WORKSHOP RECORDING · 3 HOURS OF VIDEO · 3.0 NBCC CE HOURS
Tools for the Adolescent Therapist: Internal Family Systems and Archetypal Perspectives
A three-hour workshop for counselors and therapists who want to bring Internal Family Systems into their work with teen clients.
$90 | One-time purchase | Lifetime access
Adolescence is a mysterious territory.
An effective adolescent therapist is equipped to enter this mystery without an agenda to solve it, without trying to clear up every unknown, and without demanding certainty in the middle of unpredictability and a lot of shape-shifting. Internal Family Systems (IFS) is one of the most effective, compassionate and powerful therapeutic approaches in use today, and it feels surprisingly natural to teens.
The workshop explores the supportive, resonant and respectful approaches to adolescent clients that IFS and archetypal psychology offer. Over three hours, you'll look at the essential nature of adolescence and the tools a therapist needs to enter this territory as the teen client's companion and guide.
Who this course is for: counselors and therapists who work with adolescents and already have a working knowledge of IFS.
Please note: IFS is not taught in this workshop. You'll want a working knowledge of basic IFS concepts such as protector parts, exiles and Self energy. For a good introduction, read this post on IFS and adolescent therapy.
Learning objectives
In this course, participants will:
Explain the developmental features of adolescence and differentiate why therapeutic approaches designed for children or adults often need to be adapted for adolescent clients.
Apply core IFS concepts and archetypal psychology perspectives to case conceptualization and treatment planning with adolescents.
Describe strategies for engaging parents and caregivers in adolescent treatment using IFS and archetypal frameworks.
Identify their own protective and reactive parts that arise in work with adolescents and describe at least one approach for working with these parts to support the therapeutic relationship.
Course content
The course is one three-hour workshop recording plus materials. These accordions describe what it covers.
Most people don't have an accurate or holistic understanding of what adolescence is. Adolescence is a unique and necessary stage of human development, a period of identity formation, experimentation, differentiation and becoming. Understanding it is essential to the work.
You'll work with a model of adolescent parts and burdens that incorporates archetypal elements. Teens often experience their inner world as a collection of competing voices, and IFS offers a language that honors that complexity.
Adolescent intensity can activate a therapist's own parts, from the ones that want to rescue or fix to the ones that get frightened by risk-taking. You'll learn how to notice those parts in session and begin working with them.
The four tools Dr. Barre uses with every adolescent client are validation, compassionate curiosity, love and courage, and an understanding of the essential nature of adolescence. The workshop explores each one and how it comes alive in IFS work with teens.
Validation is one of the core four tools and can be tremendously transformative with adolescents. You'll learn the step-by-step process, how to use it with clients, and how to teach it to parents.
What's included
-
The full three-hour workshop recording and slides
-
The Process & Practice of Validation, a complete take-home guide to the step-by-step process and to teaching it to others
-
Dr. Barre's list of vetted resources for continuing your education
-
Lifetime access to the recording and materials
-
A multiple-choice quiz and a 3.0 CE hour certificate on completion
About Dr. Robin Barre
Dr. Robin Barre has 30 years of experience working with adolescents in a range of settings, from teaching high school and middle school to running a private practice. She is a Level 3 certified Internal Family Systems therapist and an IFS Institute Approved Clinical Consultant. Dr. Barre earned MA degrees in counseling and depth psychology and a Ph.D. in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia. Drawing on her years in the field and in research, she helps caregivers, practitioners and organizations improve the lives of the adolescents they serve.
Nearly 30 years in classrooms, agencies, and clinical practice * PhD in Depth Psychology * Level 3 certified IFS therapist * IFS-Institute approved consultant
"Dr. Robin Barre is the foremost expert in adolescent psychology. As a psychologist, her applied research integrates life as a therapist, a teacher, a parent, a poet, a soul-seeker... As an advocate for the adolescent in all of us, she understands the forgotten language of this part of life, those bridge years in between childhood and becoming an adult, and provides guidance into how to reclaim the exiled self."
Brenda Littleton, Jungian Coach, Retired Professor of Graduate Studies in Education, Marriage Family Therapist
Robin's workshop is an inspiring brave space. I gained concrete tools, an abundance of curiosity, compassion toward my own parts, and a reimagined hope in working with others.
Karli S., LCSW
FAQ
You don't need formal IFS training, but you'll get the most from the workshop with a working knowledge of basic IFS concepts such as protector parts, exiles and Self energy. IFS itself is not taught here.
Access never expires. Your course, recordings and materials stay in your account, so you can come back whenever you need a refresher.
No. Work through the course at your own pace. If you're earning CE hours, each video needs to be watched start to finish in one sitting, but you can take as long as you like between videos
No. The course is open to anyone. Only licensed and associate-licensed professionals can apply the CE hours toward their license.
Reach out through the contact page or reply to any course email, and someone from our team will get back to you.