Tenacious Parts: Befriending Grief, Anger, and Hope with Audrey Davidheiser

In this week’s episode I chat with Audrey Davidheiser, licensed psychologist and Certified IFS therapist and IFSI-approved clinical consultant about working with grief and anger through the Internal Family Systems lens.

We discuss:

• How tenacious parts like grief and anger hold on, often because they feel they are protecting something important, like legacy or family loyalty. What can we learn by befriending these tenacious parts rather than fighting them?
• How your cultural background can influence your emotional experience, and how you can work with legacy burdens in your healing process
• Grief as a multi-dimensional experience – it's not just about sadness, but can include anger, regret, or even relief
• Religious Grief and Trauma – how religious trauma can exile parts of ourselves, such as those feeling grief or anger, and the need for compassionate acknowledgment of them
• All parts grieve differently and how to welcome all parts into the grieving process. How can understanding the different ways we grieve help us heal?
• Honoring angry parts – befriend anger by understanding its role in protecting something important
• IFS and Grief – how IFS uniquely holds space for grief

Favorite Quotes:

• “It's not just that everybody grieves differently, but every part of you grieves differently as well.”
• "Angry parts are there because they are protecting something valuable.”

About Audrey Davidheiser: Audrey Davenheiser is a licensed psychologist, certified IFS therapist, and the author of the forthcoming book, Wholehearted Grieving. She specializes in working with trauma survivors, with a focus on grief and spiritual abuse.

Audrey is leading a session at the 2024 IFS Annual Conference, October 24-25, 2024, called Working With Grieving Parts.

• Audrey’s website: AimForBreakthrough.com
• Follow Audrey on Instagram: @DrAudreyD

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

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

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