You can think of St. Augustine’s heart as an “open book” titled “Confessions.” In this episode, we go deep into his restless heart, sharing with you how well his clear, detailed, and nuanced descriptions of his inner experience reflect Internal Family Systems and parts work so well. As St. Augustine describes his “divided heart” and “conflicting wills” and the stages of his conversion, Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Chrisian Amalu, and Dr. Peter Malinoski show how this translates into IFS terms. And Dr. Christian provides an Augustinian experiential exercise. Join us to see how St. Augustine wisdom connects with and informs Catholic parts work. If you are a Catholic who wants to jumpstart getting to know and love your own parts, check out the Resilient Catholics Community at https://members.soulsandhearts.com/rcc

What can the Early Church Fathers teach us about our inner worlds, the complexity of our psyches? Actually, very much, if we are willing to listen. Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Christian Amalu and me for a highlight tour of what these Early Church Fathers offer us in understanding and loving ourselves, God, and others: St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John of Damascus. We particularly focused in on St. Evagrius discussing the “Christ-self” and the “legion of other selves” within each person. We explore how the Early Church Fathers bring in allegory, metaphor, symbol, and typology to capture more readily the richness, variety, complexity, and beauty of the inner life than we moderns generally do. Dr. Gerry closes with a brief prayer reflection. For the full video experience with visuals, graphics, and for discussion in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Internal Family Systems is extremely popular not only as a therapy model, but as a way of making sense of our inner experience. IFS does not have specifically Catholic origins. But can there be a way of understanding parts work and systems thinking and harmonizing them with an authentically Catholic understanding of the human person? Dr. Christian Amalu, Dr. Peter Martin, Dr. Gerry Crete, and Dr. Peter Malinoski explore that question in these next episodes, starting with Sacred Scripture. What evidence can be found in the Bible to support the major tenets of IFS? How might IFS be understood through a Catholic lens? Join us for a tour of Scripture to answer these questions, with an experiential exercise as well.