‘ Richard Schwartz, PhD ’ ❤️🙏🌍 Self :: compassion, curiosity, clarity, creativity, calm, confidence, courage, and connectedness.
..::“It’s not psychological safety if people can only voice what you want to hear. The goal is not to be comfortable. It’s to create a climate where people can speak up without fear. Psychological safety begins with admitting our own mistakes and welcoming criticism from others.”
~Adam Grant
psychologist, #1 NYT bestselling author
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related: https://hbr.org/2023/02/what-is-psychological-safety
Transformation
When ‘The Self’ becomes the leading intelligence in our lives, we create more harmony—both within ourselves and in our external lives.
Understanding the neuroscience of transformational change, as outlined by Bruce Ecker's "coherence" approach, can help us to make our unconscious beliefs into conscious awareness, and then to pair these beliefs with fresh new experiences that disconfirm or challenge (and hopefully update!) our view of reality.
There are two types of change: incremental change, which is often slow and takes more effort to maintain, and transformational change, which can happen in a moment and is effortless to maintain. Given the benefits of the latter, this video outlines how to facilitate transformational change in our own personal growth work. While transformational change happens in a single moment, that isn't to say it is always easy. We have to be a bit strategic. Why? Because for transformational change to occur, the brain must be gently presented with two very specific sources of information simultaneously. First, what did we learn about reality in the past. (This is called reactivation.) In order to reactivate the schema stored in implicit memory we need to emotionally experience the memories from the past. This emotion is required to become aware of our brain's deepest beliefs about how the world works (our schemas) and to open these neural nets up for rewiring. This is not an easy task since what our brain most fervently believes is often completely unconscious to us. That's why it can be helpful to have an experienced and trusted partner to help facilitate this reactivation process. The second step is to notice examples from our current experience that don't align with the old map of reality that we developed in childhood. This process is called disconfirmation. When a deeply felt schema from our past is juxtaposed along side an updated and disconfirming experience from our present then the brain chooses to rewrite the schema in order to resolve any contradictions. Through updating our outdated beliefs about reality we can alter the behaviors that derive from an old belief system and achieve deep and lasting shift in perception.Internal Family Systems Therapy, Explained. In this video Dr. Tori Olds will share how IFS Therapy understands trauma through the frame of parts work and uses the techniques of unblending from parts to help heal trauma and gain freedom from "emotional flashbacks."
Dr. Tori Olds will also discuss the IFS concept of exile parts and describe the relationship between protectors and exiles.
Dr. Tori Olds will also provide a brief description of the neuroscience of trauma, trauma flashbacks and why traumatic experiences can still feel so present in our bodies, years after the traumatic event. And finally, explain how once we have been able to connect with our "big S self," our "true self" is able to go beyond managing our emotional reactions to actually healing our trauma by caring for our traumatized exile parts.
#toriolds #partswork #ifs #trauma
Part 5: 
• Internal Family Systems: Explained
How IFS therapy helps us to reconnect and care for our wounded inner child. Dr Tori Olds describes how “parts” work helps us to bring about a long-awaited reunion between this inner child and a wiser, more compassionate adult self or “true Self.”
Through gently asking our defenses (protector parts) to step aside, we are able to provide true guidance and care to the young parts of our self that are scared, angry or ashamed but have been exiled from our conscious awareness. When this hurt inner child that we had previously hidden away, senses the presence of our caring adult self, they are finally able to feel safe enough to be seen.
The protector “parts”, also developed in childhood, sensing a wiser, stronger, more capable presence, are able to let go of their defensive strategies for protecting the wounded inner child.
IFS: Internal Family Systems:
The Self is characterized by qualities like the 8 C’s in IFS: compassion, curiosity, clarity, creativity, calm, confidence, courage, and connectedness.
Then, from that state, we can explore and transform our relationships with the parts that were blocking our goals and life vision.
Finally, we are more able to lead personal and work lives from the state of Self-leadership which creates harmony and authenticity in all relationships.
Founder of Internal Family Systems, Richard Schwartz provides a demonstration.The Four Basic Goals of IFS
1. Liberate parts from the roles they’ve been forced into, so they can be who they’re designed to be.
2. Restore trust in the Self and Self-leadership.
3. Reharmonize the inner system.
4. Become more Self-led in your interactions with the world.
~Schwartz, Richard, Ph.D.. No Bad Parts (p. 33).
IFS :: Basic Terms
Self: In IFS, the Self is the core or spiritual center of a person, characterized by qualities like compassion, calmness, curiosity, and clarity. “Self” is the essence of who we are beyond our parts.
Parts: Everyone has different ‘parts’ or sub-personalities, which encompass a range of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. These parts are often developed to protect and manage psychological pain.
