Somatic IFS · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: Susan McConnell's Somatic IFS as set out in Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement, and Touch in Practice (North Atlantic Books, 2020; German edition Arbor Verlag, 2022), its companion The Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy Workbook (North Atlantic Books, 2025) and the IFS Institute course "Introduction to Somatic IFS" (recorded live 2022). The book's contents list, foreword and introduction (German-edition reading sample), publisher and course descriptions, and a transcript summary of a McConnell talk are drawn on; chapters 2–7 of the book and the workbook exercises are not drawn on. Where this guide gives step-by-step detail beyond those sources it is marked [synthesis] or [uncertain].

Somatic IFS is not a separate therapy but a somatic extension of Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, developed by Susan McConnell, a Senior Trainer of the IFS Institute who has taught IFS since 1997 and practises in Chicago; her background includes physical therapy work, structural bodywork, craniosacral therapy, Hakomi, movement study and Zen practice. [source: IFSI course page; German-edition sample, introduction] It adds five practices to IFS: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement and attuned touch. [source: NAB publisher page; workbook pages]

Core idea of change: parts (subpersonalities) live in and speak through the body, carry burdens of trauma there, and can keep the Self out of the body; the Self has to be embodied to lead the inner system well, and parts without the Self's calming presence become more extreme. Bringing Self-energy into the body, and letting burdens release through breath, sound, movement and touch, changes both the parts and the body. Awareness of the body is itself treated as transformative. [source: German-edition sample, Schwartz foreword and introduction; IFS Talks transcript summary] The end state McConnell names is the "Embodied Self" (title of the book's final chapter). [source: German-edition contents]

Prerequisite: the practices are layered onto IFS, so the clinician needs IFS training first; IFS Institute and affiliated Somatic IFS introductions require IFS Level 1, the IFSI Online Circle or an equivalent introduction, and the introductory workshops state they are not the full Somatic IFS training. [source: IFSI course page; IFS Ireland workshop page]

2. Framework

Structure: practices, not phases. Somatic IFS has no separate phase model. The five practices are described as non-linear and usable in any order, woven into the ordinary IFS sequence. [source: workbook pages] McConnell describes using them alongside the IFS steps (in the transcript summary: finding, focusing, fleshing out, feeling toward, witnessing, unburdening, integrating) and pulling one out when a session gets stuck, a part is blended, or the client is overwhelmed. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] Awareness is the foundation the other four rest on. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]

Book map (one chapter per element). Ch. 1 introduction to Somatic IFS and the practices that lead to the embodied Self; Ch. 2 somatic awareness, "reading the body story"; Ch. 3 conscious breathing, connecting inner and outer worlds; Ch. 4 radical resonance, strengthening relational fields; Ch. 5 mindful movement, restoring flow; Ch. 6 attuned touch, the power of ethical touch; Ch. 7 the embodied Self and embodied inner system. [source: German-edition contents, chapter titles translated in my words] The workbook opens with the therapist's own inner system, then foundations (somatics, embodiment, parts, Self, cultural influences on embodiment), then one chapter per practice. [source: workbook pages]

Working sequence a clinician can use (IFS order with the somatic practices attached) [synthesis built on the sources above]:

Therapist preparation (before and throughout): the therapist's own embodiment and Self-attunement (practices 4.1–4.3). Goal: the therapist's embodied Self-energy is present, since it is treated as part of what heals. [source: German-edition sample introduction; IFS Ireland page]
Stabilisation / body as safe place (only when needed): for clients with severe trauma or relational wounding, McConnell works first to restore a sense of the body as safe and as home before deeper processing. Goal: tolerable body contact. Move on when the client can attend to a sensation without flooding or shutting down. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; criterion is synthesis]
Protector work: find the part through a body trailhead (sensation, symptom, posture, gesture), focus on it, flesh it out, check how the client feels toward it, befriend it and hear its fears. The podcast with McConnell lists the IFS "Six F's" for protectors. [source: Hanson podcast page; IFS Talks transcript summary] Move on when the client feels curious or compassionate toward the part (Self present) and the protector gives permission to approach what it protects [standard IFS logic; uncertain].
Exile work: witnessing the body story, then unburdening, which in Somatic IFS can happen through breathing, sound, movement and touch, often in layers and spontaneously rather than as a planned ritual. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Integration / embodied Self: noticing and consolidating changes in voice, posture, colour, eye contact and spine; other parts may shift on their own; supporting the client to keep healing after sessions end. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; IFS Ireland page]

