Trauma-Informed IFS Strategies for Psychedelic Therapy: A Compilation of Insights

Dr. Sandra (Sandy) Newes, PhD, is a licensed psychiatrist and the Co-founder and Programming Director of Living Medicine Institute, which offers psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy training programs. With over 25 years of clinical experience as a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, she specializes in anxiety, chronic stress, trauma, and recovery. Dr. Newes is also an educator and speaker offering workshops, events, and education on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and the intersection of nature connection, trauma, and mental health.

In this episode… Internal Family Systems offers a powerful way to understand the protective patterns, wounded parts, and inner conflicts that can surface during psychedelic therapy. How can clinicians use IFS in a way that supports healing while respecting each client's unique internal system?

Four IFS experts offer practical ways to bring greater care, curiosity, and skill into the therapeutic process. Dick Schwartz suggests working with clients' protective parts before a psychedelic experience and gaining their permission rather than bypassing them. Robert Falconer encourages clinicians to learn each client's language and worldview instead of imposing their own framework. Ted Riskin recommends helping clients reconnect with exiled parts, so unresolved trauma can be witnessed and healed. Karen Sprinkel emphasizes developing trauma-informed skills and knowing when active intervention may be more appropriate than trusting the inner healing process. These approaches offer clinicians concrete ways to make IFS-informed psychedelic work safer, responsive, and more effective.

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes looks back on her most insightful IFS episodes. Dr. Dick Schwartz, Robert Falconer, Ted Riskin, LCSW, and Karen Sprinkel discuss working with protective and exiled parts, meeting clients with curiosity rather than imposing a therapeutic framework, and applying trauma-informed principles to psychedelic-assisted therapy.