Integrating EMDR and IFS: Why they’re game changers for self understanding and growth

February 29, 2024

I was always so excited to learn more and eventually get trained in EMDR after my first supervisor in undergrad offered to show me an exercise and explained to me the power she had seen it do for her clients who had experienced a variety of trauma. Once I started the tapping (otherwise known as Bilateral Stimulation in EMDR lingo), I knew I had reached a new sense of consciousness within myself that opened up a whole new perspective of myself in general.

After completing my EMDR training in 2021, I knew that this was what I was meant to do. These sessions left such an impact on me by seeing the impact and state of change that my clients went through, whether it was a slow burn or a total change of heart to how they had viewed themselves. To no longer be confined by their past opened up a future of so much peace and hope. It’s a true honor to be a part of that journey.

As I was working towards my EMDR certification, my supervisor discussed an additional lens to add to trauma work with IFS - Internal Family Systems. This involves looking inwards from a systems perspective, meaning that you are not one entity, but a system of working parts that orbit the core self. Opening up pathways of curiosity and compassion, gaining a better understanding of the relationships these parts have with each other and their origin stories, I have seen countless clients get past internal roadblocks that they have for decades.

It’s been a beautiful and organic combination to combine these modalities for the majority of the clients I work with, whether they have a chronic trauma history or not. I can’t wait to see the stories and transformations that will continue to transpire this year.