Session count and format: not specified in any source opened [uncertain]. Somatic IFS is used in individual IFS therapy (the IFSI course includes demonstrations and case consultations) and in groups (the workbook is written for therapists, students, clients and groups). [source: IFSI course page; NetGalley workbook page] Clinicians typically keep their usual IFS frame (weekly individual sessions, open-ended) [synthesis].

Clinical applications named by the publisher: depression, trauma, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic illness and attachment disorders; the PESI course adds working with physical symptoms. [source: NAB publisher page; PESI course page] Physical symptoms are worked with as parts' communications, never as a treatment for the underlying physical disease; medical care continues alongside [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

[source for the section: IFS Talks transcript summary; German-edition sample; workbook pages; IFSI course page; IFS Ireland page; marked otherwise where noted]

Awareness itself is transformative. Invite noticing before any attempt to change; often the body changes by being attended to.
The body is a trailhead. Parts communicate through sensations, symptoms, posture, voice and gesture, so these are entry points to the inner system. [source: PESI course objectives]
Parts can be located in the body and addressed there. Ask where a part is, then relate to that place (an influence McConnell credits to Hakomi). [source: German-edition sample]
Embodiment is the goal of IFS. A Self that is not in the body cannot lead well; aim for embodied Self, not just insight. [source: Schwartz foreword, German-edition sample]
The therapist's own embodied Self is an instrument. Track your own sensations (agitation, headache, fatigue) as possible information about the relationship or the client. Pause and tune in before reacting.
Being with rather than doing to. The therapist accompanies; techniques are not done to the client. [source: workbook pages]
Uncover, do not interpret. The therapist's task shifts from interpreting to helping the client's Self emerge. [source: German-edition sample]
Protectors mean well. Protective parts are often young, overburdened and locked into extreme roles; they need reassurance before they can change. [source: German-edition sample]
Not every body is a safe resource. For people with severe trauma, first make the body a place of safety. McConnell: "for some people, the body is not a safe resource." [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Practices are non-linear tools for getting back on track. Use whichever practice fits when the session stalls, a part blends or the client floods.
Burdens leave through many channels. Breath, sound, movement and touch, not only imagery or words.
Unburdening is often layered and spontaneous. Recognise and acknowledge release as it happens rather than forcing a set ritual.
The steps serve safety, not the reverse. Schwartz's point, quoted by McConnell, is that the steps help people enter an inner system safely; do not mistake the map for the model.
Trauma is also collective. Cultural, ancestral and intergenerational trauma is carried in the body and can be addressed. [source: IFSI course page, module 2]
Interrupted movement holds trauma. Frozen autonomic responses and incomplete movements can be gently witnessed and allowed to complete. [source: IFSI course page, module 3]
Touch is ethical, consent-based and used only when it helps. [source: IFS Ireland page; Ch. 6 title]
Culture shapes embodiment. Expect different meanings of body, touch and expression across clients. [source: workbook pages]
Scope of practice. Use body practices only within your training, licence and local law. [source: IFSI course page disclaimer]

4. Intervention inventory

Scope note: the sources name each practice and its clinical aims, and the transcript describes some in-session moves; the book's and workbook's own numbered exercises are not drawn on, so this inventory cannot reproduce their exact list or sequence [uncertain]. Each item below states what is sourced; step sequences are written to be usable in session and are [synthesis] unless tagged otherwise. Example language is illustrative throughout. General safety for every body practice: the client may stop, open the eyes, or change position at any time; check activation regularly; nothing is required. [synthesis]

