Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS)

A new podcast by two Internal Family Systems (IFS) psychotherapists, Alessio Rizzo (he/they) and Jude Carn (she/they) uses the lenses of queering, neuroqueering, queerness and neurodiversity to make IFS more accessible to these marginalised identities and to support therapists in being better allies, supporters and advocates for their diverse clients.

Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a health podcast hosted by Jude Carn, Alessio Rizzo, with 19 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Jude Carn, Alessio Rizzo hosts Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS), a health show with 19 episodes published.

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  Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  Episode 20 - Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Queering Menstrual Cycle Awareness in Therapy

  Sep 28, 20261h 3m

  Queering Menstrual Cycle Awareness in Therapy, with Dr Charlie Ingham and Nancy Bancroft What happens when you bring the cyclical body into the therapy room, without the binaries, the "divine feminine", or the blue liquid? In this episode, Jude and Alessio are joined by clinical psychologists and IFS therapists Dr Charlie Ingham (she/they) and Dr Nancy Bancroft (she/her), who are about to run a training on menstrual cycle awareness for therapists. Together they explore how knowing your cycle can bring more Self-energy, more clarity and more compassion to your inner system, and how to talk about it in a way that includes everyone for whom it's relevant: women, trans and non-binary people with periods, intersex people, and anyone curious about the cycles moving through their body. In this episode: Hormonal literacy, not gender: moving menstrual cycle awareness away from gender essentialism and patronising, feminised language Why therapists might hesitate, and the history of female bodies being dismissed as "hormonal" and left out of research A biology lesson: circadian and infradian rhythms, oestrogen and progesterone, and why we are all cyclical beings Multiplicity of cycles and multiplicity of parts: what menstrual cycle awareness and IFS have in common Premenstrual pain, anger and exhaustion as communication, and as trailheads to what still needs healing Neurodivergence, PMDD and misdiagnosis Capitalism, patriarchy and colonialism in the models therapists were trained in Ancient wisdom that has been lost, not newly discovered How to invite clients into cycle tracking without invalidating their experience A starting point from Charlie: before you begin tracking, drop in and notice which parts show up when you think about this. Guests Dr Charlie Ingham (she/they): Instagram @drcharlieingham Dr Nancy Bancroft (she/her): Instagram @thebodyinmind Website and booking: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/menstrual-cycle-awareness-in-therapy-integrating-science-cyclical-wisdom-tickets-1994237943372 Resources mentioned Her Blood Is Gold by Dr Lara Owen Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer Red School and The Menstruality Podcast If you enjoyed this episode, have a listen to our back catalogue, and like, subscribe and share with a friend. Disclaimer This podcast is hosted by qualified therapists who share personal reflections and professional insights into therapy and mental health. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers or guests and are personal to them. While we talk about therapy, this podcast is not therapy. It's for information, reflection, and conversation only, and should never be considered a substitute for professional mental health support, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapist-client relationship. Some episodes may touch on sensitive topics, so please take care while listening. If you're struggling, we encourage you to reach out to a qualified therapist or mental health professional in your area. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of the hosts. Contacts Alessio Rizzo (He/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist, IFS Trainer with the IFS Institute, and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC): www.therapywithalessio.com Jude Carn (She/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC): www.anchoredinself.co.uk | Instagram @anchored_in_self Sound editing by Forbes Coleman

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  Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  Episode 19 - Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Transitional Justice and Global Voices

