On today's episode, I'm joined by Lara Krawchuk, a grief expert and IFS certifed therapist, to explore how the Internal Family Systems model helps us understand and tend to grief. We discuss continuing bonds, meaning making, ambiguous loss, grief-worthy losses, and unbraiding current loss from exiled trauma. While I have parts that avoid thinking about and discussing grief, Lara offers such a hopeful perspective on the grieving process and I'm so excited to share this episode with you.

Key Takeaways:

• Grief is not about severing bonds, but shifting how we relate to them.
• Disenfranchised grief, like the end of a relationship or loss of health, is grief-worthy too.
• Grief invites us to explore the deeper meaning behind our losses and what they reveal about ourselves.
• Grief is both/and -- we are allowed to feel both grief and joy.
• Welcoming grief, rather than trying to "move on," is crucial for healing.
• Turn towards grieving parts and allow them the space to be heard and honored.
• The importance of "unbraiding" exiled pain from present losses: "Does the part know this is different from the original Exile is has always protected?"
• Continued bonds with those we've lost can be a profound source of comfort.

Favorite Quote: "Self is not freaked out by grief. Self is an exquisite witness to all pain." — Lara Krawchuk

About Lara: Lara Krawchuk is the owner and clinical director of Healing Concepts in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and the co-founder of Healing Perspectives, a continuing education resource for helping professionals looking to heal themselves, help their clients, and heal a broken-hearted world. She is an IFS certified therapist and consultant, a speaker, adjuct professor, and author with a passion for supporting those living with grief.

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Watch video clips from select episodes on The One Inside on YouTube

Follow Tammy on Instagram @ifstammy and on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

Jeff Schrum co-produces The One Inside Podcast. He is a writer, counselor, and IFS Level 1 practitioner.

Are you new to IFS or want a simple way to get to know yourself? Tammy's book, "The One Inside: Thirty Days to your Authentic Self" is a PERFECT place to start.

Sign up for Tammy's email list and get a free "Get to know a Should part of you" meditation on her website

Tammy is grateful for Jack Reardon who created music for the podcast. Jack is a graduate of Derek Scott’s IFS Stepping Stones Program.

If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or two of The One Inside Podcast please contact Tammy at tammysollenberger@comcast.net

In this episode I chat with Ralph De La Rosa, a meditation teacher, therapist, and author of Outshining Trauma. Ralph shares his personal journey of healing from PTSD, depression, and addiction, and how IFS helped him access Self Energy beyond traditional meditation.

Key Takeaways:

• Self Energy and Buddhist concepts like Buddha-nature share striking similarities.
• Meditation can be a powerful tool for parts work, offering a structured way to access Self.
• What happens when Self meets our most burdened parts?
• Self Energy as a reparenting force
• Instead of rejecting painful emotions or defensive parts, he encourages holding them with warmth, like placing them in the sunlight of Self.
• Trauma constricts and healing expands
• Start with Self rather than diving directly into the pain.
• Parts are just like people
• Radical self-compassion as meeting every part of ourselves—including the ones that hold fear, addiction, or pain—with love, rather than trying to suppress or fix them.
• Reparenting happens naturally when we turn toward our parts with compassion.

Favorite Quote:
"One thing I’ve learned from direct experience of Self is that it can expand to be bigger than any level of heartache, any sense of brokenness, any sense of wounding, no matter how deep, no matter how wide, no matter how big. Self-energy can expand to fill the entire room you’re sitting in. If you practice with it, if you practice with it and your parts, we could begin to trust that." – Ralph De La Rosa

About Ralph De La Rosa:
Ralph De La Rosa is a psychotherapist, meditation teacher, and author of Outshining Trauma: A New Vision of Radical Self-Compassion. His work integrates IFS, neuroscience, and Buddhist wisdom to help people navigate healing and transformation.

Episode Sponsor: Sentur

Propel your healing journey forward with an IFS-inspired trauma-informed digital mental health companion designed for real transformation. Download the Sentur app here

Check out The One inside Self-Led merch at The One Inside store

Watch video clips from select episodes on The One Inside on YouTube

Follow Tammy on Instagram @ifstammy and on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

Jeff Schrum co-produces The One Inside Podcast. He is a writer, counselor, and IFS Level 1 practitioner.

Are you new to IFS or want a simple way to get to know yourself? Tammy's book, "The One Inside: Thirty Days to your Authentic Self" is a PERFECT place to start.

Sign up for Tammy's email list and get a free "Get to know a Should part of you" meditation on her website

Tammy is grateful for Jack Reardon who created music for the podcast. Jack is a graduate of Derek Scott’s IFS Stepping Stones Program.

If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or two of The One Inside Podcast please contact Tammy at tammysollenberger@comcast.net

On today’s episode I chat with Rick Kahler, a pioneer in integrating financial planning and psychology and a certified IFS practitioner. We explore how Internal Family Systems can transform our relationship with money, uncovering hidden beliefs and legacy burdens that shape financial behaviors.

Rick shares his journey from financial planner to financial therapist, explaining how emotions—not logic—drive most financial decisions. He introduces key concepts like money scripts, financial protectors, and the internal financial system, showing how understanding these parts can help people move from financial stuckness to greater clarity and freedom.

Key Takeaways:

• Money isn’t just about numbers—it’s deeply tied to our emotions, beliefs, and childhood experiences.

• Many financial struggles come from polarized parts—a part that wants to save and a part that wants to spend.

• How do money scripts—unconscious beliefs about money—shape our financial decisions without us even realizing it?

• Financial shame is often greater than other types of shame, making finances one of the hardest topics to talk about.

• Legacy burdens around money are passed down through generations, influencing our financial behaviors in ways we may not recognize.

Favorite Quote:
"Every part has a good intention. Every money script is put in place, every burden is put in place with a good intention…it just doesn’t know things are a little different now." – Rick Kahler​

About Rick Kahler:
Rick Kahler is a certified financial planner, financial therapist, and IFS practitioner. He is a founding board member and past chair of the Financial Therapy Association and the creator of IFS-Informed Financial Therapy. Rick has authored seven books and hosts The Financial Therapy Podcast.

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Episode Sponsor: Michelle Glass

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Check out our new Self-Led merch at The One Inside store

Watch video clips from select episodes on The One Inside on YouTube

Follow Tammy on Instagram @ifstammy and on Facebook at The One Inside with Tammy Sollenberger.

Jeff Schrum co-produces The One Inside Podcast. He is a writer, counselor, and IFS Level 1 practitioner.

Are you new to IFS or want a simple way to get to know yourself? Tammy's book, "The One Inside: Thirty Days to your Authentic Self" is a PERFECT place to start.

Sign up for Tammy's email list and get a free "Get to know a Should part of you" meditation on her website

Tammy is grateful for Jack Reardon who created music for the podcast. Jack is a graduate of Derek Scott’s IFS Stepping Stones Program.

If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or two of The One Inside Podcast please contact Tammy at tammysollenberger@comcast.net