A. Therapist preparation

4.1 Exploring the therapist's own inner system

Purpose / when: before using Somatic IFS with clients, and as ongoing practice; the workbook opens here, and the therapist's embodied Self-energy is treated as part of healing. [source: workbook pages; German-edition sample]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Sit comfortably, attend to the body from feet to head without changing anything. (2) Notice a sensation that stands out and ask what part might be there. (3) Get curious about it as you would with a client: how it feels in the body, what it wants you to know. (4) Notice which parts react to bodywork in general (embarrassment, a part that "lives in the head", caretaking parts). (5) Note findings in a journal or bring them to supervision or your own IFS therapy.
Example language (illustrative, self-talk): "What in me tightens when I imagine asking a client to notice their breath?"
Watch for: using client work to meet your own parts' needs; parts that push for technique. Working if you can stay present in your body in sessions with fewer reactive surges.

4.2 Self-attunement pause

Purpose / when: whenever you feel pulled to react (to a client's protector, your own irritation or urgency). McConnell describes pausing to tune in before reacting, which helps her find the vulnerability beneath a protective part. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Notice the pull (urge to fix, argue, rescue). (2) Take one slower breath and feel your seat and feet. (3) Ask your reacting part to give you some room. (4) Look again at the client's protector and wonder what it protects. (5) Respond from there.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's slow down a moment. I'm noticing how strongly this part wants to keep us away from that."
Watch for: your tone softening and the client's protector easing in response; if you cannot unblend, name a pause and seek supervision.

4.3 Tracking the therapist's own body as information

Purpose / when: throughout sessions. McConnell tracks her own agitation, headache or fatigue as possible signals about the relationship or something the client is communicating. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Check your body at session start as a baseline. (2) Note shifts during the session. (3) Hold them as hypotheses, not facts. (4) If useful, use them to guide a curious question to the client, without attributing your sensation to them. (5) After the session, sort what was yours from what was relational.
Example language (illustrative): "I notice things feel heavy in the room right now. What are you noticing inside?"
Watch for: projecting your state onto the client; offer, do not interpret. [synthesis]

B. Somatic awareness (Ch. 2, "reading the body story")

4.4 Tracking the client's body story

Purpose / when: continuously; posture, voice prosody, small movements and unconscious gestures show which parts are active. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Watch without commenting for a while. (2) Note recurring gestures, shifts in breath, posture or voice when certain topics arise. (3) Name one observation tentatively and invite the client's own noticing. (4) Treat what comes as a possible trailhead to a part. (5) Drop it if the client is not interested.
Example language (illustrative): "As you talk about your father, your hand keeps going to your throat. Would you be willing to notice that?"
Watch for: shame at being observed (some parts feel exposed); ask permission before naming. Working when the client becomes curious about the gesture.

4.5 Sensation or symptom as trailhead, and locating the part

Purpose / when: at the start of protector work, or when a client presents with a physical symptom, tension or unexplained body complaint; PESI's course covers using Somatic IFS with physical symptoms. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; PESI course page; German-edition sample (Hakomi influence on locating parts in the body)]
Steps [synthesis following the IFS sequence]: (1) Ask the client to turn attention inward and scan for where the feeling or symptom is most noticeable. (2) Invite description: location, size, shape, temperature, movement, intensity. (3) Ask whether it feels like a part of them. (4) Ask how they feel toward that place or part. (5) If the answer is curious, open or warm, proceed to get to know it; if hostile or afraid, find and work with that reacting part first.
Example language (illustrative): "Where do you feel that worry in your body right now?" / "How do you feel toward that tight place in your belly?"
Watch for: medical symptoms need medical review; work with them as parts' communications only alongside care. Working when the client relates to the sensation rather than being merged with it.

