The Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Harley Goldberg, DO, as the new Chair of its Board. Harley is director of medical education and a physician executive with The Permanente Group, Northern California Kaiser Permanente. He has served on the Board since the Foundation was activated in August 2013, and will serve in this new capacity for a three-year term. He was appointment by a unanimous approval of his colleague members of the Board and remarks, “What an honor it is to be allowed to meet and work with such high-value friends, on the Board and in the community, while also doing good for the world. To be able to bring IFS into my life, the medical examination room, and organizational development (and to be thinking about IFS in conjunction with empirical research, to boot) is a blessing.” He looks forward to sharing opportunities with the IFS community adding: “There is so much we can do to support the IFS community, and so much need and opportunity to develop applications of the IFS model in the world. The agenda for the Foundation Board is unfolding before us as the IFS universe expands.”
Harley follows Frank Anderson, MD, who served as the first Chair of the Board and who now transitions to Executive Director of Development and Research. Frank, a guest IFS trainer, is a psychiatrist in private practice with a specialty in treating effects of trauma and has developed and presented IFS-related workshops at many conferences and in various settings. As he shifts to his new role, he underscores, “what an honor it has been for me to have served as Chair and worked hard in the Foundation’s start-up phase of development. We accomplished a lot in a very short time. As the Foundation moves into a new phase of growth and expansion, having developed a great team of very talented people, I am looking forward to a new role in which I can engage, along with Toufic and my colleagues and friends on the Board and in the community, in projects which I am very passionate about.”
The Board has also appointed Lester Fagen, JD, and Toufic Hakim, PhD, as its new members and expressed its warm gratitude to Ilina Singh, PhD, who rotated off. In addition, the Board assigned executive leadership roles to Frank and Toufic, who will work collaboratively to manage the Foundation, overseeing respectively (a) development and research; and (b) operations and communications.
A former university professor in physics and engineering and senior research and grants officer, Toufic leads a consulting firm focused on funding, evaluation, and organizational capacity development. Honored and humbled by this formal assignment to serve the Foundation and the larger community, he sees, “this new responsibility as a culmination of efforts I have wholeheartedly provided over the last few years as an active member of this community in support of CSL and the Foundation, both as a volunteer and as a consulting advisor. I am glad that I have the opportunity to give back,” he added, “considering that I discovered through IFS, like many, a healthier view of myself and others. I look forward to continuing this meaningful work with a wonderful group of mindful, peacemaking individuals.”
The Board will be adding three more members within the next few months, after reviewing qualifications and interests of nominees. Members of the community are invited to submit nominations. Please send them to harley@foundationifs.org.
Charter members of the Board (which included, in addition to Frank and Harley, Mark Milton, Nancy Shadick, MD, MPH; and Ilina Singh, PhD) served for an initial two-year term. With the IFS Conference as the starting date, each member will serve a three-year term, twice renewable. Members will serve for staggered terms for a couple of years to ensure the three-year cycle is in place. You may read biographies of each board member here.
“To be able to bring IFS into my life, the medical examination room, and organizational development (and to be thinking about IFS in conjunction with empirical research, to boot) is a blessing.” - Harley Goldberg, DO
The Foundation is pleased to have recruited two of our four Senior Coordinators who, as volunteers, will coordinate and help secure funding for select areas of priority in the development and execution of our missions. Please join the Foundation in extending a warm welcome.
Libby Halstead, MBA, Senior Coordinator for IFS Dissemination and Advocacy Beyond Psychotherapy, has over 15 years experience in strategy implementation, organizational learning, and executive coaching. She works with Change Logic, LLC in Boston, and was formerly a consultant at McKinsey & Co. She designs and implements leadership programs in industries from financial services to healthcare to high tech. A native speaker of French and fluent in German, she previously lived in Europe for 20 years. Libby completed IFS Level II Training and is a past presenter at the IFS Conference. “I am excited to help amplify and provide connectivity as people translate and apply IFS principles to promote peace, human health and development,” says Libby in response to her new position.
