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Digital Seminar

Applied IFS Therapy for Highly Sensitive Clients

Using Polyvagal & Parts-Based Interventions for Sensitive & Overwhelmed Nervous Systems
Faculty:
Martina Williams, LCMHC
Duration:
6 Hours 25 Minutes
Copyright:
09 Sep, 2026
Product Code:
POS150801
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Access:
Never expires.
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Description

  • Integrate IFS & Polyvagal tools to decode and treat highly sensitive nervous systems
  • Read autonomic shifts fast and pinpoint the parts that take over in HSP clients
  • Build long term regulation & self-leadership with targeted Polyvagal practices
  • Lead transformative parts dialogues that calm overwhelm and stop emotional flooding

 

So many of your clients swing between intense dysregulation and total shutdown from session to session.

In fact, many might be “highly sensitive people (HSP)” without you even knowing it.

Not because they’re “too sensitive,” but because their nervous systems encode a stronger emotional imprinting – so feelings hit harder and last longer.

But heres’ the thing … you  need to approach these clients differently because… traditional interventions can intensify their dysregulation instead of calming it, accidently making things worse.

That’s why we created this training with Martina Williams, LCMHC, expert in HSP, IFS therapist and highly sensitive person herself … with over three decades of clinical expertise working with HSP clients.

In just one day, Martina will give you a complete toolkit full of IFS therapy and applied polyvagal interventions so you can cut the guesswork and feel competent and confident stepping into this work.

When you register, you’ll get:

  • Easy to use tools to spot core HSP traits and sensitive nervous system patterns
  • Hands-on IFS strategies to reduce overwhelm and prevent emotional collapse
  • Polyvagal skills to create safety and stabilize activation immediately
  • Practical techniques to expand clients’ windows of tolerance beyond the therapy room

Don’t wait for the next emotional storm. Register now and become the therapist that helps clients move from emotional flooding to self-trust, and empowered regulation.

 

This event is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.

CPD

Faculty

Martina Williams, LCMHC's Profile

Martina Williams, LCMHC Related seminars and products

Martina Williams, LCMHC, is an international coach, speaker, psychotherapist and author specializing in trauma recovery, attachment healing, and Internal Family Systems therapy with over thirty years of experience in trauma recovery. She has a focus on high sensitivity, introversion, and spirituality. Martina identifies as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and finds great joy in helping other HSPs. She provides training nationally on IFS, reparenting, and trauma-informed care. She is the co-author of the forthcoming book: An IFS Reparenting Workbook: Internal Family Systems Skills to Heal Childhood Trauma, Nurture Secure Attachments, and Embrace Radical Self-Acceptance.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Martina Williams maintains a private practice and has a employment relationship with Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation. She receives compensation as a mindfulness meditation instructor. Martina Williams receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Martina Williams has no relevant non-financial relationships.

 

Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.


Please Note

This product is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.


Objectives

  1. Identify how heightened neuroception influences emotional reactivity and stress responses.
  2. Examine how protective parts (managers and firefighters) and vulnerable parts (exiles) form in response to overstimulation, developmental trauma, and insufficient early attunement in highly sensitive nervous systems.
  3. Identify how sensitivity amplifies autonomic state shifts and parts activation.
  4. Use IFS-informed techniques for establishing safety and negotiating with protective parts in clients who experience overwhelm, emotional flooding, or shutdown.
  5. Choose Polyvagal-informed interventions to strengthen ventral vagal anchoring, increase nervous system flexibility, and support self-leadership in highly sensitive clients.
  6. Utilize somatic and experiential IFS practices (including journaling, imagery, and body-based awareness) to foster self-to-part trust and emotional regulation.
  7. Integrate cultural, systemic, and intergenerational factors into the understanding of nervous system responses, protector strategies, and vulnerability in highly sensitive individuals to enhance trauma-informed care.

Outline

Foundations of IFS & the Highly Sensitive Nervous System

  • Highly sensitive person (HSP) core traits and environmental sensitivity research
  • The DOES framework and clinical implications of sensitivity
  • Parts as adaptive responses to stress and insufficient attunement
  • Experiential practice: identify current nervous system state

Polyvagal Theory for Sensitive Systems

  • Overview of Polyvagal Theory
  • HSPs neuroception on safety and danger
  • Recognize the three nervous system states in the therapy room
  • Experiential exercise: create ventral vagal anchors to support self-energy
  • Limitations non research (IFS)

Understand State Shifts & Protective Roles

  • The impact of childhood trauma and chronic stress on sensitive systems
  • Why protector parts in HSPs activate quickly and intensely
  • How nervous systems states organize parts, beliefs, and narratives
  • Comon triggers for parts in each autonomic state in HSPs
  • Practical exercise: identify protectors across nervous system states

Parts Mapping Through a Polyvagal Lens

  • Mapping managers, firefighters, and vulnerable parts within nervous system states
  • Differentiate self-led responses from nervous system reactivity
  • Responding from self-energy versus reacting from protector parts
  • Guided meditation exercise for parts mapping

Interventions for Regulation & Emotional Safety

  • Teach clients regulation skills to use outside of sessions
  • Techniques to befriend protector parts
  • Co-regulation skills to enhance therapist attunement and relational safety
  • Recorded demonstration: gain permission to access with a sensitive system

Integration, Resourcing & Closing Practices

  • Skills to increase resourcing and build nervous system capacity
  • Savoring, glimmers, and daily regulation practices
  • Vocal vagal toning strategies and grounding through movement
  • Compassionate self-led dialogues after overload
  • Closing integration, reflect, and Q&A

Target Audience

  • Counsellors
  • Therapists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • School Counsellors
  • School Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Social Workers
  • Behavioral Health Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

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