This blog explores the pain of polarization (an IFS term describing when two or more parts have conflicting ideas about how to keep us safe) and paradox. We’ll be meeting some of the internal parts who have been involved in my decision-making about trying to find a place to live. We’ll be zooming in on the parts that don’t want me to settle down and exploring the impact they’ve been having on my system and my life. I’ve included a bit of backstory for those who are new to the blog (Welcome!). I hope you enjoy travelling with me, deep into my psyche and I hope my reflections support you with yours.

I’m gearing up to run The Well-Held Space, my 3-month creative facilitation course again. As part of my preparation I’ve been reflecting on how my own facilitation practice has developed since I last ran the course in 2021. 

This blog focuses on my development as a facilitator from 2021-2024, when I trained as a Creative Supervisor, spent a year at a meditation retreat centre, trained in Internal Family Systems and spent a year exploring ways to integrate all this into my facilitation practice. 

This years’ British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth) conference took place (mostly) online over the week of the 14th October 2024. It was titled: Creativity in Conflict; Empowering Change Through Dramatherapy and I was both an attendee and a presenter, gorging myself on all the dramatherapy goodness I could get my hands on, as well as offering my own workshop titled; ”Exploring Internal Conflict Through Creative and Embodied Approaches To Internal Family Systems (IFS).” 

This blog explores my learning during two sessions at the conference, Drew Bird’s Monday morning presentation, “To Be Or not to be a clown: Conflict on and off the stage” and my Friday evening embodied IFS workshop. It’s a blog about bringing fun into facilitation. It’s a blog about what stops us following our impulses towards connection and play. It features theory from clowning, fooling and Internal Family Systems (IFS), as well as personal reflection and ponder points for you, dear reader. It’s quite long, my Inner Academic may* have got a bit carried away. 

*She definitely did, but waddaya gonna do?

In April 2024, eight wonderful Fools gathered together in a beautiful dance space for a 5 day experimental, experiential, emergent and engaged research lab, co-facilitated by Saskia Solomons and me.

What’s In The Blog?

• The story of how the 5-day Fooling + IFS research lab came to be

• An outline of what happened in the lab

• Little chunks of IFS theory from Saskia's morning talks

• Descriptions of some of the ways we integrated IFS, creativity and the body - you could have a go at some of these if you wish!

• A brief outline of our Fooling + IFS solo stage experiments 

• My key learnings

I left the sanctuary of my quiet Glastonbury attic at the beginning of July and headed back to life on the road, travelling about, teaching, learning and catching up with lovely pals in lovely places for the summer....

I'm back in Glastonbury now, resting up and savouring all the summer memories. I'd like to share a few snippets of summer with you to give you a taste of the wonderful worlds I've been inhabiting and a whiff of the residue they've left on and in me.

This blog is one of a series charting my discoveries in blending Dramatherapy, fooling and Internal Family Systems (IFS)

This blog charts an incredible 2-day therapeutic process which I got to facilitate in London earlier on this year for Emily, a freelance multi-disciplinary artist, theatre practitioner and community music facilitator.

I am delighted to announce that I will be sharing some of my research at two dramatherapy conferences this autumn! Dramatherapy Southwest in Exeter on 14th September and The British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth) online in the week of the 14th October.

We’re a group of IFS trained clowns and fools who have been meeting online for the last couple of years, exploring the space where Internal Family Systems (IFS) meets clowning and fooling through experiential play and discussion.

In this blog I will be outlining our experiments and describing some of what happened for me during our first ever in-person play day. Read on for tales of grief, gratitude, identity, connection and home.

IFS is a therapeutic system which is based on the theory that we are all made up of many parts (ie feelings, sensations, thoughts, memories, dreams, fantasies, etc…). You may already have a sense of this in yourself; in conversation we often say, “Part of me thinks this and part of me thinks that.“ Our parts don’t necessarily all get along, they can have very different wants, needs, values and desires...