4.6 Communicating with a part through its body location

Purpose / when: once a part is located; McConnell credits Hakomi with the idea of communicating with the body location of a part. [source: German-edition sample]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the client to keep gentle attention on the place. (2) Invite them to ask the part, silently, what it wants them to know. (3) Wait; answers may come as words, images, emotion, movement or a change in sensation. (4) Have the client let the part know they received it. (5) Ask what happens in the body now.
Example language (illustrative): "Just stay with that place in your chest and ask it what it would like you to know. Then wait and see what comes."
Watch for: thinking parts answering instead of the body; gently redirect attention to sensation.

4.7 Helping clients name, describe and convey sensations

Purpose / when: for clients with limited interoceptive vocabulary or who say they feel nothing; a stated workbook aim. [source: workbook pages]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Offer a small menu of sensation words (warm, cool, tight, loose, buzzing, heavy, still) rather than emotion words. (2) Start with neutral or pleasant areas (hands on the chair, feet on the floor). (3) Ask for one word. (4) Reflect it back. (5) Gradually move toward the area linked with distress.
Example language (illustrative): "If your shoulders could pick one word right now, would it be more like tight, heavy, or something else?"
Watch for: pressure to perform; "nothing" or "numb" is valid data and may be a protector (see 4.8).

4.8 Working with parts that fear body awareness

Purpose / when: when a client goes blank, intellectualises, dissociates or refuses to feel the body; named as a workbook topic. [source: workbook pages]
Steps [synthesis following IFS protector logic]: (1) Treat the reluctance as a part, not as resistance. (2) Ask where the client notices it, or how they know it is there. (3) Ask what it fears would happen if they felt the body. (4) Validate its protective intent. (5) Negotiate a small, reversible step (e.g. feeling only the hands for a few seconds) with the right to stop, or agree not to go into the body this session.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like a part of you really doesn't want you to feel your body. What is it worried would happen?"
Watch for: overriding the protector, which raises backlash; respect a "no". Working when the part grants a small permission or softens.

4.9 Recognising and tracking overwhelm

Purpose / when: throughout; a workbook aim is recognising and tracking signs of overwhelm. [source: workbook pages]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Track breath holding, rapid breathing, pallor or flushing, glazed eyes, collapse, frozen posture, fast speech. (2) Pause the content. (3) Orient: feet, seat, room, your voice. (4) Ask the overwhelming part to not flood, or to send only a little of its feeling (standard IFS move [uncertain]). (5) Resume only when the client is back within a workable range.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's pause. Can you feel your feet on the floor? Ask that part if it can give you just a little of what it feels, so you can stay with it."
Watch for: see Section 5 for overwhelm and dissociation.

C. Conscious breathing (Ch. 3, connecting inner and outer worlds)

Contraindications and screening [synthesis]: the practices described are gentle noticing and allowing, not breath intensification. Do not use rapid, forced or prolonged deep breathing within this model. Even gentle breath focus can trigger panic in some clients, especially those with panic disorder, asthma or other respiratory illness, cardiovascular conditions, pregnancy-related breathlessness, a history of suffocation, choking or strangulation trauma, or severe dissociation. Ask about these before breath work and offer an alternative focus (feet, hands, sound in the room).

4.10 Noticing the breath and allowing it to change

Purpose / when: a basic awareness entry, often early in a session. McConnell's example: a client notices shallow, fast breathing; as he watches it, it slows and deepens without instruction. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis built on the example]: (1) Invite attention to the breath without changing it. (2) Ask where the breath moves and where it does not. (3) Ask what the client notices about rhythm and depth. (4) Allow any change; do not instruct. (5) Ask what has changed and whether a part is present in the breath pattern.
Example language (illustrative): "Just notice your breath as it is. No need to change it. What do you notice?"
Watch for: a controlling part trying to breathe "correctly"; reassure that no change is needed. Working when breath settles on its own or a part shows itself.

4.11 Breath for regulation, safety and stability

Purpose / when: when the system needs settling, before approaching difficult material or after it; the IFSI course says breath supports regulation, safety and stability in the body-mind system. [source: IFSI course page, module 1]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the client to feel the support under them. (2) Invite them to let the out-breath be a little longer or softer, if that feels fine. (3) Repeat for several breaths at the client's pace. (4) Ask what shifts. (5) Stop if any part objects or anxiety rises.
Example language (illustrative): "If it feels okay, let the out-breath be a little slower, and notice how the chair holds you."
Watch for: air hunger or dizziness, which means stop and return to normal breathing.