Jenn Matheson, Ph.D., LMFT, Senior Coordinator for IFS Research & Expansion within Psychotherapy, led and completed the first phase of the IFS Annotation Project. She runs her own private psychotherapy practice, specializing in grief, loss, and trauma. She also serves as President of the Colorado Association for Marriage and Family Therapists and as Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado-Denver. In her previous role as tenured Associate Professor at Colorado State University, Jenn conducted NIDA-funded research, advised master’s and doctoral research projects, and presented on clinical case study research. “I am dedicated to the advancement of IFS research and spreading the clinical reach of the model across all mental health professions,” she shares about her new role, and “excited to be working in this new capacity with IFS practitioners and researchers.”
Why do you donate to the Foundation?... IFS has changed the way I experience and understand this strange adventure of being human. It has helped me to feel more at home in the world, and more welcome. The idea of parts, the sense that if we come with an open heart and curiosity, we discover that “no wonder” you and I have a part that feels a particular way, and “of course” that would be true - so much is illuminated, so much more feels possible. I’ve come to believe that there is almost nothing we can’t talk about, whether those conversations are occurring within my own relationships, or with the clients I see as a therapist.
No wonder Dick Schwartz is bringing this way of understanding to parts of the world that have been entrenched in old patterns of blame, hostility and aggression. IFS brings a grounded sense of hope and belief that change can actually happen, and then a way to experience that change and healing. When has there ever been a time that the world needs this more? ~ Joan L. Murphy, LMFT, San Diego, CA
The Foundation imparts our sincerest gratitude to all of our donors who helped us reach 122,480 USD in 2015, sparked by an anonymous 25,000 USD donation and another 25,000 USD challenge donation, which the community more than matched.
Join us in appreciating our community by viewing all donors.
You can see a complete list of ways you can support us here. The Foundation is now prepared to accept stocks and in the near future will be able to accept wills, bequests, and large gifts of planes, trains, and automobiles.
Clients who feel appreciation for the healing IFS brings may be inspired to catalyze our efforts in research, scholarships, and dissemination of IFS around the world. IFS practitioners and therapists may download these flyers to place in their offices. You may do so by visiting http://www.foundationifs.org/donate/ways-to-give.
The IFS community is a critical partner in the work of the Foundation for Self Leadership. A few hundred of us gather annually at the IFS Conference, which has played an important role in building this vibrant community. The Conference continues to present a significant oppor- tunity for us, individuals practicing and interested in IFS, to learn from each other about promising applications of the model, and to engage in conversations about strategic ways to broaden and deepen the effects of the model on establishing harmony within our own selves and our clients’, and in our interactions with others. It is within this context that the Foundation chooses to engage with the community in meaningful ways at the annual Conference.
This past year, our involvement grew to what is now called Foundation Friday. For those of you who could not attend the Conference, we’d like to share with you the tremendous success of our debut for Foundation Friday.
The day was planned by Pamela Krause, LCSW, IFS Lead Trainer; Jenn Matheson, PhD, LMFT; and Laura Crandall, M.Ed; and initiated by Frank Anderson, MD, and then-Chair, on behalf of the Board. Jon Schwartz, M.Ed, opened the morning plenary, welcoming the morning presenters.
Frank Anderson informed the audience about the latest developments in IFS and was joined by Nancy Sowell MSW, LICSW, who announced a special and timely declaration regarding the posting of IFS on the U.S. SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). “All of us who have been using IFS for many years have finally received validation for our practice,” said Nancy. “What we have known anecdotally has now become credible. Acknowledgment in the value of IFS by a governing institution with far-reaching impact and the power to open new opportunities is especially sweet.” Please see Nancy’s full statement.
This announcement received emotionally electrifying applause, as you may imagine. This was followed by an overview of the first Foundation-funded PTSD pilot study at the Trauma Center by PI Hilary Hogdon, PhD, and a keynote address by Michael Mithoefer, MD, on the very promising results of his effective MDMA-assisted psychotherapy research and its effects on treating individuals suffering from PTSD.
During lunch on Foundation Friday, the Board recognized three volunteers: Michelle Glass, Grant Leitheiser, LMFT, and Barbara Levine, LICSW, for outstanding volunteer contributions to advancing IFS and strengthening the Foundation’s communi- cation and development efforts, and two associates: Wendy Hrubec, LICSW, for consistent efforts in coordinating and implementing the IFS treatment component of the IFS trauma study, and Mary Mitrovich, for great dedication and diligent effort in support of the Foundation’s financial management activities.
