Email: contact@souliology.com
THE SPIRITUAL LENS OF IFS
A 2-DAY EXPERIENTIAL ONLINE WORKSHOP ON CULTURAL & LEGACY BURDENS
WITH KAY GARDNER
DECEMBER 4–5, 2026
Workshop Description
The Spiritual Lens of IFS: A 2-Day Experiential Online Workshop on Cultural and Legacy Burdens with Kay Gardner
December 4–5, 2026
Who we are is shaped not only by our personal life experiences but also by the cultural, familial, ancestral, and societal influences that have been passed from generation to generation. These inherited beliefs, values, expectations, and emotional burdens can become woven into our internal system, quietly shaping our identity, relationships, protective strategies, and the way we respond to life's challenges.
This two-day experiential online workshop with Kay Gardner explores cultural and legacy burdens through The Spiritual Lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS), offering participants a compassionate and experiential framework for understanding how inherited burdens live within our internal world and how they can be met with the healing qualities of Self.
Building on the foundations of Kay's residential retreat, The Spiritual & Energetic Lens of IFS, this workshop is part of a series of focused online experiences, each exploring a different dimension of spirituality within the IFS model. This workshop focuses specifically on the relationship between cultural and legacy burdens, the Five Personality Patterns, Self-Leadership, and ancestral healing.
What to expect …..
Throughout the workshop, participants will explore how inherited cultural narratives, family beliefs, societal expectations, and intergenerational patterns influence the internal system. They will also be introduced to the Five Personality Patterns and discover how these patterns shape perception, relationships, and the ways our parts respond to both present-day challenges and inherited burdens.
Through guided meditation, experiential exercises, movement, dyadic inquiry, and both small and large group processes, participants will learn to distinguish inherited beliefs, emotions, and burdens from their authentic Self while cultivating greater curiosity, compassion, and Self-Leadership in relating to these patterns.
Rather than approaching these themes as concepts alone, this workshop invites participants into direct, embodied experiences that deepen connection with their inner wisdom, ancestral lineage, and innate capacity for healing.
By integrating the spiritual dimensions of IFS with contemplative practice and experiential learning, participants will leave with a richer understanding of how legacy and cultural burdens can be transformed, creating greater freedom, clarity, and authenticity in their lives.
Learning Objectives....
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Understand legacy and cultural burdens through an Internal Family Systems (IFS) and ancestral healing lens.
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Explore how cultural, familial, ancestral, and societal influences shape our beliefs, behaviours, protective strategies, and sense of identity.
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Learn to recognize the impact of inherited cultural narratives, values, expectations, and intergenerational patterns on the internal system.
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Learn about the Five Personality Patterns and how they shape perception, relationships, and ways of being.
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Recognize how the Five Personality Patterns influence the way parts respond to life's challenges and inherited burdens.
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Distinguish inherited beliefs, emotions, and burdens from your authentic Self.
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Explore the relationship between personality patterns, legacy burdens, cultural burdens, and Self-Leadership.
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Engage in experiential practices that deepen connection with your inner wisdom, ancestral lineage, and capacity for healing inherited patterns.
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Develop greater Self-Leadership in relating to legacy and cultural burdens with curiosity, compassion, and discernment.
This workshop is highly experiential and includes guided meditations, movement practices, dyadic work, live demonstrations, reflective writing, and large-group dialogue. So please come with an open mind and a willing to work in partnership with another participant throughout the workshop.
Who This Workshop Is For
This workshop is designed for:
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IFS-informed therapists, practitioners, and facilitators.
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Coaches, healers, and other helping professionals who are IFS informed.
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Individuals with a solid foundation in IFS who wish to deepen their understanding of cultural and legacy burdens through an experiential and spiritually informed IFS lens.
Because this workshop is deeply experiential and builds on existing IFS concepts, prior familiarity with the Internal Family Systems model is essential.
IMPORTANT: This online workshop is llimited to 40 participants and all participants must be IFS informed as we will not be covering the basic principles of IFS during the workshop.
