08/26/2025
In my experience, the deeper I go into my own system and those of my clients, the more undeniable the presence of the spiritual element of healing is…Sounds very good to me.
Experience The Spirituality of IFS, taught by IFS Founder Dick Schwartz
A few years back, I approached IFS founder Dick Schwartz to see if he’d be willing to teach a class with me about spirituality beyond spiritual bypassing. He was hesitant. “I’m no guru,” he said, explaining that he’d been raised an atheist by an academic family. I told him I wouldn’t want to co-teach with a guru, but that it was my direct experience that decade-long daily practice of Internal Family Systems (IFS) was a sacred spiritual experience, whether someone believed in it, or not.
Dick reluctantly agreed to co-teach with me, and we had quite a spirited time together with several hundred students.
So I was delighted when my mentor Dick and my publisher Sounds True both reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to share the news that Dick is teaching his own course with Sounds True The Spirituality Of IFS: A Practice-Based Journey To Your Sacred Self.
It’s hard for me to recommend most spiritual teachers these days, since so many of them teach spiritual bypassing and lack trauma-informed awareness, and so many of them have been revealed to be predators who abuse their power.
But Dick has been one of my most stalwart mentors, and I imagine this class will be a wonderful antidote for those on a spiritual bypassing recovery journey, looking for an off ramp from misguided spiritual teachings but still wanting to stay in touch with the sacred.
I asked Dick what I should share with you about why this course will be so special, and here’s what he shared with me.
Now, for the first time, Dick has decided to share with the wider public the most exciting revelation in IFS therapy since its creation. That …
His clinical experiences have consistently revealed undeniable spiritual healing phenomena that cannot be explained by conventional science.
Intrigued?
In this immersive 10-week experience, you'll explore:
-Dr. Schwartz's eye-opening journey from skeptical rationalist to spiritually receptive scientist convinced by the firsthand evidence
-The reality of helpful guides and ancestor spirits - Their regular appearance in client-therapist sessions, their relationship to Self, the verifiable information and guidance they bring, and how to work with them
-Why the core Self is more than just a psychological state - How it connects all of us to the Greater Consciousness, Divine, or God of the world's wisdom traditions
-Accessing the energy of Self to heal and restore ourselves and others physically, emotionally, and spiritually
-Unattached burdens - Experiences described across spiritual traditions as harmful external energies, and how to engage Self-energy to protect ourselves
-Striking parallels between IFS therapy and shamanic and psychedelic journeys, and how to integrate their methods to heal and more fully connect with Self
-Using IFS with traditional spiritual practices - Which meditations and contemplative techniques can impede IFS work and which ones can support it
-Intergenerational and cultural burdens and traumas - How they are passed from parent to child—and even throughout entire societies—and how we can invite the restorative presence of Self together
-An in-depth, practice-based program with eight immersive guided exercises to allow you to experience the spiritual facets of IFS for yourself
This online course also includes a live Q&A session with Richard Schwartz on October 21, 2025.
If you’re interested in deepening your spiritual journey without bypassing your trauma or suppressing your parts, check in with your inner world. Maybe this would help support you.
If you get a maybe or a yes, I'll post the link to learn more in the comments below.
