Can we combine IFS and EMDR in the same intensive?

Absolutely. In fact, they complement each other beautifully. One example is that we can use IFS parts work to help your internal protectors feel safe and consenting before using EMDR to process heavy traumatic memories. This dual approach ensures your system never feels forced or overwhelmed.

Where do IFS intensives take place?

We offer our custom intensives in person at our private, comfortable offices in Atlanta (Buckhead) and Alpharetta, providing a quiet, safe sanctuary for your deep internal work.

Do you offer IFS Intensives online for people in the State of Georgia?

While our primary, immersive intensive programs take place in our private Atlanta suite, we do offer virtual IFS intensives for residents living anywhere in the state of Georgia. Online IFS intensives use secure, HIPAA-compliant video software and specialized visual/auditory bilateral stimulation tools to ensure the experience is just as safe and effective as an in-person intensive.

IFS Intensives in Atlanta

Learn How we Achieve Deep Healing with IFS Intensives in Buckhead and Alpharetta

What is IFS?

IFS stands for Internal Family Systems, which is a type of parts work that is used in therapy. There are many different frameworks for doing parts work, and IFS is a popular and robust one. In IFS, we observe that all people have different 'parts' of themselves that run certain aspects of their lives, show up in certain ways, or have a certain role they play in our inner world. Examples of common parts that people have or recognize are a 'perfectionist part' that tries to make sure we do things exactly right, a 'people-pleasing part' that tries to keep others happy, or an 'inner critic'. We also have parts that carry our trauma or wounds, and one of the goals of IFS is to help those parts. We use a structured process to get to know parts and build trust before helping them release old trauma. IFS is also highly effective for complex trauma when trauma processing has been able to clear some things but the underlying patterns still remain.

How is IFS Used in our Trauma Intensives

IFS is an incredibly powerful, respectful, and non-pathologizing approach working with trauma. However, when you are doing deep "parts work," 50 minutes rarely feels like enough time. Just as a protective part steps forward and begins to trust the process, we can run out of time, often before we have gotten to really help the parts that are holding trauma. The client then has to pack their system back up and return to normal life, only to spend the first 10-15 minutes of the next session resetting.

An IFS intensive removes the time pressure of a standard 50 minute session. By dedicating concentrated blocks of time to your internal system, we can move much more efficiently and help your wounded parts achieve deep, lasting unburdening. By dedicating a longer block of time, parts get a chance to shift from feeling burdened with old trauma to feeling safe, free, and joyous. An IFS intensive also give us enough time to work with more complex burdens and parts, such as legacy burdens (ancestral burdens) and unattached burdens.

Will I be mostly doing IFS in my intensive?

We offer 3 different types of intensive offerings, and each client's needs and preferences for which tools we use are unique. For some clients for whom IFS is a great fit, we may indeed do all IFS work or we may only occasionally bring in EMDR to help a part release a burden. We will take our client's preferences into account and then recommend the best course of treatment based on information gathered together during the intake and the first hour of our intensive work. We often use both IFS and EMDR in our intensives, and many clients will do some combination of EMDR, IFS, and other somatic techniques to allow their stuck points to clear most effectively and efficiently. EMDR and IFS work together extremely well, so we can weave them together as needed as we work.

Choose Your Intensive Format

To best support your history, goals, and schedule, we offer EMDR processing within three distinct structures:

1. Multi-Day Custom Intensives

Designed for deep, immersive trauma resolution. Over consecutive days, we create a spacious container to get to know your most deeply entrenched protectors and hold space for the exiled parts holding your oldest wounds.

Best for: Comprehensive trauma processing, attachment wounds, or major life shifts.
Learn More About Multi-Day Intensives

2. Joint Client/Therapist Intensives

A collaborative, single-day accelerator designed to support your ongoing weekly therapy. If you already have an EMDR or IFS therapist and you hit a stubborn roadblock, protective system, or burden that won't move, we can spend a day together clearing it and then you will return to regular sessions with your therapist to continue your work.

Best for: Individuals with an established EMDR/IFS therapist who need help moving past a stuck point
Learn More About Joint Intensives

3. Single-Day Holistic Intensives

A focused, day-long immersion combining deep parts work with somatic integration. This format allows us to pinpoint a specific block, protector system, or recurring pattern and work through it thoroughly without interruption using IFS, potentially EMDR, and another modality of your choice, such as Reiki, TRE, or ketamine

Best for: Breaking through a specific and difficult target, a large body of work that feels ancestral in nature, or chronic mental block.
Learn More About Single-Day Holistic Intensives

Ready to Listen to Your System?

You don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle of weekly incremental work. We can design a spacious, customized intensive that gives your parts the time and safety they truly need to heal.

Schedule Free Consultation

Aura Morris, LCSW
Trauma Intensives