About The Guide Inside

Each of us, no matter our histories, has an essence - a Guide Inside.

The Internal Family Systems model calls this essence Self, and though Self can be obscured, much as the sun can be obscured by clouds, like the sun the Self remains. It can’t be damaged.

The vision of The Guide Inside is twofold: It is a site providing information, resources, and access to transformational services, and it is a means of honoring and expanding the Internal Family Systems model.

By helping people access their inner guidance and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts, positive changes begin to occur inside and out.

What is Internal Family Systems?

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerfully transformative, evidence-based model of psychotherapy. IFS is also a movement offering an empowering paradigm for understanding and harmonizing the mind and, thereby, larger human systems.

Dr. Richard Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. When he focused on the relationships among these parts he noticed there were patterns to the way they were organized. He discovered when clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience feelings of calm, confidence, openness, and compassion. In that state of what came to be called Self, clients would also know how to heal their parts.

Richard Schwartz, PhD, developer of the Internal Family Systems model, describes Self.

About Dr. Nancy L. Morgan

Nancy Morgan, MS, PhD, BC-TMH, is a licensed clinical psychologist in California and a licensed professional counselor in Oregon and Colorado. She is a Level III trained, Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist and Consultant and is an Assistant Trainer through the Internal Family Systems Institute. Nancy received her PhD from Argosy University, her MS from San Francisco State University, and completed her Psychology/Women Studies double major at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Nancy received her Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from the California Institute of Integral Studies, her Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy certification through the Ketamine Training Center, and her Psychedelic-Assisted Facilitation certification from the State of Oregon. She authored the IFS and Psychedelics chapter in Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends. Nancy has a limited private practice in Ashland, Oregon.

ORCID Listing

Presentations, Trainings, Consultations and Articles

IFS Institute 2021 Annual IFS Conference: Psychedelic Assisted IFS: Lessons Learned From Ketamine. October 16, 2021
German Conference on Ketamine: Introduction to Ketamine-Assisted Therapy. October 13, 2021
The Center for Conscious Medicine Virtual Workshop Series: Introduction to IFS for Consciousness Medicine Workshop. September 11 & 12, October 2 & 3, 2021

Oregon Psychological Association Virtual 2021 Annual Conference Breakout Session: An Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapists and Researchers. May 1, 2021
The One Inside Podcast - IFS-Informed Practicum Training Program. May 15, 2020
Adolescent Counseling Services, Redwood City, CA. Introducing IFS Into Graduate Training Programs. November 19, 2019.
Mind Matters Wellness Event, Milpitas, CA. - Leading from Self. February 24, 2019
Santa Clara County Psych. Assn. - Introduction to IFS. Lafayette, CA. October 3, 2019
Internal Family Systems Conference - Graduate Students' Stories. Denver, CO Sept. 28, 2019
Trauma Therapist podcast - #351 - This Work is Spiritual. November, 2018
Internal Family Systems Conf. - Introducing IFS into Graduate Training Sites. Providence, RI. Oct. 28, 2017
NAMI San Mateo - Clients as Teachers: The 7 Qualities Most Desired in a Therapist. Sept. 27, 2017
Int'l Conf on Psychology & Behavioral Sciences - Clients as Teachers: The 7 Qualities. Rome, Italy, June 8-9, 2017
Santa Clara County Psychological Association - CE Workshop on "DSM: The Book of Woe." April 23, 2017
Trauma Therapist podcast #256 - Mentoring New Trauma Therapists. November, 2017
Trauma Therapist podcast #205 - It's About More Than the Diagnosis. November, 2016
Middle Way Society podcast #105 - LifeMoves and Behavioral Moves. September 10, 2016
Oregon Counselors Association - The 7 Qualities Most Desired in a Therapist. October 24, 2015
Association for Women in Psychology - The 7 Qualities Most Desired in a Therapist. San Diego, CA 2008

Articles

Author of Applying the Internal Family Systems Therapeutic Model to the Integration of Psychedelic Experiences. In Jenna Riemersma, LPC (eds). Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends. 2023, Pivotal Press

Nancy L. Morgan, PhD, Patrycja Radecka, PgDip, and Coen de Koning, BSc (2021) Internal Family Systems: A Therapeutic Model for Each Stage of the Psychedelic Experience. THE JOURNAL OF PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHIATRY, vol.3, issue 4, 1-15

Morgan, Nancy L. (2020). Integrating Psychedelic Experiences Utilizing the Internal Family Systems Therapeutic Model.

International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Review, 257-264.

Ward, R., & Morgan, N.L. (2017). Clients as Teachers: The 7 Qualities Most Desired in a Therapist.

PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 575-585.

Resources

Videos on the medicinal use of psilocybin from the Heffter Research Institute