I'm going to be presenting a free online IFS workshop at World Childless Week in September! 

World Childless Week aims to raise awareness of the childless not by choice (cnbc) community and enable every childless person to share their story with confidence. It's for anyone who is childless despite their longing to be a parent because they have never been pregnant (for any reason), not carried full term or have suffered the sadness of a baby born sleeping. World Childless Week is here to support those who have felt the heartbreak of knowing they will be childless for life.

I've been attending World Childless Week for the last couple of years and have found it to be a big support on my journey to coming to terms with being childless, not by choice. Listening to other childless people tell their stories has helped me feel less alone. 

This year, I wanted to join the conversation, offering some of the tools and techniques that have been helping me.

Exploring Childlessness Through Creative Approaches To Internal Family Systems (IFS)

-With Holly Stoppit

A practical and creative workshop exploring our inner parts and discovering their responses to our childlessness. 

DATE: Wednesday 17th September 

TIME: 7.00pm BST

Internal Family Systems (IFS) believes that we are all made up of many “Inner parts,” i.e. the inner critic, the inner child, the inner teenager, etc. Each part has their own distinct thoughts and feelings, wants and needs and these don’t always fit harmoniously together!  

IFS trained Dramatherapist, Holly Stoppit, will lead you through an exploration to get to know some of the parts that pop up in you around the theme of childlessness.  

Perhaps you have an inner critic who berates you for not being able to birth a child? Perhaps you have an inner manager who fills up your diary to bursting, to help you deal with the absence? Perhaps you have other parts that have you drinking, eating, gambling or netflixing to numb out the pain? 

With compassion and creativity, we’ll shine a light on our inner parts and find out how they are trying to help us cope with being childless. Often, when our protective parts feel seen and heard, they relax and soften their strategies, giving us more space to access and heal the pain underneath. 

This will be a taster workshop, introducing a range of creative techniques designed to help you get to know your parts, including guided meditations, artwork, writing and embodiment. 

You can watch a recording of the session here.

WORLD CHILDLESS WEEK runs from 15-21 September 2025. To find out more about it click HERE.

To find out more about my journey with IFS start HERE.