4.12 Breath and sound as unburdening channels

Purpose / when: during unburdening, after a part has been witnessed and is ready to release what it carries; McConnell says burdens may be released through breathing, sound, movement and touch. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the exile whether it is ready to let go of the burden. (2) Ask how it would like to release it; let the part choose. (3) If breath or sound, invite the client to let the burden go out with the breath, or allow a sigh, hum or sound, at whatever volume feels safe. (4) Continue as long as the part wants. (5) Ask what the part would like to take in now that space has opened.
Example language (illustrative): "Ask that young part how it would like to let this go. Some parts like to breathe it out or let a sound carry it."
Watch for: sound escalating into cathartic screaming, which is not described in the sources; keep it at a contained, client-paced level [synthesis]. Working when the client reports lightness, warmth or spaciousness and visible signs of release appear (see 4.23).

D. Radical resonance (Ch. 4, strengthening relational fields)

McConnell renamed her earlier term "somatic resonance" to "radical resonance", from the Latin for root, linking it to the embryological roots of attachment. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] Its stated aims include restoring the Embodied Self, moving from "doing to" to "being with" clients, healing attachment wounds, and supporting healing of individual and collective trauma. [source: workbook pages; IFSI course page] The book's own definition and exercises are not drawn on [uncertain].

4.13 Resonant presence ("being with")

Purpose / when: the relational base of every session, and especially with attachment wounds and young exiles who need to be felt, not fixed. [source: workbook pages]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Settle into your own body (4.2). (2) Let your pace, voice and breathing slow to match what the client can take in. (3) Feel the client's state in yourself without merging (4.3). (4) Reflect what you sense briefly and check it. (5) Help the client's Self offer the same quality of presence to the part.
Example language (illustrative): "I'm here with you. Take whatever time this needs." / "Can you let that part know you're with it too?"
Watch for: your own caretaking part taking over (doing to); the client's Self being replaced by yours. Working when the part shifts from your presence to the client's own.

4.14 Resonance with early or prenatal roots (case-based)

Purpose / when: McConnell describes one case of a man with unexplained physical symptoms: she guided him inward to touch his navel, breathe and imagine forming in the womb; he reimagined his early organism reaching toward the placenta and forming a protective sac, became relaxed, and his symptoms greatly reduced. She linked this to his mother's undisclosed miscarriages as a hypothesis, and said she did not remember exactly why she chose the approach. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] This is a single case, not a protocol [uncertain].
Steps [synthesis, cautious adaptation]: (1) Use only with a client who has interest in such imagery and good Self-access. (2) Frame it as imaginal ("let's imagine"), not as recovering real memories. (3) Invite the client's own hand on the belly or navel (4.19), slow breathing (4.10), and an image of being very small and held. (4) Let the client's system lead the imagery; do not supply content. (5) Close by returning to the adult body in the room and asking what the experience was like.
Example language (illustrative): "If it feels right, rest a hand on your belly and imagine being very, very small and safe. Let your body show you what it needs."
Watch for: suggestibility and false belief about prenatal events or family history; do not confirm hypotheses about the client's history from imagery. Stop with any distress. [synthesis]

4.15 Working with collective, ancestral and intergenerational burdens

Purpose / when: when burdens seem to come from culture, ancestors or family lines (racism, war, migration, oppression); the IFSI course teaches how these are carried in the body and how radical resonance supports healing. [source: IFSI course page, module 2; workbook pages on cultural influences]
Steps [synthesis; standard IFS treats some burdens as legacy burdens, not verified here (uncertain)]: (1) Ask the part how old the burden is, or whether it belongs to it or came from elsewhere. (2) Locate it in the body. (3) Witness its history with resonance, including the cultural context. (4) Ask whether the part wants to return it or release it, and how (breath, sound, movement, touch). (5) Check what the part wants to take in instead.
Example language (illustrative): "Does this heaviness feel like it started with you, or like it was handed down?"
Watch for: the therapist's own cultural parts; acknowledge differences in identity and power openly [synthesis].