Exiles: Are vulnerable, wounded parts, often carrying burdens from traumatic experiences or pain. They are usually hidden away or repressed by other “parts” that are attempting to protect us from experiencing suppressed emotions.
Managers: These parts work to keep the exiles suppressed and maintain a functional level of consciousness and behavior. They are responsible for managing daily life and protecting us from harm.
Firefighters: When an exile’s pain becomes overwhelming, firefighters emerge to distract or soothe us, often through impulsive behaviors like addiction or aggression which can have destructive consequences.
Burden: A burden is a mistaken belief, emotion, body sensation or role that a part carries, which usually originates from past traumatic experience. It can influence how parts operate within the system.
Unblending: This involves supporting parts to separate gently from the Self. It helps us experience that we are not only our parts, but rather have parts, and this allows us to make decisions with more perspective and from a place of greater calm.
Integration: The hope in time is for the greater integration of all parts into the Self, so they can relate harmoniously. This Involves acknowledging, understanding, and healing our exiled parts and their protectors.
The IFS model emphasizes that all parts have positive intentions and that healing comes from understanding and harmonizing these internal families or systems.
8 C’s in IFS: compassion, curiosity, clarity, creativity, calmness, confidence, courage, and connectedness.
IFS Outline:
https://ifs-institute.com/resources/articles/internal-family-systems-model-outline
IFS: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness
Using IFS, 3rd Edition
Understand your psyche in a clear and comprehensive way, and resolve deep-seated emotional issues. Self-Therapy makes the power of a cutting-edge psychotherapy approach accessible to everyone. It is incredibly effective on a wide variety of life issues, such as self-esteem, procrastination, depression, and relationship issues. IFS helps us all to comprehend the complexity of our psyche. Dr. Earley shows how IFS is a complete method for psychological healing that you can use on your own.
Self-Therapy is also helpful for therapists because it presents the IFS model in such detail that it is a manual for the method.
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) has been spreading rapidly across the world.
No Bad Parts w/ Richard Schwartz
This guided meditation, taken from the “IFS and Trauma” video series (available at www.IFSCA.ca and led by Dick Schwartz invites you to calmly get to know the protective parts of your own system.
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DEMYSTIFYING THE INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS MODEL
Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., shares ways to use Internal Family Systems to better understand yourself, heal your emotional afflictions, and embody your core self. To read more about Dr. Schwartz and peruse the full show notes, go here 👉🏾https://www.richroll.com/podcast/richard-schwartz-761/ ✌🏼🌱 – Rich Roll
Dick Schwartz: IFS and Trauma
8 C’s in IFS:
compassion, curiosity, clarity, creativity, calm, confidence, courage, and connectedness
IFS 6 Fs:
Find, Focus, Flesh it out, Feel, beFriend and Fear
IFS 5 Ps:
Presence. Patience. Perspective. Persistence. Playfulness.
5 F’s of Trauma:
responses are fight, flight, freeze, fawn, fine, and faint.
Six principles of trauma-informed care: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice and choice; and cultural issues.
https://justmind.org/internal-family-systems-model/
Internal Family Systems Model Outline
https://ifs-institute.com/resources/articles/internal-family-systems-model-outline
Exiles and Unburdening
The Art and Neuroscience of Transformational Change: Dr Tori Olds
Bruce Ecker’s mentor was Dr. Robert Shaw, MD, who was very influenced by Werner Erhard. 🙏
I consider this work ontological fundamentally. Blessings
Dr. David Kamnitzer, DC
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
“Release the grip of self-doubt;
you are not the enemy you fear.
Embrace your complexities, your parts—they’re all pieces of the same inherently calm human.
Schema Therapy and Coherence Therapy:
interview with Pierre Cousineau
How Our Schools Thwart Passions
Peter Gray | TEDxAsburyPark
“Carl Jung speaks to the necessity of withdrawing our projections from a historical or external (“chosen one”) figure (Jesus, in this case) if we are to discover experientially the “Christ within,” or the Self. Carl Jung writes, “The Self (or Christ) is present in everybody a priori, but as a rule in an unconscious condition to begin with. But it is a definite experience of later life, when this fact becomes conscious within (Sef-Empathy). It is only real when it happens, and it can happen only when you withdraw your projections from an ( extrensic ) outward historical or metaphysical Christ and thus wake up Christ within.” (CW:18:par.1638) If Christ remains outside us, either as an example of an ideal or as an external object of worship only, the deeper levels of the soul are never engaged. The result is that religion and religious practice may deteriorate into adherence to rational dogma and trying to follow a set of external rules.
Question to AI: What are “The laws of Chaos” about in ACIM?