This IFS workshop has approval for 10 IFS-CE credits, which may be applied toward IFS certification or recertification.
A little about Kay....
Kay Gardner is one of the pioneering Lead Trainers in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and has maintained a private psychotherapy practice in Chicago for over 40 years. An IFS therapist, former IFS Lead Trainer, and internationally respected workshop leader, Kay is renowned for integrating the spiritual, energetic, and experiential dimensions of IFS into her teaching, consultation, and clinical work.
As an IFS Institute–approved Consultant, Kay has spent decades training, mentoring, and consulting with therapists and practitioners around the world, supporting them to deepen both their clinical practice and their own embodied experience of Self-Leadership. She is widely recognised for her expertise in legacy burdens, cultural burdens, ancestral healing, and for helping practitioners develop a deeper relationship with Self energy, intuition, presence, spirituality and inner wisdom.
Kay's work bridges traditional psychotherapy with contemplative and spiritual practice, offering a grounded and compassionate approach to exploring the profound healing potential of the internal system. Her teaching is experiential, spacious, and deeply respectful of the sacred nature of inner work, encouraging participants to slow down, listen deeply, and allow transformation to unfold through curiosity, presence, and Self-led awareness.
In addition to leading retreats, workshops, and professional consultation groups internationally, Kay has mentored countless IFS therapists throughout their professional development. She is also co-founder of the Women's Circle in Chicago and has facilitated acclaimed workshops including Persephone's Journey, Men and Their Mothers, Women and Their Fathers, Legacy Burdens, and Sacred Theatre for Couples.
Workshop particulars
Applications are now open for this 2-day online workshop in December 2026
This workshop will be delivered over two days as follows:
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Friday, December 4, 2026 - 10am to 5pm, ET, USA
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Saturday, December 5, 2026 - 10am to 5pm, ET, USA
This online workshop is llimited to 40 participants and all participants must be IFS informed as we will not be covering the basic principles of IFS during the workshop. An application form will be available to you once you register your interest and your place on the workshop will only be confirmed once a $500 non-refundable and non-transferable participation fee is received. We require a minimum of 24 applicants for this workshop to proceed. If we do not get the required numbers for the workshop to proceed, we will refund all fees paid to Souliology for the workshop cost only. Thank you.
IMPORTANT: Please read our FAQS page on this website. The FAQS page provides general information which you may find useful. If after reading it you have any further questions, please feel free to email us at contact@souliology.com.
THE SPIRITUAL LENS OF IFS - A 2-DAY EXPERIENTIAL WORKSHOP
2-Day Online Workshop Schedule – This is a broad outline of what the schedule will look like but please note it is subject to change at the workshop leaders discretion.
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Friday, December 4th, 2026 - 10am - 5pm ET, USA
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Saturday, December 5th, 2026 - 10am - 5pm ET, USA
Friday - December 4th
Saturday - December 5th
10am – 1pm
1pm - 2pm
2pm - 5pm
10am – 1pm
1pm - 2pm
2pm - 5pm
Morning Session
Lunch
Afternoon Session
Morning Session
Lunch
Afternoon Session
Your Investment:
Total Online Workshop Cost - $500 USD per participant (strictly non-refundable and non-transferable).
Applications are now open for this online workshop with Kay Gardner, an internationally respected IFS therapist, consultant, retreat & workshop leader and an expert in cultural and legacy Burdens.
If you would like to participate, please register your interest. You will then be automatically directed to complete the online registration form. Only applicants who submit a completed registration form will be considered for this workshop.
If your application is approved, you will receive a formal acceptance email containing a secure credit card payment link. Payment of the non-refundable and non-transferable workshop fee of $500 USD is required to secure your place on the workshop.
IMPORTANT: Please read the FAQs page on our website for important information regarding our policies, including cancellations, refunds, and the arrangements we have in place in the unlikely event that the workshop leader is unable to attend. The FAQs also contain additional information you may find helpful. If you have any further questions after reviewing the FAQs, please feel free to contact us at contact@souliology.com.