Awakened IFS-2
Deepening Competence and Confidence
with Internal Family Systems
Awakened IFS-2 (AIFS-2) is a six-month, comprehensive professional training and personal development workshop that builds on the fundamentals of Internal Family Systems and awake awareness.
It is for healing practitioners who already have experience using IFS and are seeking greater confidence and competence working with complex systems.
AIFS-2 brings the magic of Presence to the forefront. You will experience coming into embodied, open-hearted Presence. You become adept at creating relational containers conducive to healing and working calmly, confidently, and creatively.
AIFS-2 is also a personal development workshop where, within our safe and intimate community, you transform. As you continue to heal and awaken, you gain even greater capacity to guide others in their healing and awakening.
Note: The Institute for Healing and Awakening is not affiliated with the IFS Institute. We are, however, deeply indebted to IFS developer Richard C. Schwartz. His teachings have inspired us, and we are grateful for his generosity in sharing the model.
Join us for a free informational webinar
Meet founders Guthrie Sayen and Barti Bourgault
Bring your questions about Awakened IFS-2
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
12:00 - 1:00 pm Eastern Time (New York)
AIFS-2 overview
(Click the down arrow for more information.)
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Module 1: Jan 28 - 29, 2027
Module 2: Feb 25 - 26, 2027
Module 3: Mar 25 - 26, 2027
Module 4: Apr 22 - 23, 2027
Module 5: May 20 - 21, 2027
Module 6: Jun 17 - 18, 2027
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$500 early bird savings through December 28, 2026. Tuition increases to $3,750 after that date. Payment plan available.
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Two 15-minute breaks and one 60-minute break included.
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12 full-day classes on Zoom presented as six monthly two-day modules.
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Interactive teaching, live demonstrations, Q&A, peer practice, 7.5 hours of group mentoring, guided meditations, a complete course manual, class recordings
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Coaches, therapists, spiritual directors, dietitians, mindfulness teachers, body workers, yoga instructors, and other healing practitioners
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To create a safe and intimate container that allows for vulnerability and healing, we limit the number of students to 36.
Relationships among the cohort and with the trainers and mentors flourish. Community is created.
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This training offers 40 CCEs (pending approval) from the International Coaching Federation.
What makes Awakened IFS-2 different?
While the course content includes IFS tools to use when faced with complex systems, what makes this training unique is how deeply you will experience your own ground, heart, and access to the field of awake awareness.
In our “top-down” approach, you learn to access Self directly. You will find greater and more stable access to Presence.
In other words, you will not only become more competent and confident healing parts one by one — what we call the “bottom-up” approach — you will become a conduit for Divine energy.
You will create the relational container conducive to parts softening, internal systems reorganizing, and IFS becoming an even more powerful tool for transformation.
To preserve the depth and intimacy of the training, enrollment is limited to 36 participants.
Early enrollment is encouraged to secure your spot.
Have questions? Email us to see if the training is right for you.
What will I learn?
You will learn how to:
Hold a system-wide perspective
Meet challenging managers and firefighters
Handle thinking, Self-like, and dissociating parts
Work with multiple parts seeking attention at once
Manage big emotions safely
Resolve conflicts between polarized parts
Follow up on unburdenings that do not stick
Release legacy burdens
Work with your own parts that block access to Self
Stabilize in Self energy to hold a compassionate, non-judgmental, and agenda-less presence
What will I get?
Intermediate training in using IFS starting with a review of the model
Greater access to your own wisdom, divinity, and wellbeing
Greater competence and confidence in working one-on-one with highly complex systems
Deeper understanding and experience of consciousness and its contents
Multiple full-length, live demos
A community of lightworkers
Group mentoring, downloadable class recordings, and a comprehensive course manual
A certificate of completion indicating you’ve earned 40 ICF CCEs
Is this for me?
This program is for coaches, therapists, spiritual directors, and other practitioners who are currently using the IFS model in their healing work.
