Friends of the Collective Spotlight: Heather Smith, MA, LPC (she/her)
We are thrilled to introduce you to Heather Smith, MA, LPC (she/her), a valued member of the IFS Telehealth Collective community. Heather is the founder of The Moxie School, LLC and has dedicated eight years of her life to the practice of Internal Family Systems (IFS). Her journey is an inspiring one, marked by a burning question: 'How do people heal?' Today, we're excited to dive into Heather's story, her work as an IFS therapist, and the incredible resources she has created to bridge the world of IFS and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy.
Thank you, Heather, for being a Friend of the Collective and for sharing your journey and work with our community!
What is the name of your company or practice, if different from, your name?
The Moxie School, LLC
Tell us briefly about yourself and how you discovered the IFS model.
Early in my private practice I asked myself the question "how do people heal?" I was feeling highly accountable for providing people a service that would legitimately help them and the tools and techniques I learned in grad school were not sufficient. Soon after I asked this question, IFS entered my life and I began both my own personal therapy as well as learning this model professionally by attending every training I could get into. Luckily back then getting into a weekend retreat with Dick Schwartz was not that difficult! Soon after learning about IFS I learned about Psychedelic Assisted Therapy through MAPS and how it was significantly helpful in treating PTSD; I was instantly magnetized and curious about this highly transformative therapy. Since then I've been integrating the two models and so grateful to have found an answer to my question! It's such a great thing to be confident in knowing I can truly guide clients towards transformative healing.
Please describe your work as an IFS therapist and how long you have been working with the Model.
I've been working with IFS for 8 years, mostly in private practice with adults; however, over the past 2 years I've been transitioning to full time teaching and consultation for IFS Informed Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. The Moxie School was founded in January 2021 to support those interested in learning how to incorporate parts work and expanded states of consciousness.
Is there something in particular about working with IFS that excites you?
What excites me the most about the IFS Model is that it actually points to aspects of ourselves that already exist; it simply gives language and guidance as to how to be in relationship with this organic system. And, as a result we can experience definitive shifts in our experience of life. This is revolutionary and amazing to encounter!
Tell us about the IFS-inspired resource you’ve created that is featured on Friends of the Collective?
Immerse is our newest offering! In this 12-week life-changing immersive journey, we’re delving into personal practices, parts exploration, and expanded states of consciousness; including a 6-day adventure in Costa Rica, where we’ll explore plant medicine through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS).
The Art of Guiding course is specifically for IFS trained professionals (Level 1 and beyond) who have an interest in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and want to learn more about this form of therapy as well as how to integrate the two models. 12 hour course
The Art of Transformation is specifically for those who have not yet attended a Level 1 training but are interested in learning how to work with parts as it applies to the preparation, guiding, and integration of psychedelic healing work. This course begins to give professionals parts language and basic skills for beginning to work with parts to exponentiate healing growth that comes from these deep states of exploration. 50 hour course
What inspired you to create your products/services?
After consulting hundreds of hours of client sessions, it became apparent to me that those who had a solid foundation in parts work were eliciting much more from their expanded states experiences than those who had no navigation tools or templates for "going inside" and working with their internal / biographical material. Working in expanded states can provide an epic amount of "witnessing" and recall of material that one may not normally have. It can ultimately be too much for one's system and cause significant backlash. Or, on the flip side, if a client is familiar with parts and unblending and has practice in accessing Self, their experience of these states of exploration can be very beneficial and transformative. I became inspired to share IFS with the world of psychedelic practitioners (and to share psychedelic therapy with the IFS community) to support the betterment of this practice through the combination of these modalities.
Who would benefit most from your IFS resources and how can people access your product/service?
Anyone who is interested in the intersection of IFS and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy will benefit from a variety of resources at The Moxie School. In addition to our courses and the Immerse program we also provide Practice Groups and Individual Consultation.
All the details are at: www.moxieschool.com
Also, you can email me at: heather@moxieschool.com
Please describe any future plans or next steps for your service/product that you would like to share.
I'm very excited to be rolling out the Immerse program in 2024! This program is so rich! It's full of teaching, community connection and personal development opportunities that will support you both personally and professionally for years to come.
We’d love to hear a success story or positive feedback you’ve received from someone who has experienced your IFS resource.
Heather's mentorship was the literally best investment. Heather's knowledge, enthusiasm and her ability to hold space for all made the experience so beautiful. The combination of didactics, demo's and practice groups not only deepened my understanding of the IFS model and how it complements psychedelic assisted therapy preparation and integration, but also provided me with the tools to work with my own parts and those of others with more ease. I feel really confident going into my level 1 training and look forward to working with Heather through her consultation offerings.
- Tiffany C.
"I recently attended a week-long training in the Netherlands on IFS (Internal Family Systems) and I have to say it was one of the most engaging and insightful training experiences I've had. Our trainer Heather, was absolutely brilliant! Her knowledge of the subject matter was impressive, but what really stood out was her ability to make complex concepts accessible and easy to understand. What I appreciated most about Heather was her passion and enthusiasm for the material. She brought so much energy and excitement to the training that it made learning a true pleasure. Her warmth and genuine care for the participants made the experience even more rewarding. Overall, I would highly recommend this training to anyone interested in IFS or wanting to deepen their understanding of the model. Thanks to our wonderful trainer, I feel much more equipped to work with my clients using this approach and I am excited to see the positive impact it will have on their lives."
- Corporate Coach, Netherlands
What is your favorite IFS aligned quote, poem, song, book, TV show or movie? Why?
"Know Thyself."
I love this quote, as for me, it's a "harm reduction strategy" (in psychedelic-assisted therapy we talk a lot about "harm reduction"). By knowing ourselves well, especially the super blended or unconscious parts of ourselves, we can align into even more self-led, loving humans. When we don't know ourselves or our parts well we are much more liable to harming ourselves and others.
Anything else you want readers to know?
I welcome healing professionals from all walks; at The Moxie School we've had practitioners who were from Shamanic healing backgrounds, Sound Healers, Body Workers, Doctors, Nurses, Entrepreneurs, Breathworkers, etc. So many people from all different walks of life are getting inspired by the transformative power of plant medicines and they are welcome to learn IFS Informed Psychedelic Assisted Therapy at The Moxie School.
How can people learn more about your offerings and stay in touch?
We’re so pleased to be able to offer this resource and see our IFS community connected in a new way. Visit the Friends of the Collective page to browse the current profiles or submit your own! For the full step-by-step guide to creating your entry & advertising on our site, start by downloading this PDF.