AI: You are right to point out that while A Course in Miracles does not specifically talk about concrete “laws of chaos” in the way we might traditionally think of them, it does describe a system of principles (belief systems) that tend to promote and govern the experience of illusions.
Here’s how you could think about it:
The Illusion of Separation:
This is the foundational illusion, the bedrock upon which all other illusions are built. It’s the belief that we are separate individuals, distinct from each other and from God. This separation leads to fear, guilt, and a constant struggle for survival and validation.
ACIM emphasizes that we are all part of a unified, loving God. However, we experience a “sense of separation” due to our belief in a separate self. This “separation creates the illusion” of chaos, pain, and conflict.
The Ego’s Role: The ego, the part of us that identifies with the separate self, uses fear, judgment, and guilt to maintain the illusion of separation. This can lead to chaotic experiences in our lives.
The Process of Healing:
The process of healing involves letting go of the ego’s false beliefs and returning to the awareness of our true, loving nature. This process can feel chaotic at times, as we release old patterns and embrace new ways of being.
The Power of Forgiveness: Forgiveness is central to healing and transcending chaos. By forgiving ourselves and others, we release the anger, resentment, and fear that perpetuate the illusion of separation.
While it may seem like chaos and uncertainty are constant, ACIM offers a different perspective. It suggests that these experiences are opportunities for spiritual growth and a chance to choose love over fear.
The Laws of Perception:
The ego, which thrives on separation, operates through a system of distorted perceptions. It interprets everything through the lens of fear and judgment, creating a world of scarcity, competition, and conflict. This distorted perception is what makes the world seem chaotic and unpredictable.
The Law of Attraction:
This isn’t the “law of attraction” as you might find in New Age teachings. In ACIM, it operates on a more subtle level. The ego attracts experiences that reinforce its belief in separation. So, if you believe you’re unworthy, you’ll attract experiences that confirm that belief.
The Law of Projection:
We project our own fears and insecurities onto others, and this creates a mirror image of our own inner chaos. This is why we often see in others what we don’t want to see in ourselves.
The Law of Karma:
While ACIM doesn’t directly use the term karma, it speaks of a cyclical nature to our experiences. We create our own suffering through our choices and beliefs, which then lead to more suffering. This creates a cycle that can feel like inescapable chaos.
The “laws of chaos” (illusions of projection)
In ACIM, then, are not laws in the sense of fixed rules, but rather principles (mistaken beliefs) that describe the way our minds create and maintain the illusion of a chaotic world.
Here’s a way to think about it:
Imagine a projector showing a distorted image on a screen. The projector represents the ego, and the distorted image represents the chaotic world we experience. The “laws of chaos” are the principles that govern how the projector works, creating the illusion of a chaotic reality.
The good news is that we can choose to shift our perception and break free from these illusory “laws.” By learning to forgive ourselves and others, by letting go of the ego’s grip, and by choosing love over fear, we can experience the true nature of reality, which is one of peace, harmony, and unity.
Do you want to explore any of these “laws” in more detail? For example, we could look at how the law of projection leads to conflict and how forgiveness can break that cycle.
..::” Many years ago, someone I consider a good friend tried to corner me on this issue. Referring to the far-right in Israel I had used the term “Nazi”. He violently disagreed with the use of the term, even though he conceded that these particular people were genocidal – they were calling for the extermination of Palestinians. “The term “Nazi” should be a synonym for “Jew killer”” was what his argument boiled down to (in fact I think that’s a direct quote from that discussion). –
The problem here is one of history as well as theory. From a historical perspective it’s not clear to me that the killing of as many as 7 million people (mostly, but not exclusively, of the Jewish faith) is more worthy of recognition than the killing of 10 million people in the Congo or the killing of 100 million people in India. The common thread is that all of these atrocities were committed by Europeans – Germans, Belgians and British Europeans to be precise. The Holocaust is one of many terrible atrocities that one could cite by way of analogy when faced with a current example of a militarised population murdering civilians. –
Out of all of these examples, only the Holocaust has been universally recognised in our culture as an act of unspeakable evil. If I write a science fiction book about a guy who comes to power and starts killing people, I don’t compare my character to King Leopold or Winston Churchill (though those would be perfectly reasonable analogies). If I want to explain to someone in an instant that my character is a very bad person, I compare him to Hitler. –
If you ask anyone – even someone as thick as Konstantin Kisin seems to be in this interview – what was bad about the Nazis, they’ll have the right answer. The Nazi engaged in the systemic oppression and murder of entire categories of people (Jews, Socialists, Romani, queer people, etc). They not only committed those atrocities, they declared their intent to “rid Europe of its Jews” to paraphrase some of the language of the “Final Solution”. So when we have similar language from Israeli officials – “We will eliminate everything”, “Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live.” – not to mention the killing of tens of thousands of women and children, is it not time to make the obvious analogy without fear? –