E. Mindful movement (Ch. 5, restoring flow)

The IFSI course frames trauma as frozen through interrupted movement and autonomic responses, with mindful movement supporting gradual release of body-held stories and restoring safety, responsiveness and embodied Self-energy; the workbook ties movement to healing developmental trauma. [source: IFSI course page, module 3; workbook pages] Specific movement exercises are not drawn on [uncertain].

4.16 Witnessing and completing interrupted movement

Purpose / when: when a client shows a frozen posture, an aborted gesture (a hand starting to push, a turning away) or reports wanting to run or fight but being unable to. [source: IFSI course page]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Notice the small movement or impulse and invite the client to notice it. (2) Ask whether the part would like to make that movement more fully. (3) Invite it slowly, at a fraction of full speed and force, with eyes open if preferred. (4) Pause often to sense what happens. (5) Close by noticing the body at rest and asking what the part feels now.
Example language (illustrative): "Your hands seem to want to push. If it's okay, let them do that very slowly and see what they want to do."
Watch for: escalation into hitting, kicking or flooding; keep it slow and mindful, which is how the course describes it. Working when the client reports more space, strength or settledness.

4.17 Movement as an unburdening channel

Purpose / when: during unburdening, if the part chooses movement. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the part how it wants to let the burden go. (2) If movement, invite the client to follow the movement that wants to happen (shaking out, stretching, opening the chest). (3) Keep pace slow; you may witness without moving or move alongside if the client wants. (4) Ask when it feels complete. (5) Invite the part to take in a new quality.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your body show how it wants to let this go. You can stop whenever it feels complete."
Watch for: pain, injury, dizziness; offer a seated option.

4.18 Developmental movement for developmental trauma

Purpose / when: named in the workbook as integrating mindful movement into healing developmental trauma. [source: workbook pages] The specific movements are not drawn on [uncertain]; do not improvise named patterns as if from McConnell. A general approach [synthesis]: invite simple, self-paced movements such as reaching, pushing, yielding into support, or curling and uncurling, while the client stays in contact with the young part, and follow with reflection.
Example language (illustrative): "What does that young part need its body to do right now: reach, push or rest?"
Watch for: regression without Self present; keep the adult anchored.

F. Attuned touch (Ch. 6, the power of ethical touch)

Touch in Somatic IFS can be the therapist's, the client's own, or imagined. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] It is consent-based and used only when it helps. [source: IFS Ireland page] Detailed protocols from Ch. 6 and the workbook are not drawn on [uncertain].

Before any therapist touch [synthesis except where tagged]: therapist touch requires specific training in touch and supervision, and a check of what your licence, employer and jurisdiction allow (many do not permit it). Document consent. Consent steps: (1) explain what touch would be, where (non-intimate areas only, e.g. hand, forearm, shoulder, upper back) and why; (2) ask explicitly, and check with protective parts too, since a Self "yes" with a frightened part is not consent; (3) offer no-touch alternatives (self-touch, imagined touch, a cushion); (4) agree a stop signal and make clear stopping needs no explanation; (5) check in during and after. Never touch genitals, breasts, buttocks or inner thighs, never touch for sexual purposes, and never as a reward or under pressure. Avoid touch with clients who are sexually traumatised and not yet stable, actively psychotic, intoxicated, or who have erotic transference, unless you have specialist training and supervision.

4.19 Client's own touch

Purpose / when: the safest touch option; in McConnell's case example the client touched his own navel. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask where in the body the part is. (2) Invite the client, if it feels right, to place their own hand there. (3) Suggest letting the hand bring curiosity or warmth, from Self. (4) Ask what the part notices. (5) Remove the hand slowly and notice the after-effect.
Example language (illustrative): "If it feels okay, rest your hand there and let that part feel that you've arrived."
Watch for: a critical part making touch harsh; check how the client feels toward the part first.

