Increase your self-awareness, grow in your own human formation, and bond deeply with other like-minded Catholic formators in an Internal Family Systems-informed Foundations Experiential Group (FEG).

Are you seeking:

• Greater insight into yourself as a formator and better self-care?
• Better human formation on the natural level as both a person and a formator?
• Deep, personal connections within a community of other Catholic formators who understand the unique demands of our lives?
• New skills to help those you accompany help themselves?
• And do you want this all in a Catholic community of formators committed to grounding clinical practice in a Catholic worldview?

 If so, read on. I have a special opportunity for you.

Click here to see a description of the groups and to register for an FEG or Advanced Group!

 I don’t have to tell you that distress levels are spiking in our culture.

You don’t need survey after survey to tell you that anxiety, depression, loneliness, and feelings of worthlessness, alienation, and helplessness are all on the rise.  You feel it, you sense it. 

• You see these symptoms in those you accompany.
• You feel their burdens of insecurity, confusion, and distress.
• You also know that the demands on you are high and getting higher.
• And you also have your own troubles, concerns and problems. We all do.

The bottom line is this:  We are not supposed to “go it alone.”

We Catholic formators (spiritual directors, coaches, therapists, seminary formators and others) need help to live out our profession for those we accompany in a healthy way.

• We need grace and the love of God our Father and Mary our Mother, first and foremost in prayer and sacrament. That’s a given.
• We also need each other, in the Body of Christ -- we need to “Bear each other’s burdens” as St. Paul tells us (Galatians 6:2).
• We formators sometimes try to minimize these realities, and that’s understandable because we naturally focus on others.  But if we neglect caring for ourselves and loving ourselves in an ordered way, sooner or later, we get into trouble.  You know this.

So, what can we do to help ourselves, to care for ourselves, to love ourselves in an ordered, Catholic way?

Here is an answer for you. The Formation for Formators community within Souls and Hearts. Souls and Hearts is now opening up new Foundations Experiential Groups for Catholic therapists, spiritual directors, Catholic coaches, other formators, and graduate students or those in training to be formators, with groups beginning in February 2025. No previous IFS training is necessary to participate in FEGs.

These groups:

• Are limited to nine Catholic formators with experienced IFS-trained psychologists as leaders
• Meet via Zoom for 90 minutes for each of 10 sessions, over the course of five months
• Practice IFS techniques, working on our own real issues within our own internal systems, in the holding environment of the group and in independent practice in triads (You can see how practice triads work by watching Episode 151 of the Interior Integration for Catholics podcast, where Dr. Peter is in the accompanier role, working with two individuals who are in the accompanied and the observer roles.)
• Engage in interpersonal processing among the members, based on an IFS understanding of parts and self, harmonized with our Catholic faith
• Provide discussion space for the two recorded lectures that cover a chapter of Internal Family Systems Therapy (2nd ed.) by Schwartz and Sweezy.
  • In one lecture, the main points of the chapter are summarized
  • In the second, Dr. Peter provides his “Catholic take” on the chapter, discussing where the IFS model departs from a Catholic anthropology and how to make appropriate adjustments to harmonize it with a Catholic worldview.
• Include a sequence of 10 sessions (15 hours total) at only $700 per person, which works out to only $70 per session (in addition to the $40 per month basic subscription fee to join the Formation for Formators community).
• Are a gateway to advanced groups that focus on specialized topics for more experienced members.
• Allow you to join inner circle groups with other FEG members for additional practice working with your internal system and others’ systems. These are free!

Advanced Groups for Spring 2025

Preparation for Transcendence

This group focuses on the natural-level, human formation impediments in our systems that get in the way of deeper intimate union with God in the three Persons of the Trinity and with the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother.  The initial focus is on understanding our parts' images of God and Mary, how those images were formed by the parts' experiences and the parts' interpretations of those experiences, and guidance on how the self can be first a conduit of God's love and then secondly, as parts allow, the self can introduce parts to each of the Persons of the Trinity in internal evangelization. The focus is very vertical, on the First Great Commandment, on being loved by God (all our parts) and loving Him in return, from the self and our parts.   The Many Parts, One Love podcast (10 episodes) accompanies this group for outside listening. This group will be led by Dr. Peter Martin.

