This episode explores how Internal Family Systems work can shift when practiced in a group rather than only one-on-one. It is for women who have benefited from individual IFS therapy and are curious about what becomes possible in a collective setting. Through a conversation with IFS trainer Chris Burris, the episode examines community, healing circles, and the relational nature of trauma. The discussion highlights why some patterns can only fully surface and heal in a relationship.
In this episode, we explore:
- Why modern healing has become overly individualized
- How IFS healing circles differ from individual therapy
- The role of community in resolving relational trauma
- What sculpting is and why it is central to group IFS work
- How safety, conflict, and truth-telling support deeper healing
Key takeaways
- Some parts only fully emerge in the presence of other people
- Group work can access relational wounds that individual therapy cannot
- Healing circles emphasize participation, vulnerability, and shared responsibility
- Conflict, when held skillfully, strengthens trust and cohesion
- Community itself can be a corrective healing experience
Resources mentioned
- Chris Burris
- Free Guide: 7 Hidden Ways Your Unresolved Wounds Are Sabotaging Your Business
Episode FAQs
How is IFS group work different from individual IFS therapy?
Group work allows relational parts to emerge in real time, offering opportunities for healing that cannot occur in one-on-one settings alone.
What is sculpting in IFS group work?
Sculpting is an experiential process where group members embody different parts of a person’s system, making internal dynamics visible and embodied.
Who benefits most from IFS healing circles?
People working with social anxiety, relational trauma, belonging, or voice often find group work especially supportive.
Is group work a replacement for individual therapy?
No. The episode emphasizes that individual and group work serve different purposes and can be complementary.
What role does community play in healing?
Community can provide the safety, witnessing, and relational repair that many people lacked during formative experiences.
Read the Full Transcript
This episode features a conversation with Internal Family Systems trainer Chris Burris about the power of group-based healing work. While individual therapy is deeply valuable, the discussion focuses on what becomes available when healing happens in community.
Chris shares the origins of his work with healing circles, including a formative dream that clarified his life’s contribution. In the dream, he was serving healing circles to people in a communal setting, highlighting the timeless role of circles as spaces without hierarchy where wisdom can emerge collectively.
The conversation explores how modern Western culture has emphasized individual therapy while largely losing structured forms of group healing. While individual work helps people understand their internal systems, it does not always address the relational wounds that form in the absence of safe community.
Group IFS work allows parts to emerge in real time. Social anxiety, people-pleasing, fear of rejection, and hypervigilance often do not appear in one-on-one sessions but surface immediately in groups. This creates an opportunity to work with these parts directly, rather than retrospectively.
A central element of group work discussed is sculpting. Sculpting is an experiential process where group members physically represent parts of a person’s system. This allows participants to see relational dynamics, trauma fields, and Self-energy in three-dimensional space. For many, this creates shifts that feel deeper and more embodied than talk-based therapy.
The episode also addresses the importance of the critic-observer role and how staying in judgment prevents vulnerability and connection. Healing circles require everyone—including facilitators—to participate as full members rather than observers.
Chris outlines the natural stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Conflict is not a failure of group process but an essential stage that, when handled skillfully, deepens trust and cohesion.
The discussion emphasizes that community itself can be reparative. Many wounds formed in isolation, neglect, or abandonment. Being witnessed, supported, and cared for by multiple people can dissolve long-held beliefs such as “people are dangerous” or “I am alone.”
Group work does not replace individual therapy. Instead, the two can complement each other. Individual work may be best for addressing specific trauma events, while group work supports relational healing and belonging.
The episode closes with reflections on pacing, listening to inner guidance, and honoring different seasons of healing. There is no single right path—only the one that aligns with capacity, needs, and readiness.