Ultimately those who argue for the sacrosanct status of the Holocaust are guilty of creating the circumstances by which the Holocaust can be repeated. Is the lesson from the Holocaust a particular lesson or a universal one? Does it only apply to European Jews who were living in Europe in the 1930s and 40s? If so, then there is no lesson of the Holocaust. The exact circumstances of 1930s Europe will never be repeated; therefore there’s nothing to learn from the holocaust if you believe that all of those circumstances must be in place in order to justify an analogy. –
The only way in which there is anything to learn from the Holocaust is if we take it as a universal principle – no group should be targeted and killed just because they are members of that group. The universality of the Holocaust underlies the entire human rights framework (which was largely written in response to the Holocaust). The group in question doesn’t matter – those who have devoted their lives to human rights often cite atrocities committed against Armenians and people from East Timor as some of the worst atrocities ever. Both of those groups happen to be Christians who were persecuted by Muslims. So the cries of antisemitism make no sense either – those who are fighting against genocide fight against all of them, especially those that their own government is complicit in. –
..::” If we do not universalise the lessons from the Holocaust, if we accept that there’s something that’s sacrosanct about it, what is that thing that is sacrosanct? It’s not the number of people killed – those numbers have been exceeded in Africa and in Asia. Is it the religion of those who were murdered? Given the long history of antisemitism in Europe that seems unlikely. So what is it that gives the Holocaust this unique status? –
I don’t have an answer to this question, but I do have a guess. I fear that what makes the Holocaust against European Jews sacrosanct is the fact that they were European. African and Asian genocides don’t have the right sort of victims. Black people dying we can live with, but white people dying? Never Again (repeated over and over, and repeated by the exact same people who are simultaneously justifying the murder of thousands of Palestinian children). –
The preoccupation with one particular genocide above all others may or may not be due to racism. But it is a preoccupation that does exist. We make (mediocre) movies about escaping the Nazis, we write (and read) novels about the Nazis, and so on. It’s the one example of genocide that firmly ensconced in the public imagination. Those of us who are actually in favour of universal human rights have an obligation to use this example – the only example that the public really gets – as part of our effort to end the current genocide. –
Bassem Youssef was essentially asked what he would do if he was put in the situation of being in charge of an ongoing genocidal occupation. His answer is absolutely the right one – he would end that occupation and the genocide. But in order to get this point through the thick heads of those who seem intent on insisting that this war is like any other, we should not shy away from historical analogies, including the analogy to World War 2 when appropriate. ***
Sameer Dossani is co-director of Peace Vigil, an organisation dedicated to Peace Education. They are online at: PeaceVigil.net
..::” What is the meaning of the ACIM quote: “Every accusation is a confession”
AI Answer:
The phrase “every accusation is a confession” is a powerful statement from A Course in Miracles (ACIM). It speaks to the underlying dynamics of projection, judgment, and the nature of our true Self. Here’s a breakdown of its meaning within the framework of ACIM.
Key Concepts:
The Illusion of Separation: ACIM teaches that the perceived separation between the Self and the world, including other people, is an illusion. We are all part of a unified field of consciousness, and any perceived differences are merely projections of our own minds.
Projection:
When we judge or accuse others, we are actually projecting our own unacknowledged thoughts, feelings, and beliefs onto them. We see in others what we are unwilling to see in ourselves.
The Ego’s Defense Mechanism:
The ego, ACIM’s term for the part of our mind that operates from fear and separation, uses projection as a defense mechanism to protect itself from facing its own darkness. By blaming others, we avoid taking responsibility for our own shortcomings.
How “Every Accusation is a Confession”Applies:
Self-Knowledge:
When we accuse someone, we are unwittingly revealing a hidden aspect of ourselves. The accusation is a confession of our own internal state.
Example:
If we accuse someone of being selfish, we might be unconsciously projecting our own sense of selfishness onto them. Deep down, we may be afraid of being seen as selfish ourselves, so we project it onto others.
Shifting Perspective:
Recognizing this principle can be a powerful catalyst for self-awareness. Instead of focusing on the perceived faults of others, we can use accusations as an opportunity to look inward and examine our own beliefs and motivations.
The Path to Healing:
ACIM encourages us to move beyond the ego’s defenses and embrace the truth of our unity with all beings. By recognizing the projections we make, we can begin to heal our own wounds and release the judgments that keep us trapped in the illusion of separation.
In essence, “every accusation is a confession” is a call to self-reflection and self-awareness. It reminds us that the path to true peace and understanding lies in confronting our own darkness and extending forgiveness to ourselves and others.