Martha Sweezy

Powerful skills grounded in internal family systems therapy (IFS), polyvagal theory, and neuroscience to help you navigate your autistic brain, body, and mind. There's a saying: "If you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person." Autistic individuals are as varied and different from one another as non-autistics. The difference is that we are often measured against societal standards we cannot functionally meet. Before we can navigate an ableist world and create the change needed to thrive, we must first understand our unique neurotypes and sensory sensitivities, and learn to feel at home in our autistic bodies. In this groundbreaking book, autistic psychologist Sarah Bergenfield explains how and why autism is an embodied condition of sensory surplus--a conclusion she has reached through personal experience and empirical evidence. Psychotherapist Martha Sweezy joins Bergenfield in offering an adaptation of the internal family systems (IFS) therapy approach, as well as skills grounded in neuroscience and polyvagal theory to help you manage the sensory disorganization caused by an overwhelming world, so you can understand and advocate for your needs and cultivate lasting self-acceptance. Autism is a condition of perceptual diversity--characterized by differences rooted in heightened sensory awareness and intensity, and experienced simultaneously in the body, brain, and mind. Our responses to sensory stimuli, changes in routine, and lack of predictability manifest as the symptoms that others may observe, such as difficulties with communication, socialization, shutdowns, and sensitivities. This book will guide you as you let go of the negative effects of being marginalized, othered, shamed, or stigmatized--so you can reclaim your confidence, live authentically, and flourish.

Rich in clinical examples, this book offers a fresh perspective on the roles of shame and guilt in psychological distress and presents a step-by-step framework for treatment. Martha Sweezy explains how the principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy are ideally suited to helping trauma survivors and other clients who struggle with debilitating shame to understand and heal psychic parts wounded in childhood. Annotated case illustrations show and explain IFS techniques in action. Other useful features include boxed therapeutic exercises, decision trees, and pointers to help therapists avoid or overcome common pitfalls. See also Internal Family Systems Therapy, Second Edition, by Richard C. Schwartz and Martha Sweezy, the authoritative presentation of IFS.

Rich in clinical examples, this book offers a fresh perspective on the roles of shame and guilt in psychological distress and presents a step-by-step framework for treatment. Martha Sweezy explains how the principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy are ideally suited to helping trauma survivors and other clients who struggle with debilitating shame to understand and heal psychic parts wounded in childhood. Annotated case illustrations show and explain IFS techniques in action. Other useful features include boxed therapeutic exercises, decision trees, and pointers to help therapists avoid or overcome common pitfalls. See also Internal Family Systems Therapy, Second Edition, by Richard C. Schwartz and Martha Sweezy, the authoritative presentation of IFS.

So often, addiction is viewed as a disease or an uncontrollable habit that signals a lack of willpower. In Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for Addictions, IFS educator Cece Sykes, IFS author Martha Sweezy, and IFS founder, Richard Schwartz, suggest a paradigm shift. Rather than viewing addiction as a pathology, they propose that it reflects the behavior of polarized, protective parts struggling to manage underlying emotional pain. In this manual, therapists will learn to access their core, compassionate Self and collaborate with clients in befriending protective parts who engage in addictive processes; healing the vulnerable, wounded parts they protect; and restoring balance to their system. Included inside: Experiential exercises to help clients (and therapists) get to know their own parts Guidelines for conducting assessments in an engaging, collaborative way Clear strategies for negotiating internal conflict and navigating polarizations between opposing parts Case examples annotated with step-by-step explanations Downloadable worksheets, handouts, and meditations

You can help even the most conflicted, disconnected couples restore and heal their relationship. IFS Couple Therapy Skills Manual presents clinicians with a powerful, non-pathologizing approach to helping couples better understand themselves, their differences, and the underlying reasons for their suffering. Working from the lens of Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO) - a branch of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy - the authors provide a highly successful therapy that allows couples to feel understood, to decrease shame, and to reestablish loving connections. Inside you'll find: - Step-by-step techniques - Case examples - Experiential exercises - Clear treatment explanations - Downloadable worksheets

Now significantly revised with over 70% new material, this is the authoritative presentation of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, which is taught and practiced around the world. IFS reveals how the subpersonalities or "parts" of each individual's psyche relate to each other like members of a family, and how--just as in a family--polarization among parts can lead to emotional suffering. IFS originator Richard Schwartz and master clinician Martha Sweezy explain core concepts and provide practical guidelines for implementing IFS with clients who are struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, and other behavioral problems. They also address strategies for treating families and couples. IFS therapy is listed in SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. New to This Edition Extensively revised to reflect 25 years of conceptual refinement, expansion of IFS techniques, and a growing evidence base. Chapters on the Self, the body and physical illness, the role of the therapist, specific clinical strategies, and couple therapy. Enhanced clinical utility, with significantly more "how-to" details, case examples, and sample dialogues. Quick-reference boxes summarizing key points, and end-of-chapter summaries. See also Internal Family Systems Therapy for Shame and Guilt, by Martha Sweezy.

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) provides a revolutionary treatment plan for PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders and more. Using a non-pathologizing, accelerated approach -- rooted in neuroscience -- IFS applies inner resources and self-compassion for healing emotional wounding at its core. This new manual offers straight-forward explanations and illustrates a wide variety of applications. Easy to read and highly practical. Step-by-step techniques Annotated case examples Unique meditations Downloadable exercises, worksheets IFS is Evidence-Based Thirty years ago, IFS creator Richard Schwartz, PhD, listened to his clients describing the behaviors and fears of their most extreme parts. He found that the inner world of all his clients was characterized by parts who had a positive intent for the client but had taken on extreme roles in an effort to be safe. He also discovered that these extreme parts would become less disruptive and more cooperative once their concerns were addressed and they felt safer. IFS views psychic multiplicity as the norm: we all have parts. In addition, every part has a good intention for the client, and every part has value. When clients listen to all their parts, they can heal their wounded parts. Today, IFS, which has established a legacy of efficiency and effectiveness in treating many mental health issues, is being heralded by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk as a treatment that all clinicians should know.

Couples in distress enter therapy holding two goals that they now experience as mutually exclusive: to feel loved and to feel understood. Toni Herbine-Blank’s powerful new brand of couple therapy, Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), offers a comprehensive conceptual map for achieving both goals. In a tour de force of elegant case illustrations wrapped around clear instruction, this book shows the IFIO therapist working with the natural subdivisions – or parts – of the human mind in a dyad, guiding and supporting couples to understand how they project childhood injury into current relationships and then, feeling threatened, frustrated and angry, lose track of their underlying needs to feel safe, connected and loved. With a focus on generating internal attachment stability to sustain each partner through the moments when the other is unavailable, couples in IFIO therapy reconnect with their essential needs, change their conversations and learn to make requests that invite rather than threaten in order to get those needs met.

Couples in distress enter therapy holding two goals that they now experience as mutually exclusive: to feel loved and to feel understood. Toni Herbine-Blank’s powerful new brand of couple therapy, Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), offers a comprehensive conceptual map for achieving both goals. In a tour de force of elegant case illustrations wrapped around clear instruction, this book shows the IFIO therapist working with the natural subdivisions – or parts – of the human mind in a dyad, guiding and supporting couples to understand how they project childhood injury into current relationships and then, feeling threatened, frustrated and angry, lose track of their underlying needs to feel safe, connected and loved. With a focus on generating internal attachment stability to sustain each partner through the moments when the other is unavailable, couples in IFIO therapy reconnect with their essential needs, change their conversations and learn to make requests that invite rather than threaten in order to get those needs met.