Demo session 1: “A lot of feelings at one time”
Having mixed feelings is a common experience — and it’s the easiest, most direct way to begin exploring the complexity of our inner communities. During the first few minutes of this demonstration session, see if you can track all the different ways “Michelle” is feeling.
In the first few minutes of our first coaching session, my new client “Michelle” (played by my colleague Alysa Haas) tells me all about what’s causing her stress — the end of a romantic relationship, a transatlantic move back to her hometown, and an unexpected pregnancy. “Michelle” has lots of conflicting feelings about all these dramatic events, and her discomfort with all those feelings is what led her to coaching.
“Wow,” I say (4:13 in the video). “That is a lot of feelings at one time!”
By drawing attention to the sheer number of emotions “Michelle” is having at once, I’m gently introducing the fundamental principle of Internal Family Systems model: that our personality is composed of many different parts, and those parts often have very different reactions to the same events. That’s the principle that underlies this powerful model of healing.
In the next part of our session, I’ll ask “Michelle” for her explicit consent to turn her attention inward.
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