SELF-LIKE PARTS:
LOYAL GUARDIANS OF STABILITY
Course description
Self-like parts
Self-like parts often carry heavy responsibilities: keeping our systems steady, calm, competent. They help us endure, function, and succeed through clarity, reason, courage, or care. In demanding situations, they can respond with remarkable composure and discernment. They may become leading parts of the system, often intertwined with a sense of identity. These loyal heroes are frequently unrecognised, overworked, and undervalued, yet inviting them to unblend may feel unsettling.
About the workshop
In this workshop, we will approach these parts with warmth, respect, and appreciation. Rather than dismantling them, we will explore how to befriend them and truly listen to their stories. We will discover not only the roles they have taken on but also the cultural expectations and burdens, that may have shaped them.
We will learn to discern Self-like-Parts within ourselves and our clients without inducing shame or hierarchy. We will explore how to gently and safely invite these dedicated protectors to unblend and to build a relationship in which they feel valued for their service and invited to become our allies. When Self-like parts begin to feel appreciated for what they have carried, there is often a sense of relief. They no longer have to hold everything together on their own.
The setting allows space for questions, shared reflection, and guided practice, including small-group work.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have a grounded, compassionate understanding of Self-like parts and a practical set of approaches that foster clarity and connection.
Target audience:
Anyone who has completed IFS Level 1 or the IFS basic training and wants a deepening in this relevant topic. Please contact us if you are unsure wether you meet the criteria.
The continuing education credits have already been applied for with the Chamber of Psychotherapists.
Mel Herff is a licensed psychotherapist and certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist. For more than 13 years, she has been working with individuals affected by attachment trauma. Her clinical approach integrates IFS with psychodynamic psychotherapy, EMDR, and ecotherapy.
Alongside her private practice, she works as a supervisor, experiential group facilitator, and lecturer for psychotherapy training institutes in Germany. For the IFS Academy, she supports trainings as a Lead Program Assistant.
She holds the view that healing unfolds in spaces where people feel safe enough to show up authentically and find ways of accessing self-compassion. Her therapeutic stance is shaped by a deep connection to the natural world, a long-standing contemplative practice, and decolonizing perspectives on healing and human development.
Trainer: Dipl. Psych. Mel Herff
Mel Herff is a licensed psychotherapist and certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist. For more than 13 years, she has been working with individuals affected by attachment trauma. Her clinical approach integrates IFS with psychodynamic psychotherapy, EMDR, and ecotherapy.
Alongside her private practice, she works as a supervisor, experiential group facilitator, and lecturer for psychotherapy training institutes in Germany. For the IFS Academy, she supports trainings as a Lead Program Assistant.
She holds the view that healing unfolds in spaces where people feel safe enough to show up authentically and find ways of accessing self-compassion. Her therapeutic stance is shaped by a deep connection to the natural world, a long-standing contemplative practice, and decolonizing perspectives on healing and human development.