You may be:
Seeking an increased capacity to work from Self and attune to your intuition and innate wisdom
Desiring additional training in working with complex systems
Wanting an intimate and playful learning community where wisdom and confidence emerge from the cohort itself
Yearning for a training that is grounded in a heart-centered, Spirit-directed approach — one that includes, yet transcends, skills and protocols
Prerequisite:
We ask that you be a graduate of AIFS-1 or a trained coach, therapist, or other practitioner with experience working with the IFS model one-on-one in a healing relationship.
Please contact us if you are not sure you qualify: programs@healingandawakening.institute.
What students are saying
Diana Dugan Richards, RDN, LDN
Level 3 Certified IFS Practitioner
Scott Plate, MFA, ACC, CIPF
Co-founder Native Heartseed
Sherry Golden, MA, MSW she/her/s
Certified IFS Practitioner (L-3)
FINDING HOME: journeysthatheal.com
Support for your journey
Six live two-day module
Learn live with Guthrie Sayen and Barti Bourgault. Experience clear teaching, meditations, IFS demos, and Q&A.
AIFS-2 manual
Receive a comprehensive manual to help you integrate your learning.
Class recordings
All live sessions are recorded and can be watched afterward.
7.5 hours of group mentoring
Mentors provide feedback on your skills according to the CIFS protocol.
Certificate of completion plus 40 ICF CCEs
Format
This is an intimate and interactive training made up of six monthly two-day modules.
Our two-day modules (Thu, Fri) will take place Jan - June 2027. All classes are live on Zoom.
Each day:
We meet from 10:30 am – 5:00 pm Eastern Time (New York).
We take two 15-minute breaks and one 60-minute meal break.
Class days include a combination of mindfulness practices, teaching, demonstrations, debriefs, Q&A, peer practice, and mentoring.
Our goal is to provide a learning environment that is structured, open, inclusive, and energizing and to create a community that is connected and resonant.
Your commitment
Attend at least nine, and preferably all 12 class days. Exceptions are given with instructor pre-approval.
Study the course manual.
For classes missed, watch the class recordings.
Meet with your practice partner(s) at least three times between classes.
Class dates/times
All classes are on Thursdays and Fridays
10:30 am – 5:00 pm Eastern Time (New York)
on Zoom
Module 1: Jan 28 - 29, 2027
Module 2: Feb 25 - 26, 2027
Module 3: Mar 25 - 26, 2027
Module 4: Apr 22 - 23, 2027
Module 5: May 20 - 21, 2027
Module 6: Jun 17 - 18, 2027
Payment Options for Awakened IFS-2
Cohorts are limited to 36 students.
Pay In Full
One payment
$3,750
$500 early bird discount through December 1
$3,250
Payment Plan
Two payments
$1,950
$500 early bird discount through December 1
$1,700
$1,700 due upon enrollment
$1,700 due December 1
Frequently asked questions
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Our trainings provide you with the fundamental skills to work in healing relationship with another. In addition, you will acquire advanced skills that distinguish you from other practitioners.
Here is what sets us apart:
Our offerings are both personal development workshops and professional trainings. Your healing and awakening supports you in facilitating the healing and awakening in others.
We bring people like you, healers and seekers, into intimate and loving relationship with yourself and with Spirit.
We believe healing and awakening are relational processes. Therefore, we create safe and intimate circles where you are invited to take the risks necessary for foundational change. We limit our training cohorts to 36 students.
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Healing is about wholeness, finding the parts of us that have been hurt and loving them back to health.
Awakening is about shifting out of thought-based mind into the clarity of awake awareness.
Awareness is about disidentifying with the contents of consciousness -- thoughts, emotions, and sensations -- and realizing that you are consciousness itself, that which experiences thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
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Awakened IFS is a Presence-based training that teaches you how to safely use the IFS model in a healing relationship to support your clients in accessing their own confidence, calm and creativity – so they can be in choice in their lives, finding the answers they are seeking within themselves.