  Aug 4, 202659 min

  IFS and Transitional Justice in Syria This episode is unlike any other in the Queering IFS series. Jude and Alessio are joined by Hane Alrustm, a Syrian-Lebanese psychoanalyst, theatre practitioner, and founder of Healing on the Move, currently living in Belgium as a refugee. Hane speaks from profound personal experience: the kidnapping of his father by the Syrian government in 2010, the disappearance and death of 10 to 15 family members over the years that followed, and his own exile through Lebanon to Belgium, a country chosen for him by the United Nations. The conversation centres on transitional justice: what it means for a society emerging from large-scale human rights violations to acknowledge what happened, hold perpetrators accountable, and find a path forward. Hane draws direct parallels with IFS, asking what the model can offer at a collective level when individual therapy is simply not available to 25 million people. The language of IFS, exiles, managers, firefighters, parts and self, maps with striking clarity onto the dynamics of a nation trying to transition without first doing the witnessing. They explore the particular grief of ambiguous loss, families unable to mourn without a body, legal systems that leave the missing suspended in limbo, and the question of how to hold perpetrators humanly without excusing what they did. Hane also names the urgency of inclusion: queer people, women, and those on the margins being left out of Syria's current transition is not just an injustice, it is a structural failure in the healing process itself. 00:00 Introductions 07:00 Hane's personal history and encounter with injustice 14:00 The Syrian Revolution and its global impact 30:00 What is transitional justice? 33:00 IFS language and collective exile 37:00 Ambiguous loss and the families of the disappeared 44:00 Accountability without demonising 47:00 Including all voices in the transition 50:00 The Tadamun massacre and layers of hurt 54:00 What IFS can offer at a collective level Healing on the Move Hane's network of mental health professionals offering companionship to people on the move: healingonthemove.com / Instagram: @healingonthemove Disclaimer This podcast is hosted by qualified therapists who share personal reflections and professional insights into therapy and mental health. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers or guests and are personal to them. While we talk about therapy, this podcast is not therapy. It's for information, reflection, and conversation only, and should never be considered a substitute for professional mental health support, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapist-client relationship. Some episodes may touch on sensitive topics, so please take care while listening. If you're struggling, we encourage you to reach out to a qualified therapist or mental health professional in your area. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of the hosts. Contacts Alessio Rizzo (He/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist, IFS Trainer with the IFS Institute, and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.therapywithalessio.com Jude Carn (She/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.anchoredinself.co.uk Sound editing by Forbes Coleman

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  Episode #18

  Episode 18 - Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Adapting IFS for NeuroQueer Clients

  Jul 7, 202629 minS1

  Adapting IFS for Neuroqueer Clients In this episode, Jude and Alessio open up a conversation they've been circling for a while: what does it actually mean to adapt IFS for neurodivergent and queer clients? Not as a checklist of tweaks, but as something more fundamental. They talk about the difference between changing a slide background colour and genuinely redesigning how the model is taught and held. Alessio shares his experience collaborating on the first neurodivergent-friendly Level 1 IFS training, and reflects on how access fatigue can creep in when a model built for neurotypical brains is simply handed over unchanged. From there the conversation moves into the clinical room: what happens when a therapist mistakes verbal processing for a storytelling part, or cognitive processing time for intellectualising? How do two systems, therapist and client, both trying to do IFS "right," end up getting in each other's way? And what does it mean to stay genuinely curious rather than reaching for a protocol? Jude also names something she feels strongly about: IFS is not a linear march toward exile work. Protectors are not obstacles. All parts matter, and working with them is as valuable as anything else the model offers. This is the first of what will likely be several episodes on this theme. Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction and today's topic 02:30 Why adaptations aren't just add-ons 05:50 Neurodivergent-friendly IFS training 08:00 Mistaking self-expression for parts 11:00 Access fatigue and trying to do IFS right 14:00 The therapeutic relationship as container 17:00 Learning the model before adapting it 21:00 Being self-led in how you meet other systems 23:00 All parts are valid, protectors included 26:00 Grace, practice, and to be continued Disclaimer This podcast is hosted by qualified therapists who share personal reflections and professional insights into therapy and mental health. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers or guests and are personal to them. While we talk about therapy, this podcast is not therapy. It's for information, reflection, and conversation only, and should never be considered a substitute for professional mental health support, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapist-client relationship. Some episodes may touch on sensitive topics, so please take care while listening. If you're struggling, we encourage you to reach out to a qualified therapist or mental health professional in your area. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of the hosts. Contacts Alessio Rizzo (He/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist, IFS Trainer with the IFS Institute, and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.therapywithalessio.com Jude Carn (She/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.anchoredinself.co.uk Sound editing by Forbes Coleman

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  Episode #17

  Episode 17 - Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Queer Joy!

