Making Peace with the Inner Critic through Expressive Arts and Parts (IFS) Work
Friday, May 15, 2026 | 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM EST
JCS is very excited to welcome Nancy Scherlong, LCSW, PTR, CJT, M/S, as our 2026 guest speaker. Nancy is owner of the psychotherapy, coaching and consultation and training business entitled Change Your Narrative LCSW PLLC. She is a corporate wellness educator, coach and trauma therapist trained in the methods of EMDR, SE, IFS, MBSR, DBT, poetry, journal therapy and psychodrama. She presently serves as senior adjunct faculty for Adelphi University’s online and residential MSW programs where she has also created a certificate program for the Applied Expressive Arts in Counseling. Later this year, Nancy is completing Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine certificate and is a former field instructor and campus advisor for their school of social welfare program. She is core faculty at the Therapeutic Writing Institute and teaches for Kint Institute in their multi-year training program for trauma-focused expressive arts. She provides agency consultation as well as offers psychodrama and therapeutic writing training for professionals.
About this Lecture
This highly experiential four-hour workshop will equip therapists with beginning skills to integrate self-compassion and the foundation of parts work (internal family systems) to reduce burnout, manage countertransference, and enhance therapeutic presence. Through selected literature, written and enacted metaphors and expressive writing techniques, participants will learn to identify their own protective/critical parts, cultivate inner compassion, and guide clients in befriending difficult emotions to foster resilience and secure internal attachment. No prior experience is needed with either writing or action arts methods and is appropriate for generalists and specialists alike in their daily or therapeutic work. This workshop is an introduction only and does not substitute for in-depth training in IFS, expressive arts or journal/poetry therapy, all of which have their own certification and training programs.
Early Bird Registration (by 4/03/26): $55 | General Registration (after 4/03/26): $65 | Student Registration: $50 | Registration Closes 5/14/26
Click Here to RegisterLearning Objectives: Participants will be able to…
- Identify the three key evidence-based components of self-compassion (self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness) and be able to use them in their daily practice to reduce professional burnout and to enhance client resilience and nervous system regulation.
- Explain the fundamental principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and how they align with the cultivation of self-compassion (including the “8 C’s” of Self-leadership) in clinical work.
- Discover how externalization techniques from IFS and the arts can reduce client defensiveness and enhance the therapeutic relationship.
- Implement at least 4 different writing techniques from the Journal Ladder to help clients structure, pace and contain therapeutic concerns.
Course Outline:
10 -10:15 Introductions/Community Agreements
10:15 -12:00 Didactic/Experientials
12:00 -12:30 Lunch Break
12:30 -1:45 Didactic/Experientials
1:45 – 2:00 Bio/Stretch Break
2:00 – 3:00 Closing Activities/Q& A