard Medical School, a program consultant and supervisor at Cambridge Health Alliance, and the former assistant director and director of training for the dialectical behavior therapy program at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She has co-authored several books on IFS, including: 1. the Internal Family Systems Couple Therapy Skills Manual: Healing Relationships with Intimacy from the Inside Out with Toni Herbine-Blank 2. the 2nd Edition of the book Internal Family Systems Therapy with Richard Schwartz 3. the IFS Skills Training Manual with Frank Anderson and Richard Schwartz 4. the book Intimacy from the Inside Out: Courage and Compassion in Couple Therapy with Toni Herbine-Blank and Donna Kerpelman Additionally, she co-authored and co-edited two chapter books on various applications of IFS with Ellen Ziskind: a. Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy b. Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions She has published articles on IFS in the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and the American Journal of Psychotherapy. She has a therapy and consultation practice in Northampton, Massachusetts.

More from Explorations in Psychotherapy

May 23, 2025

This episode is a recording of an open Q&A session with Martha Sweezy. All questions were submitted by participants and focused primarily on Martha’s area of expertise: shame and guilt. We hope you enjoy Martha’s wisdom.

Apr 10, 2025

Today we are welcoming back Cece Sykes. Cece is a senior trainer at the Internal Family Systems Institute with over thirty-five years of clinical experience specializing in recovery from trauma and addiction. Her chapter on addictive processes appears in IFS: Innovations & Elaborations. She is a co-author of the book, Treating Addictive Processes with Internal Family Systems Therapy, published in 2023. Cece also developed the Heart Lessons of the Journey retreat for an on-going study of therapist narratives. She lectures and consults internationally on these and other related subjects. Cece lives and works in the Chicago area. Today, we will be speaking with her about the Nature and Healing of Exiles in IFS therapy.

Jan 26, 2025

In this episode, we welcome Ana Morante, Ann-Katrin Bockmann, and Mary Petro to discuss the topic of Self-led motherhood. They will be sharing several important projects that integrate IFS principles and techniques to help support mothers around the world, including those at various stages of their motherhood journey and those who are parenting under extremely challenging conditions, such as poverty and life in war-torn regions. Here is a link to the project’s website, for those interested in joining this project.

Nov 20, 2024

Today we will be speaking with Joanne about the second edition of her book, Trauma and Dissociation Informed Internal Family Systems: How to Successfully Treat Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders, and asking Joanne some follow-up questions to the interview we did with her two years ago, in November 2022. We find this conversation very interesting and valuable for those using IFS with clients with severe complex trauma. We hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

Oct 30, 2024

Our guest today is Sarah Bergenfield, a Somatic Psychologist, and a Level 3-trained and Certified IFS practitioner, specializing in autism. Sarah holds a master’s degree in embodiment studies and wrote her thesis on autism as an embodied condition that impacts the brain, body, and mind. Sarah is a student in the Applied Neuroscience program at Kings College in London and begins her Ph.D. in Psychology in September at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a wife, mom to three children, and dog mom to Magnus, her assistance dog. Sarah is the co-author of the book, Embodying Autism – Navigating your Autistic Brain, Body, and Mind, written with Martha Sweezey and published next year by New Harbinger. She is an international speaker and educator on the topic of understanding autism as an embodied condition. We will be speaking with Sarah about the nature of autism (Episode Part 1) and (Episode Part 2) how IFS concepts and techniques can be understood through the lens of autism, how IFS therapy can be helpful for autistic clients, and some special considerations to keep in mind when working with autistic clients with IFS. Hope you enjoy the episode and find it useful.

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