Love One Another

What does it mean to be truly known and loved in a community where we can bring all of our parts and learn to speak for them, rather than through them? Through increased awareness and in the moment interactions, members will learn to be aware of their activated parts and speak for those parts. Members will experience caring for and understanding others. You will experience who you are in all of your parts including the ones often hidden by shame or blocking protectors. You will develop a deeper experience of intimacy and learn how to make a loving, dynamic relationship work. By experiencing deeper awareness and acceptance, members will be able to deal with difficult feelings including anger, shame, and conflict. The community, led by David Edwards, will develop a strong sense of support, honesty, and compassion in the group.  There is no outside reading. 

Journey Into the Heart

We all experience the effects of Original Trauma which may include post-traumatic stress and chronic anxiety. Join Dr. Gerry Crete in an Advanced Experiential Group, a real journey into the heart, based on his book Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-Traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts. Each meeting will focus on a chapter of the book where we will have time for the reflection questions and discussion, the meditation, group processing, and an additional experiential parts work activity led by Dr. Gerry. Special attention will be given to the integration of intellectual, spiritual, and human formation as we explore how we and others we care for have coped with challenging past experiences. The meditations and parts work activities will focus on reducing anxiety through somatic, cognitive, imaginative, contemplative, and spiritual exercises. You will need a copy of the book Litanies of the Heart which is available at Sophia Institute Press. Paperback, Kindle, and Audible versions are also available at Amazon.

You might be familiar with Internal Family Systems as a trauma treatment from Bessel van der Kolk’s best-selling book on complex trauma, The Body Keeps the Score, where he devotes all of chapter 17 to IFS. That chapter is available free online here, and it is well worth reading (the books is quite good and a best-seller in the trauma world).

For those unfamiliar with IFS, please note that IFS focuses primarily on intrapsychic dynamics in one person in individual psychotherapy, counseling, spiritual direction or coaching.

For a quick summary of IFS, check out this video or a description here.

So, in a nutshell, we are nourishing our minds conceptually, learning new approaches to formation that we can bring to our clients to help them lead their own lives more effectively through our own experiential learning and growth. All grounded in a Catholic worldview.

The Formation for Formators community is open to Catholic therapists, counselors, interns, and graduate students in mental health-related programs as well as to spiritual directors, Catholic coaches, seminarian formators, and anyone else who professionally accompanies another in a one-on-one relationship.

All members must adhere to all the teachings of the Church, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 

The FFF was established originally as the Interior Therapists Community in 2020 and recently expanded to include all formators by Dr. Peter Malinoski, Ph.D.  Dr. Peter has completed IFS Levels 1, 2, and 3 training, as well as the IFIO marriage/couples therapy training.  Dr. Peter often leads FEGs and advanced groups and has vetted and trained all the other FEG faciliators listed below. He actively participates in the online community.

Gerry Crete, Ph.D., is chief executive officer and co-founder of Souls and Hearts and IFS-informed. Dr. Gerry leads an Advanced Group that will take a real journey into the heart, based on his book Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-Traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts. 

Peter Martin, Psy.D. is IFS-trained with extensive consultation experience and much experience leading groups. Dr. Martin often leads FEGs as well as advanced groups. Dr. Martin is also available for individual IFS-related consultations.

Check out IFS in Action in this 60-minute Demonstration 

Watch Dr. Peter as he works with a Christian therapist to unveil how this therapist's parts see God.

What are Catholic formators
saying about the FFF?

This community allows me the place and space to journey with Catholic therapists. God works in and through the relationships.

Adele Huculak, RCC, Kamloops, British Columbia