Interior Integration for Catholics

 We explore the surprising compatibility of Internal Family Systems with a Thomistic understanding of the human person. The modern pioneer of parts work, Richard Schwartz, originator of IFS harmonizes with the medieval angelic doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. Join Thomistic philosopher Dr. Anthony Flood, Catholic psychologist Dr. Eric Gudan and me, Dr. Peter, as we discuss how the goodness of IFS can be modified and grounded in the excellence of a Thomistic anthropology.   For the full video experience with all our visuals, gestures, and graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

How do we love with the three loves in the two Great Commandments?  And what are the relationships among love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self?  Join Catholic philosopher Anthony Flood and Catholic psychologist Eric Gudan as we explore love in Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.  We address flourishing, friendship, virtues, interior integration, inner unity, union with others, trauma, healing, selfishness, humility, magnanimity, where to find truth, and so much more, all through a Thomistic lens.  Join us!   For the full video experience with all our visuals, graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

We have answers to your questions about Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Catholicism.  From the experts.  That’s what this episode is all about.  Dr. Peter Martin, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu and Dr. Peter Malinoski come together with a live audience to discuss your questions about parts’ felt sense of safety, their God images, and your innermost self as a secure internal attachment figure for your parts and a bridge between your parts and God, your will and your parts.  We discuss whether you can love others if you don’t love yourself.  And so much more.  Come and see!

Both Socrates and Plato were deeply concerned with the questions 1) Who is the human person? and 2) How does one flourish in living the best life possible.  And both addressed these questions through understanding a person’s relationship with self.  Knowing oneself, loving oneself, and governing oneself wisely are the core of their teaching on virtues and ethics.  All three of those imply a relationship oneself.  We explore the “parts of the soul” that Socrates and Plato proposed, and how these parts interact in the inner life.  Join Catholic Thomistic philosopher Dr. Anthony Flood, Catholic psychologist Dr. Eric Gudan and me, Dr. Peter, as we explore Plato’s five forms of self-governance, and which parts of the soul are in charge in each of them, connecting each one to an IFS understanding of inner dynamics.   For the full video experience with all of Dr. Flood's expressive gestures, all our visuals, graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Q: What can St. Bonaventure teach us about our inner life? A: More than you might imagine. Writing in the 13th century, St. Bonaventure emphasized the importance of the heart, of our emotions and our desires. He prized love and relationality – starting with the relationships among the three Persons of the Trinity, that God is both a unity and a multiplicity. He also emphasized the faculty of memory in addition to the intellect and the will as part of his tripartite model of soul, which opens the door to the modern concept of the unconscious, with parts existing outside of our awareness. Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski as we “nerd out” on St. Bonaventure, connecting him back to St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maximus, and other Catholic experts on metaphysics in a way that’s accessible, conversational, inspirational, and fun.   For the full video experience with all of Dr. Gerry's expressive gestures, all our visuals, graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Q: Did St. Maximus anticipate Internal Family Systems thinking by 13 centuries?  A: In a word, Yes.  Maximus, writing in the seventh century, described in detail the unity and distinctions within the human person, and how each of us is a mediator that connects the spiritual and natural realms, and microcosm that contains within us the entire cosmos.  Mind-blowing ideas.  He also believes that each of us is a macrocosm, being able to influence the whole world in ways that matter.  Maximus was a sophisticated systems thinker.  He believed we already have certain virtues within us that can and should be released to flower.  And love was at the very center of his message.  Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski as they explore Catholic parts work and St. Maximus to your imagination break free. 

You can think of St. Augustine’s heart as an “open book” titled “Confessions.” In this episode, we go deep into his restless heart, sharing with you how well his clear, detailed, and nuanced descriptions of his inner experience reflect Internal Family Systems and parts work so well. As St. Augustine describes his “divided heart” and “conflicting wills” and the stages of his conversion, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Chrisian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski show how this translates into IFS terms. And Dr. Christian provides an Augustinian experiential exercise. Join us to see how St. Augustine wisdom connects with and informs Catholic parts work.  If you are a Catholic who wants to jumpstart getting to know and love your own parts, check out the Resilient Catholics Community at https://members.soulsandhearts.com/rcc