Through Pamela’s efforts, the Foundation organized its first Silent Auction event, to which 34 individuals and the Center for Self Leadership contributed 48 items valued at more than 25,000 USD, and in which a large number of attendees participated throughout the day. Thanks to the generosity of our members, by evenings end, the Silent Auction raised 12,603 USD in support of the strategic priorities of the Foundation. The Foundation offers a not-so-silent shout of thanks to the auction’s coordinating volunteers and acknowledges all contributors. A listing of all donors and contributions, including in-kind contributions for the Silent Auction, can be seen here.
Owing to its great success, this event will be seriously considered to be hosted again at the 2016 Foundation Friday. You are all invited to participate and we hope to see you there. You may be interested to read Foundation Friday’s full report online.
OUTLOOK is an occasional bulletin that the Foundation for Self Leadership will publish to share news relevant to IFS, the IFS community, and developments relating to the Foundation. It is not intended to appear solely and passively in the conventional print mode; rather, it is designed to interface with the Foundation’s social media and online platforms. Nor is it a venue for sending information out; it is envisioned more so as an attempt to generate discussions within the community around issues and ideas of general interest and great impact.
The ultimate purpose of OUTLOOK is to support the Foundation’s mission of promoting the notion and agency of Self leadership. By naming it OUTLOOK, we hope it stands as a reminder that IFS is at once an external as much as an internal peace-seeking model, while holding a far-reaching view of the future.
The Foundation is grateful to Advisor Toufic Hakim, PhD, and Editor Michelle Glass, who play key roles in its production; Sylvia Miller for layout and graphic design; Grant Leitheiser, LMFT, for online content; and Keren Fortier, MSW, LICSW; Kira Freed, MA, LPC; Karen Locke, MA; Laura Taylor, JD; and Casita Wild, MA, for proofreading.
Do you know of any IFS-related news our community would like to know? Do you know of a client eager to share about their transformation? Please share with us such developments or happenings within one of these categories: IFS research, IFS within psychotherapy or programming, and IFS applications beyond psychotherapy. Please complete the online form or send general information in a short email to Michelle Glass at outlook@foundationifs.org. We will reach out to you for additional details or specific guidelines. Thank you for your submissions and helping keep our community apprised of IFS-related endeavors. Editors of OUTLOOK reserve the right to make final decisions regarding content of OUTLOOK.
Founded in the early 1980’s by family therapist and author Richard Schwartz, PhD, Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy suggests that the “inner self” is not a single persona but rather a complex system of distinct parts (thoughts, feelings, and beliefs), each with its own viewpoints, desires and agendas. The main agenda of these parts is to protect us from inner pain generated through developmental and life traumas. The model rejects psychopathology and posits that there is an undamaged Self with healing attributes that is at the core of each individual, even in the presence of extreme behavior.
The model continues to generate growing interest among psychotherapists and practitioners outside the realm of psychotherapy, where it promises a myriad of applications simply as a thought process. Thousands of practitioners have been trained in IFS through a rigorous training program, administered by the Center for Self Leadership; and tens of thousands of therapy clients and workshop attendees have experienced personal transformations through the IFS paradigm. Read more about IFS at FoundationIFS.org.
The Foundation for Self Leadership is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization registered in Illinois, U.S.A. Its mission is to advance IFS research, promote the IFS model far and wide within and beyond psychotherapy, and increase access to IFS trainings through scholarships, especially among groups with limited financial ability.
Board of Directors:
The Board and Foundation are supported by a number of associates and volunteers:
Mary Mitrovich, providing financial management support; Barbara Levine, LICSW, serving as Secretary to the Board; Casita Wild & Michele Bruce serving as part-time administrative staff; Jenn Matheson, PhD, LMFT & Libby Halstead, MBA serving as Senior Coordinators; Grant Leitheiser, LMFT, serving as Website Programmer and Developer; and Michelle Glass serving as Editor of OUTLOOK and as Donor Stewardship Associate.