ABSTRACT
This chapter explores supervising and consulting informed by Internal Family Systems therapy with clinicians treating military veterans. Case examples show working with supervisees having difficulty building rapport given their civilian status and/or having parts colluding with parts of the veteran who feel isolated, misunderstood, and alone on return home. They discuss the challenges therapists face when their parts feel inadequate or helpless given the magnitude of the veteran’s losses. The authors show working with overwhelmed therapist parts hearing detailed descriptions of their client’s trauma. They explore how to help therapists access Self-energy when their own parts’ political beliefs are in opposition to the war agenda, making it difficult to hold space for the veteran’s parts. The consultants emphasize tracking and working with their own parts triggered by the supervision/consultation process. Finally, they share IFS-informed strategies that support clinicians to be “in the trenches” day after day while reassuring their parts there is goodness and connection in the world.
