Foundations of IFS-Informed EMDR

This special episode was recorded in front of a live audience. Heather and David Polidi host an incredible group of contributors to IFS Informed EMDR: Creative and Collaborative Approaches. We explored the foundational sections of the book. In this gathering we expressed our thoughts on healing, and how it is not a technique. Instead, it begins with awareness and with a relationship.

Each contributor reflected on their chapter, and what stood out for them. In the introduction, David hoped to convey how everyone can healing their trauma wounds, no matter how much suffering someone carries. There is an inner wisdom that knows how to move toward healing when the right relational space is created. Our role as therapists is to help create that space. 

Zandra Bamford shared how impacted she has been through by IFS and its non-pathologizing nature. Particularly, Zandra felt it was a very gentle model to understand protectors. Then, we discussed the foundations of combining the two models in a unified way. 

Integration becomes a way of holding multiple perspectives at once. A key shift that emerges in IFS informed EMDR is focusing on "parts" as the true focus of healing, rather than memory networks. "Parts" hold pain, parts and organize around protection. As we deepen relationships with these parts, we can offer EMDR, and bilateral stimulation, to unburden these parts. 

Annabel McGoldrick emphasized how IFS invites us to stay aware of our own parts, our assumptions, and our internal responses as we sit with another. This awareness becomes part of the healing field itself.

Bruce Hersey articulated the Syzygy model, which integrates EMDR, IFS, and Coherence Therapy. Bruce shared that instead of calling this work "parts work" he understands it as "Self work." Recognizing the importance of Self in the system, opens up a new way to appreciate necessary elements of dual awareness.

Michelle Richardson expanded Syzygy's “Discovery” phase, and how valuable this is when working with highly protective systems. Peggy Kolodny’s shared how the integration of art, somatics, and Jungian active imagination, can also add so much to these trauma healing models.

What emerges is not just a model, but a way of being. A way of practicing therapy that is slower, more relational, and deeply respectful of the complexity of the human system.

Bruce Hersey Website: https://www.brucehersey.com Syzygy Institute: https://www.syzygyinstitute.com Bruce Hersey is a leading voice in the integration of EMDR and Internal Family Systems and co-founder of the Syzygy Institute. He is an EMDRIA-approved consultant and an IFS Approved Clinical Consultant who has presented internationally on IFS-informed EMDR integration. His work focuses on using multiple therapeutic lenses simultaneously to deepen trauma healing and reconsolidation processes.

Annabel McGoldrick Website: https://mindfulsoulwellbeing.com/michelle-richardson/ Michelle Richardson is an EMDRIA-approved consultant, IFS-certified therapist, and co-founder of the Syzygy Institute. She specializes in complex trauma, dissociation, and attachment wounds, and is known for her work on the “Discovery” phase, helping therapists navigate highly protective and blended systems with clarity and compassion.

Peggy Kolodny Peggy Kolodny is a licensed, board-certified art psychotherapist specializing in trauma treatment and the integration of EMDR, IFS, and expressive therapies. With decades of experience, she brings a unique perspective that incorporates somatic, symbolic, and creative processes into trauma healing, helping clients access nonverbal pathways to integration.

Zandra Bamford Website: https://therapynorthwest.org/about/ Zandra Bamford is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and IFS Clinical Consultant with over 20 years of experience in complex trauma. She is the founder of Therapy North West and is known for her work in non-pathologizing approaches to mental health, bringing compassion, somatic awareness, and deep respect for protective systems into her clinical work.

Heather Polidi (co-host) Co-creator of Empowered Through Compassion, Heather brings a grounded, relational presence to the podcast and contributes to shaping the therapeutic and conversational space.

Empowered Through Compassion is a podcast where conversations about trauma healing meet the crossroads of Internal Family Systems, EMDR, and Motivational Interviewing. Through dialogue with leading voices in the field, we explore how compassion, connection, and relational presence can transform the way we understand and heal trauma.

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