4.20 Imagined touch

Purpose / when: when physical touch is not appropriate or wanted; listed by McConnell as a form of touch. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the part what kind of contact would help (a hand on the back, being held). (2) Ask who it would want it from (the client's Self, a trusted figure). (3) Invite the client to imagine it. (4) Track the body response. (5) Let the part keep the image.
Example language (illustrative): "What kind of touch would feel good to that part, if any? Let it imagine receiving it."
Watch for: if no touch feels safe, honour that.

4.21 Therapist's attuned touch

Purpose / when: to support a part's sense of contact, safety or containment when words and self-touch are not enough, only with the consent steps above. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; IFS Ireland page; steps synthesis]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Complete the consent steps. (2) Agree the exact place and kind of contact (light contact, still, no pressure or massage). (3) Make contact slowly and stay still; follow the client's lead. (4) Check in after a short time and at intervals. (5) Withdraw slowly, then talk through what happened and how the client and parts feel about it, now and at next session.
Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if I put my hand on your shoulder blade? You can say no or stop me at any time, and nothing has to happen."
Watch for: freezing or compliant "yes" (fawning); withdraw if unsure. Deep-tissue or bodywork techniques are not part of the described practice and need separate training and screening. [synthesis]

G. Unburdening and the embodied Self (Ch. 7)

4.22 Asking where the burden is held

Purpose / when: during unburdening. McConnell sometimes asks where the burden is held in the body; when clients can't locate it, she acknowledges the release that is happening instead. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask where the part holds the burden. (2) If located, invite the part to choose its release channel (4.12, 4.17, 4.19). (3) If not, name the change you see. (4) Ask the part what has shifted. (5) Do not push for a full ritual.
Example language (illustrative): "Where in your body does it hold all this?" / "Something seems to be letting go already. What are you noticing?"

4.23 Tracking and consolidating embodied Self

Purpose / when: after unburdening and at session end. When an isolated part is welcomed by Self, the voice, posture, colour, eye contact and spine may change, and other parts may begin to shift. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary]
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Name visible changes neutrally. (2) Invite the client to feel them from the inside. (3) Ask which parts notice the change and how they react. (4) Suggest a small daily check-in with the part in the body. (5) Review at the next session; expect layers.
Example language (illustrative): "Your voice sounds different now. What do you notice in your body?"
Watch for: protectors returning after a large shift (see Section 5).

4.24 Restoring the body as a safe home (for severe trauma)

Purpose / when: before any of the above with clients for whom the body is not a safe resource; McConnell says she works differently with them, first restoring the body as a place of safety and home. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] Exact methods are not drawn on [uncertain].
Steps [synthesis]: (1) Begin outside the body: orient to the room, objects, sounds. (2) Find one neutral or pleasant body spot (often hands or feet). (3) Brief contact, seconds only, then back to orienting. (4) Befriend the parts that fear the body (4.8). (5) Widen gradually over sessions.

5. Handling problems

The sources address only some of these directly (tagged); the rest is synthesis from IFS and general trauma-informed somatic practice, marked [synthesis].

