Register and Learn More Here: https://ssw.unc.edu/event/behind-the-therapy-chair-the-parts-we-dont-talk-about-w-tasha-hunter-lcsw/
Clinicians carry more than the stories of the people they serve—they also carry their own history, systemic pressures, and the unspoken emotional weight of the work. Yet, in the field of social work and mental health, we rarely make space to explore the clinician’s inner life. This 3-day, experiential training uses the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model to help social workers and mental health professionals identify, map, and tend to the “parts” that emerge in professional practice. Participants will explore parts that develop early in a clinician’s career, those that surface during burnout, moral injury, and vicarious trauma, and the often-unspoken parts that appear in moments of rupture, self-doubt, loneliness, and systemic strain.
Through a combination of didactic teaching, guided meditations, structured reflection, and experiential breakout groups, participants will:
Identify clinician parts activated by challenging clinical situations, systemic inequities, and personal life events.
Practice skills for unblending from activated parts and connecting to Self-energy in the moment.
Explore how to tend to exiled parts carrying the emotional residue of client stories.
Name and normalize experiences often left unspoken in the field, including grief, frustration, ethical dilemmas, identity fatigue, and financial strain.
Develop sustainable, values-aligned practices for maintaining longevity and integrity in the work.
This training offers a safe, compassionate space to acknowledge what it means to be a helping professional today—and to leave with greater clarity, self-compassion, and connection to the “why” that brought you to this work.
Format:
The course blends short lectures, large group discussions, guided meditations, journaling, and small group experiential exercises. The training emphasizes participant choice, emotional pacing, and the creation of a supportive learning environment.