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In this episode, I take you inside my experience of learning Internal Family Systems therapy while simultaneously navigating prostate cancer surgery and recovery during the fall and winter of 2023-24.

Through audio diary entries recorded over three months, you'll hear my real-time reflections as I move through an intensive experiential training that forced me to find and confront parts of myself. From the corporate retreat center where it all began to the post-surgical reflections in my bedroom, these recordings capture the disorientation, insight, and healing that unfolded as I allowed myself to be both student and subject.

This episode may be helpful for therapists considering IFS training or for anyone facing illness or supporting someone through health challenges. It is the final episode in my five part series on my IFS level I training experience.

This episode of Developing Meaning is produced by Dirk Winter and Caroline Hinton and brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.

Developing Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS and NOT CLINICAL ADVICE.

Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz.

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Margaret Conley, LCSW, Minister, and IFS Assistant Trainer, joins me to explore how trauma is passed down through families, culture, and society —and how we can heal. Drawing from her own powerful story, Margaret explains the Internal Family Systems (IFS) concept of legacy burdens and how she helps clients release inherited patterns related to race, religion, gender, and family history. This episode is part of my IFS Level 1 training series and offers deep insight into how healing across generations is not only possible—but transforms how we create meaning.

Timestamps
00:19 – Welcome to Developing Meaning
04:50 – Meet Margaret Connolly: Healer and Minister
12:40 – Childhood Trauma to Professional Path
27:20 – Discovering Internal Family Systems
47:30 – Understanding Legacy Burdens
1:04:40 – Creating Meaning Through Curiosity
1:14:10 – The Art of Repairing Relationships
1:19:30 – Final Thoughts: Moving at Speed of Trust

Them music by The Thrashing Skumz.

This episode is produced by Dirk Winter, Fariha Fawziah and Caroline Hinton and brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.

Developing Meaning is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE and NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS.

Send us a text

Can you imagine learning at 35 that you were adopted? In this episode Ridghaus, my friend and Level I IFS Program Assistant, shares how this discovery transformed his sense of identity and led him to advocate for adoptee rights and communities.

We also explore the profound loss of his 18-year-old son and how he has grieved. Through our conversation, Ridghaus reflects on the "golden threads" that have guided him—moments of insight, connection, and healing. We discuss how Internal Family Systems (IFS) has played a role in his process, helping him hold space for his parts and for others in their own healing journeys.

This episode is part of a series on my Level I IFS training experience, in which I introduce the IFS model (#16), introduce my Lead Trainer Jory Agate (#17). Upcoming episodes will introduce another trainer Margaret Conley (#19), who is an expert in complex trauma and legacy burdens, and then an audiodiary (#20) will follow. My intention in this series is to share this exciting new model of healing with classically trained therapists and anyone else curious about mental health and meaning.

• Timestamps:
• 00:00:00 - Introduction to Developing Meaning and Ridgehouse
• 00:05:42 - Early Life: A Misfit in Kansas
• 00:17:28 - Discovering Adoption at Age 35
• 00:30:49 - Facing Unimaginable Loss and Grief
• 00:43:02 - First Encounter with Internal Family Systems
• 01:00:34 - Becoming a Healer: IFS and Identity Work
• 01:11:27 - Plateaus and Valleys of Meaning
• 01:15:33 - Final Reflections on Intention and Starting Over

Developing Meaning is NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY INSTITUTIONS, and is NOT MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE.

Theme Music by The Thrashing Skumz.

This episode was produced by Dirk Winter, Fariha Fawziah and Caroline Hinton and is brought to you by Consilient Mind LLC.