Session stuck, part blended, client overwhelmed. McConnell's response is to bring in one of the five practices to get back on track, for instance shifting from talk to awareness of breath or sensation. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] Concretely: pause the story, ask "what are you noticing in your body right now?", and follow whatever practice fits (4.5, 4.10, 4.16). [synthesis]
"I don't feel anything" / numbness / head-only clients. Treat numbness as a protector (4.8); start with neutral areas and simple sensation words (4.7); accept small gains. Do not push. [synthesis built on workbook aims]
Body is not safe (severe trauma, dissociation). Restore safety first (4.24); keep eyes open, short body contacts, frequent orienting; work with protectors before exiles. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; details synthesis]
Overwhelm or flooding in session. Stop content, orient to the room and the support under the client, slow your own voice and breath, ask the part to step back or send less intensity; finish only when settled; reduce dose next time. [synthesis; 4.9]
Dissociation during body focus. Signs: glazed eyes, delayed responses, sudden flatness. Bring attention outward (name objects, feel the feet, sip water), speak to the part that took the client away with appreciation, and shorten body focus. If dissociation is severe or frequent, screen for a dissociative disorder and slow down, stabilising before any unburdening. [synthesis]
Protector "resistance" to body work. In IFS terms there is no resistance, only protectors with fears. Ask what the protector fears, respect its veto, negotiate a small step or leave the body aside for now. [synthesis; 4.8]
Backlash after unburdening (protectors return, symptoms flare, shame). Expect layers, as McConnell notes unburdening often happens in layers. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary] Welcome the returning protectors, check what frightened them, and revisit. [synthesis]
Non-adherence with between-session practice. Keep homework optional and tiny (a daily moment of checking in with the part in the body); ask which part objects rather than pushing. [synthesis]
Ruptures, including around touch. If a client felt intruded on, under-protected or pressured, stop the technique, name it, take responsibility for your part, and ask what the client's parts need; return to the relationship (4.13) before any further body work. Never resume touch after a rupture without a fresh full consent conversation. [synthesis]
Compliant consent or fawning. A quick "yes" with a frozen body is not consent; check with protective parts, slow down, and default to no-touch options. [synthesis]
Erotic or romantic transference, or the therapist's own attraction. Stop all therapist touch, use only self- or imagined touch, and take it to supervision. [synthesis]
Suggestibility and false belief (imagery of prenatal or early events, ancestral stories). Frame imagery as the part's experience, not historical fact; do not confirm family-history hypotheses from session imagery (see 4.14). [synthesis]
Physical symptoms and chronic illness. Work with symptoms as parts' communications only alongside medical care; never present Somatic IFS as a treatment for physical disease; refer for assessment of new, worsening or unexplained symptoms. [synthesis]
Panic triggered by breath focus. Switch focus to feet, hands or sounds; keep breathing natural; screen in advance (Section 4C). [synthesis]
Cathartic escalation in movement or sound. Slow it down, reduce intensity, return to awareness and resonance; the described practices are mindful and gradual, not cathartic discharge. [source: IFSI course page wording on gradual release; response synthesis]
Suicidality, self-harm or acute crisis. Pause body work and conduct standard risk assessment and safety planning under your service's protocol, including lethal-means counselling (safe storage and removal), before returning to parts work. IFS framing (talking with the part that wants to die) does not replace risk assessment. [synthesis]
Therapist's own parts activated (urgency to heal, fear of the body, discomfort with touch). Use the Self-attunement pause (4.2), track your own body (4.3), and seek supervision or your own Somatic IFS work. [source: IFS Talks transcript summary; workbook pages; response synthesis]
Cultural mismatch around body, touch, eye contact or emotional expression. Ask about the client's meanings before introducing practices, and adapt (e.g. no touch, seated movement, culturally familiar practices). [source: workbook pages on cultural influences; response synthesis]
Practising beyond competence. Introductory workshops are not full Somatic IFS training; remain within your scope and law, and get supervision from a Somatic IFS-trained clinician. [source: IFS Ireland page; IFSI course page disclaimer]

Sources

Sources:

Books cited (main chapters not drawn on):

McConnell, S. (2020). Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement, and Touch in Practice. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. German ed.: Die Somatische Systemische Therapie mit der inneren Familie (trans. P. Frank). Freiburg: Arbor, 2022.
McConnell, S. (2025). The Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy Workbook: Embodied Healing Practices to Transform Trauma. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.

Not drawn on [uncertain]: the book's chapters 2–7 and the workbook's exercises; McConnell's chapter in Sweezy & Ziskind (eds.), Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions (Routledge, 2013), was not located in full; standard IFS steps (Six F's, unburdening sequence) are referenced from the podcast and transcript summaries only, not from Schwartz's texts.

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