What can the Early Church Fathers teach us about our inner worlds, the complexity of our psyches?  Actually, very much, if we are willing to listen.  Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu and me for a highlight tour of what these Early Church Fathers offer us in understanding and loving ourselves, God, and others:  St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John of Damascus.  We particularly focused in on St. Evagrius discussing the “Christ-self” and the “legion of other selves” within each person. We explore how the Early Church Fathers bring in allegory, metaphor, symbol, and typology to capture more readily the richness, variety, complexity, and beauty of the inner life than we moderns generally do.  Dr. Gerry closes with a brief prayer reflection.   For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and for discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Internal Family Systems is extremely popular not only as a therapy model, but as a way of making sense of our inner experience.  IFS does not have specifically Catholic origins.  But can there be a way of understanding parts work and systems thinking and harmonizing them with an authentically Catholic understanding of the human person?  Dr. Christian Amalu, Dr. Peter Martin, Dr. Gerry Crete, and Dr. Peter Malinoski explore that question in these next episodes, starting with Sacred Scripture.  What evidence can be found in the Bible to support the major tenets of IFS?  How might IFS be understood through a Catholic lens?  Join us for a tour of Scripture to answer these questions, with an experiential exercise as well.  

You have got questions, we have answers – all about IFS and parts work, Catholic style. Join Marion Moreland, David Edwards, Bridget Adams, and Dr. Peter as we engage with a live audience for a discussion. David provides a brief drop-in exercise. The new discuss relating with our parts with love, legacy burdens and legacy gifts, detecting when a part is blended, displaced anger, how core beliefs drive parts, how our human formation arithmetic can help our spiritual formation algebra, Divine Providence working through our flaws, shortcomings, sins, and inadequacies, making the gifts, and the Resilient Catholics Community with the PartsFinder Pro.  For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and for discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Question: What do improvisational jazz bands, 8-man rowing shells, the Catholic Church, and a nuclear family all have in common? Answer: They are all human systems. Systems have three components: 1) elements (or parts); 2) interconnections (relationships among elements); and 3) a function or purpose. John David Edwards and Dr. Peter as we explore systems. Understanding yourself as a system, with an innermost self, parts, internal relationships among your innermost self and parts (e.g. polarizations, alignments, suppressions, etc.), and that each unintegrated part has an agenda – a purpose it desires – all that helps us understand ourselves and each other. And that understanding helps so much in being able to receive and give love as Catholics. 

Fearfully and wonderfully made – that is what you are.  And made not just as a single, homogeneous personality – but as a system.  But what is a system?  How can we understand ourselves not just as a monolithic personality, not just as a unity, and not just as a multiplicity, but in terms of our inner relationships with ourselves?  Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Bridget Adams, and Dr. Peter as we explore how each of us has a “kingdom within” – and how understanding that kingdom, understanding our multiplicity of our system allows us to better love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, the three loves in the two great commandments, firmly grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person.   For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and for discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

