IFS and HSP:
Working with the Highly Sensitive System
April 25th, 2026, 10 am - 4 pm
with Martina G. Williams
Martina G. Williams, LCMHC, is a certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist, clinical consultant, and educator with more than three decades of experience in mental health and leadership development. As the founder of The Resilient Sensitive, she integrates IFS, Polyvagal theory, and other trauma-informed practices to guide individuals and groups toward resilience, empowerment, and Self-leadership.
Martina has taught and presented widely, offering workshops, keynotes, and mindfulness trainings at national conferences and universities. She is co-author of An IFS Reparenting Workbook (New Harbinger, 2026) and author of The Meditation Doctor (2003).
Her teaching emphasizes practical strategies rooted in deep clinical knowledge, designed to help students and professionals alike cultivate wellness, confidence, and resiliency.
She also brings her experience as Vice-Chair of the Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, where she supports initiatives in mental health, healing through the performing arts and animal welfare, offering a unique perspective that blends clinical expertise with organizational strategy and social change.
Course Description and Educational Goals:
Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) demonstrate a biologically based sensitivity trait characterized by deeper cognitive processing, heightened emotional responsiveness, and increased sensitivity to environmental and interpersonal stimuli. While these traits are not pathological, HSP clients are frequently misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or inadequately supported in clinical settings. This advanced clinical training examines how the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model offers a well-aligned, non-pathologizing framework for working effectively with highly sensitive systems.
This full-day workshop provides a structured overview of high sensitivity using the D.O.E.S. framework—Depth of Processing, Overstimulation, Emotional Responsivity/Empathy, and Sensitivity to Subtleties—while explicitly differentiating the HSP trait from autism spectrum conditions, ADHD, and other forms of neurodivergence. Participants will review relevant clinical research and explore the unique developmental, relational, and systemic challenges faced by highly sensitive individuals.
Clinicians will learn to conceptualize HSP presentations through an IFS lens, including identification of common protective parts, exiles, and associated false beliefs and emotional burdens frequently observed in highly sensitive clients. Experiential exercises and clinical demonstrations support skill development in recognizing how sensitivity shapes the internal system, attachment patterns, and therapeutic alliance. Emphasis is placed on maintaining a high level of Self-energy, attunement, and pacing when working with sensitive nervous systems.
The training also integrates neurobiological and cultural considerations, including the role of neurodivergence, lived experience, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) factors in assessment and treatment planning. Participants will engage in guided self-reflection and experiential practice to identify their own parts related to sensitivity, supporting increased clinician self-awareness and reduced countertransference.
The workshop conveys the importance of nervous system regulation as a prerequisite for effective parts work. Participants will be introduced to somatic IFS interventions, somatic tracking, and polyvagal-informed strategies to support self-regulation and co-regulation with highly sensitive clients. Through dyadic practice and experiential learning, clinicians will develop practical skills for stabilizing the nervous system to enhance readiness for deeper IFS work.
This training is designed for clinicians with prior exposure to IFS who are themselves HSPs or seek to refine their conceptualization and interventions with highly sensitive clients, integrating somatic awareness, attunement, and neurobiological safety into their therapeutic practice.
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Learning Objectives:
- Learners will be able to explain the sensitivity trait through using the DOES acronym.
- Learners will be able to classify three common “protectors” of Highly Sensitive Personsusing the IFS model.
- Learners will be able to identify three common false beliefs and emotional burdens usingthe IFS model.
- Learners will be able to explain the importance of providing a high level of attunement of self-energy according to the IFS model for the client.
- Learners will be able to explain the importance of nervous system regulation and coregulation when working with HSP clients.
- Learners will be able to apply one somatic regulation skill in sessions with clients whileusing the IFS model.
This workshop is designed for:
- Licensed mental health clinicians (psychologists, clinical social workers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists)
- IFS-trained, IFS-informed, or IFS Level 1–certified clinicians seeking advanced application skills
- Clinicians/practitioners who have foundational knowledge of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model and want to deepen their work with highly sensitive clients
- Therapists who identify as Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) and wish to enhance clinical self-awareness and regulation capacity
Participants should have prior exposure to or working familiarity with the IFS model. This training is not designed as an introductory overview of IFS, but rather as an application workshop focused on highly sensitive systems.
Agenda:
10:00 - 11:15: Introduction to HSP Traits and IFS
11:15 - 11:30: 15 minute break*
11:30 - 12:30: Understanding Neurodivergence and Cultural Sensitivity
12:30 - 1:30: 60 minute Lunch/Break*
1:30 - 2:15: Practical Application of IFS with HSP Clients
2:15 - 2:30: 15 Minute Break*
2:30 - 4:00: Interventions and Nervous System Regulation
*Two 15 minute breaks and 1 hour lunch break do not count towards CE hours
Lunch is on us! Mindful Child & Family Therapy will provide a healthy lunch with gluten free, vegan and vegetarian options available. Enjoy a delicious lunch by the sea - prepared lovingly by us!
Register Here Today!
FAQs
Cancellation: Any and all deposits and/or payments for our retreats / courses are nonrefundable and non-transferable. Please note that there will be no refunds for any reason, including illness. Thank you for your understanding.
ADA Accessibility: The training site is ADA approved. If you need special accommodations or have questions, please email sioux@mcaft.com.
Grievances: To obtain our grievance policy or report a grievance, please email sioux@mcaft.com or call 650-297-3400 x 8.
Certificates: Course Completion Certificates will be awarded in exchange for a completed evaluation form.
Course meets the qualifications for 5.5 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Please Note: We have applied for CE's through the IFS institute, but we have not heard back from them yet.
Mindful Child & Family Therapy is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs. Mindful Child & Family Therapy maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
Contact Information: sioux@mcaft.com | 650-297-3400 | www.mcaft.com