This is an ICF-approved training providing 40 CCEs – 32 core competency hours and 8 resource development hours.
It is also appropriate for therapists, spiritual directors, dietitians. or others who are experienced practitioners in the healing arts.
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic methodology that is in alignment with the principles of coaching — that we are already whole, wise, good, and fully resourced. It is a constraint-release model (removing obstacles) that does not pathologize the client.
IFS looks at a client’s system as being one made up of multiple parts. (For example, “A part of me is frightened about this, and a part of me is excited.”) When parts come into relationship with Self (with a capital S — your client’s true nature), they soften back and allow Self to lead. Self is naturally confident, calm, clear, courageous, connected, compassionate, creative, and curious.
The model was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, with whom Guthrie Sayen, the creator of Awakened IFS, has deep connection and great respect.
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Our programs go beyond teaching the basic skills of being in healing relationship with another. They offer you training in how to shift into full presence: equanimity, clarity, and confidence. We also show you how to amplify that in your clients.
We often have therapists, spiritual directors, dietitians, and other healing practitioners in our IFS trainings due to the range of topics we cover, the emphasis on Spirit, and the degree of safety and intimacy cultivated in our classes.
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You may call yourself an Awakened IFS practitioner.
For graduates of Awakened IFS-3, we are offering a certification program. If you complete this program, you may call yourself a Certified Awakened IFS Practitioner.
This is a professional training in all phases of the IFS protocol, including the unburdening of exiles. We also emphasize accessing and amplifying Self throughout the training.
We pride ourselves on the quality and depth of our trainings and strive to graduate highly skilled, Self-led practitioners.
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We limit our class size to 36 students to maintain a safe and intimate learning environment. We keep things small to ensure everyone gets the attention and support they need.
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The following outlines a typical day:
Presence practice
Teaching
Break
Demo and debrief
Meal break
Peer practice or group mentoring
Debrief and Q&A
Break
Teaching
Additional demo or Q&A
Crystallize the learning
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We recommend attending no less than 80% of class time to get the full benefit of each training.
If you need to miss more than 20% of live class time, please contact the program director for approval.
If you miss more than 50% of the live sessions, you will not be eligible for a certificate of completion.
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Awakened IFS provides ten hours of group mentoring during class time where you will receive valuable feedback. We break into small groups in which the students coach each other with a qualified mentor present. The mentor's feedback is meant to build confidence and support your growth as a practitioner.
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In our trainings, you will practice with your peers during class in small groups with mentor feedback. These are followed by Q&A in the full class.
You will also be put in practice dyads that meet three times between training sessions.
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All cancellations up to one month before a program start date will receive a full refund, less a $150 cancellation fee.
Cancellations after one month before the start date and before the start of the second session will receive a refund of 75% of the total cost of the course.
No refunds are offered after the second session.
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We do not offer partial completion credit for our trainings. You must complete the entire training to receive your certificate of completion.
If you are unable to complete a training due to health or other emergency reasons, please contact the program director. We will do our best to include you in the next training to complete the course at no additional charge.
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We strive to co-create a spirit of belonging. We want each of you to feel empowered to use your voice and participate fully by agreeing to:
Maintain confidentiality. Whatever is learned about another is not shared with anyone without express permission.
Practice your freedom of choice. All activities are an invitation not a requirement.
Practice your own right to privacy, sharing only what feels right and safe to you.
Take care of yourself in whatever way you need, including asking for what you need.
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We ask for mutual respect within our cohorts. This includes:
Arriving on time to all sessions.
Having your camera on for live virtual sessions as much as possible.
Being prepared for the session, assuming responsibility for your learning, and contributing to the learning of others.
Engaging in discussions with integrity.
Being respectful of the learning space, fellow participants, and instructors, including ensuring your space is one where you won’t be interrupted.
Embracing the dignity and humanity of all others.