  Jun 9, 202635 minS1

  Queer Joy is an Act of Resistance In this episode, Jude and Alessio explore queer joy - what it is, where it lives, and why it matters. Starting from a poster on a friend's kitchen wall ("queer joy is an act of resistance"), they follow the thread through personal reflection, IFS parts work, and the politics of marginalised identity. They talk about the internal experience of joy as an expression of self-energy, and the protector parts that learn early on that visible joy, particularly joy that doesn't conform to dominant norms, can be dangerous. Alessio shares research from Pink Therapy on queer community engagement and reflects on how homonormativity can recreate the same hierarchies and judgements that queer people face in wider heteronormative society. The conversation moves through neurodivergent joy, and the particular charge of joy that emerges specifically because something has been marginalised. From hand-flapping with a colleague to a trans pin on someone's lapel to RuPaul's Drag Race, they notice how joy can arrive in the smallest, most ordinary moments, and what it means to let it. They close with a question for listeners: what makes you joyful? And what parts might be getting in the way? Watch this space: a guest episode on queer joy is in the making. 00:00 Introduction and what is queer joy? 03:00 Joy as an expression of self-energy 07:00 Homonormativity and the policing of joy 09:00 Neurodivergent joy and the shame of being too much 16:00 Joy as an act of resistance 19:00 Does queer joy require community? 24:00 The smallest moments of queer joy 28:00 IFS, parts, and unlocking exiled joy 30:00 What makes you joyful? Disclaimer This podcast is hosted by qualified therapists who share personal reflections and professional insights into therapy and mental health. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers or guests and are personal to them. While we talk about therapy, this podcast is not therapy. It's for information, reflection, and conversation only, and should never be considered a substitute for professional mental health support, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapist-client relationship. Some episodes may touch on sensitive topics, so please take care while listening. If you're struggling, we encourage you to reach out to a qualified therapist or mental health professional in your area. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of the hosts. Contacts Alessio Rizzo (He/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist, IFS Trainer with the IFS Institute, and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.therapywithalessio.com Jude Carn (She/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) — www.anchoredinself.co.uk Sound editing by Forbes Coleman

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  Episode #16

  Episode 16 - Queering Internal Family Systems (IFS) - Discrimination Burnout

  May 19, 202633 minS1

  Not all discrimination announces itself. Sometimes it's the thing that didn't happen: the job that went to someone else, the room that went quiet, the invitation that never came. In this episode Jude and Alessio look at discrimination burnout, and specifically at how the weight of these non-events accumulates in neurodivergent and queer systems. They explore minority stress theory, the particular exhaustion of hypervigilance, and the way self-blame can move in when there's nothing concrete to point to. Alessio draws on personal experience, and the conversation moves into what it might look like to find ground again, including through writing and advocacy. 00:00 Introduction to Discrimination Burnout 03:03 Defining Discrimination Burnout and Non-Event Stress 07:46 Impact of Non-Event Stress and Unconscious Bias 12:39 Understanding Burnout in Neurodivergent Individuals 17:34 Self-Blame and Minority Stress 22:58 Resilience and Advocacy through Writing 29:32 Conclusion and Call to Action Burnout Vs autistic burnout explained here on Embrace Autism If this resonates, share it! Help us spread awareness and support those who need it. Find us online for more resources. Disclaimer This podcast is hosted by qualified therapists who share personal reflections and professional insights into therapy and mental health. The views expressed are those of the individual speakers or guests and are personal to them. While we talk about therapy, this podcast is not therapy. It’s for information, reflection, and conversation only, and should never be considered a substitute for professional mental health support, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapist-client relationship. Some episodes may touch on sensitive topics, so please take care while listening. If you're struggling, we encourage you to reach out to a qualified therapist or mental health professional in your area. Guest opinions are their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the hosts. Contacts Alessio Rizzo (He/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist, IFS Trainer with the IFS institute, and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) - ⁠⁠⁠ www.therapywithalessio.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Jude Carn (She/They) is a Certified IFS psychotherapist and Approved Clinical Consultant (ACC) with the IFS Institute - ⁠⁠⁠www.anchoredinself.co.uk⁠⁠⁠ Sound editing by Forbes Coleman

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