“The body remembers what the mind forgets,” psychiatrist Jacob Levy Moreno tells us.  And Bessel van der Kolk takes it a step further – the body not only remembers, but “the body keeps the score.”  Our parts have so much to tell us about their experiences – our “forgotten,” unconscious experiences – and so often, our parts communicate with us through our bodies.  Will we listen?  Will you listen?  In this episode, Marion Moreland, Jennifer Maher, and host Bridget Adams share with why and how our bodies remember what our minds forget, with examples from their lives.  They stress the importance of a felt sense of safety.  And they and offer you step-by-step guidance to help you to listen to your body in an experiential exercise if you’d like to listen to your body and hear what your parts want your innermost self to know about your experiences.   For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and for discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Survival.  Importance.  Agency. Goodness.  Mission.  Authentic expression.  These are the six integrity needs that Dr. Peter came up with over decades of work with Catholics.  In this episode, we define integrity and integrity needs, we discuss how so many children are forced to choose which needs will be met and which will be denied.   We cover each of the six integrity needs in depth, we explore the hierarchy of integrity needs, and we discuss what kinds of parts are especially focused on each integrity need.  Then Dr. Peter lays out how we can meet our parts integrity needs, and we have a 19-minute experiential exercise to help you connect with your parts’ integrity needs.   For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Feeling safe. Feeling seen and heard. Feeling reassured, soothed. Feeling cherished and delighted in. Feeling loved. Feeling that I belong. We all have these six attachment needs. But how do our parts experience these needs? Which kinds of parts have which kinds of attachment styles? How can I recognize which attachment needs different parts of me have? Where do I start in helping a part of me who is struggling with unmet attachment needs and an insecure attachment style? Catholic IFS therapists Marion Moreland and Peter Martin join me to discuss and answer these questions in depth. And, as a bonus, I offer you an experiential exercise to help you get in touch with your parts’ attachment needs and find the “next right step” in meeting them.  For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Dr. Gerry Crete helps us unravel the confusion within us, why we have such deep internal conflicts and tensions that pull us in different directions and tear at our hearts.  St. Paul tells us in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”  What’s up with that?  Parts.  Parts are up with that, that’s what -- or who.  And in this episode, Dr. Gerry and Bridget Adams shed so much light on our internal experience in our fallen human condition.  Join us to learn about how parts, despite their good intentions and desires to help us, can generate impulses toward addictions and other problematic and even sinful behaviors.  Learn how critical it is for parts to be integrated, to collaborate cooperatively with your inmost self, and most importantly, how parts can join in your loving God and neighbor with your whole heart in Dr. Gerry’s experiential exercise.   For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Who are you, deep inside, at the core of your being?  Who lives in the inmost chamber of your personhood?  Join us on an adventure to discover your core identity.  Catholic experts Dr. Gerry Crete and Dr. Peter Martin find the convergences and synergies in Scripture, the early Church Fathers, the Eastern and Western Catholic monastic traditions, Doctors of the Church, the medieval Catholic theologians, the writings of contemplative saints, and the magisterial teachings of the Church -- supplemented by attachment theory, Internal Family Systems and other parts and systems approaches in the modern era – all in the service of answering the question – “Who is my inmost self?”  What do the words inmost self, heart, soul, “nous,” and the “eyes of the soul” mean from a Catholic perspective?  We bring together the best of the old and new, the spiritual and the secular, to help you know who you are at your core, all grounded in an authentically Catholic understanding of your human person.  With an experiential exercise from Dr. Gerry, too.   For the full experience with visuals, slides, B-roll, conversation and discussion in the comments section and so much more, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

We offer you a new and better way of understanding yourself and others – Internal Family Systems (IFS).  But what is IFS?  What are “parts”?  Who are our internal managers, firefighters, and exiles?  Who is your innermost self and what are his or her eight primary characteristics?  What are burdens and what are the extreme roles parts take on after trauma, attachment injuries, or relational wounds?  What is “blending”?  Join IFS therapists Marion Moreland, David Edwards, and me, Dr. Peter, for this overview of IFS as we begin our 2025 deep dive into IFS, grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person – not just with information for our heads, but also with an experiential exercise for our hearts. For the full experience with visuals, slides, B-roll, conversation and discussion in the comments section and so much more, check us out on our YouTube channel here:  www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Real people, real questions.  Parts, attachment, human formation, marriage, conscience, intimacy with God, connection with your innermost self…  Dr. Peter Martin answers audience questions and leads a discussion in this episode, recorded live.  Join in as a “fly on the wall” for the most cutting edge thinking and research on attachment and parts work, applied to the practical problems and issues we face in both the natural and spiritual realms.  Join us on YouTube at InteriorIntegration4Catholics https://youtu.be/dyG_L4WyON4 to like, subscribe, ask questions, and comment -- we'll connect with you there.  

You loving you.  You bringing each of your parts closer to God, in a gentle, merciful way.  Dr. Peter Martin shares his insights on how we can love ourselves toward God, informed by attachment theory and Internal Family Systems, and grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person.  He presents on “Internal Evangelization Therapy” – bringing in safe havens, secure bases, the “Circle of Security,” spiritual intercessors, the discernment of spirits, and how to “bypass the spiritual bypass.”  This episode focuses on how to bring home to God the “lost sheep” within us – the outcast parts, the inner lepers, the blind parts, the lame, the tax collectors, the parts condemned by other parts as sinners.