IFS and Spirituality Workshop: A Spiritual Care Exploration of Internal Family Systems
Organized by CASC/ACSS (Canadian Association for Spiritual Care / Association canadienne de soins spirituels)
CASC/ACSS is offering a one-day online workshop exploring the intersection of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and spirituality, with particular attention to how spiritual care practitioners engage experiences of non-physical or “spirit” beings. Drawing on the IFS model developed by Richard Schwartz, this workshop introduces participants to IFS’s non-pathologizing framework of Self, parts, and burdens, and to emerging IFS theory and protocols for working with spiritual or non-physical experiences that often sit outside conventional Western clinical models.
The organizers describe this workshop as an opportunity to bridge clinical, psychological, and spiritual perspectives, offering language and practices that respect the deep meaning such experiences hold for many individuals and communities. Through teaching, storytelling, large- and small-group conversation, and shared reflection, participants will explore how IFS engages concepts such as guides, passengers, and unattached burdens, and how these ideas relate to spiritual care, psychospiritual therapy, and diverse religious and cultural traditions. The workshop also invites critical reflection on ethics, cultural humility, scope of practice, and resonance or tension with shamanic and Indigenous-informed worldviews.
The workshop is facilitated by Robyn Dickson, RP, MA, a registered psychotherapist and IFS practitioner with a background in spirituality and counselling, and Marnie Roper, a long-standing CASC/ACSS spiritual care provider with experience in healthcare, community-based spiritual care, and integrative healing practices. A certificate of completion (7 hours) will be provided through the Internal Family Systems Counselling Association (IFSCA).