Consultation Is About Becoming: IFS Group Consultation with The Shiftless Wanderer
July 22nd, 2026 —There comes a point in every therapist's journey when reading another book or taking another training isn't enough. You’re a professional now! You’ve read the books and done the trainings! It’s time now to sit with other professionals as colleagues and offer your expertise while benefitting from the wisdom of your peers.
Being a therapist is a lonely profession. The work is done in an office alone or online. Just you and your client. You can’t talk about your clients with your friends or family. Consultation is the place where you can bring the complexities, your confusions, and the heartache that comes from working with emotional and relational wounds.
In the face of all of that, as therapists, we need a place to slow down. A place where we can bring the cases that leave us scratching our heads, the sessions that stirred up our own parts, and the moments when we quietly wonder, Did I miss something? Without feeling ashamed or less than because we don’t have all the answers.
This is what I have worked to create in our consultation groups. Not simply supervision. Not just education. But a community of practitioners committed to becoming better therapists by becoming more deeply acquainted with themselves. A community of professionals who validate and respect one another and are keenly aware of the responsibilities that come with being therapists.
Your IFS training And IFS In The Therapy Room Are Vastly Different Things!
Internal Family Systems is beautifully elegant in theory. I remember my Level 1 training, being blown away by the power of the work. I was excited and intimidated by the skill of the lead trainer and the level of Self energy in my program assistants. I wanted to be like them when I grew up! I finished my training ready to go back to my office and ‘do IFS’ with my clients. It did not go as smoothly as expected. It is elegant in theory, yes, and the learning curve is steep in the office. As I said, it is lonely business.
We sit with a client and a protector refuses to step aside. Our own urgent parts appear. Then the second-guessing begins, the Inner Critics show up. A client asks a question we don't know how to answer, or an exile appears before protectors have given permission. We find ourselves blended with so many different parts and can’t find our way out of the tangled vines. This does not mean we have failed. When our parts show up and don’t leave, we are being invited to become curious about our own system so we can invite curiosity.
Consultation gives us a place to do exactly that.
How The Shiftless Wanderer’s Consultation Groups Are A Bit Different
I know there are some great consultation groups out there. I’ve been in some and have colleagues who rave about this group and others praise that group. No question that the IFS community is rich in wonderful, highly skilled, Self-led folks who are at the helm of trainings, workshops, and consult groups. We are fortunate indeed.
But I will say that mine are a bit different for a few reasons. I believe strongly that my voice should not be the voice of authority in the room or the one that speaks the most. I love hearing what everyone brings to the work. Over the months as we meet and hear what each person has to offer, a sense of trust, respect, and most of all, safety grows swiftly. It’s vulnerable work to bring confusion, not knowing, fuck-ups, and our activated parts to a group of professionals!
Fostering and facilitating the level of Self energy and safety in the process of group consultation is, I believe, one of the most important things I can do as a consultant. Maybe even more than lending my expertise because the paradox and paradigm of Internal Family Systems is that Self energy is the healing agent, not the therapist’s (or consultant’s) expert knowledge. In the consulting groups, we co-create mutual respect, generous sharing of resources and ideas, loads of authentic validation, and celebrations of progress, fortitude, and commitment to our clients and the work.
Over and over again I hear participants say, "That wasn't my case, but it could have been." One person's question becomes everyone's learning. One therapist's courage in sharing uncertainty creates permission for the rest of us to do the same. There is something profoundly healing and reassuring knowing that we all have therapist parts who worry, hesitate, or become activated. That we all are human.
Bringing More Than IFS Into the Conversation
While IFS provides the primary framework for our work together, I also bring my background in Jungian and archetypal psychology, more than three decades of working with adolescents and families, and years of experience navigating complex trauma, family systems, unattached burdens, and developmental challenges.
No two cases are exactly alike. Rather than looking for formulas, we cultivate the capacity to listen deeply—to the client's system, to our own, and to the wisdom that emerges when we stay curious long enough. Where appropriate and expands perspective and other ways of knowing, we welcome more than Internal Family Systems which is true to the model, really. IFS as a therapeutic modality is not in service to the therapeutic modality but is in service to building relationships between Self and parts—in our clients and in our selves. For that reason, diversity is welcome in The Shiftless Wanderer’s consultation groups.
The Four Tools Are Alive in Consultation
The same four principles that guide all of The Shiftless Wanderer's work are present in every consultation group.
We practice validation—not only for our clients, but for ourselves and one another.We cultivate compassionate curiosity instead of rushing toward certainty.We learn again and again that love and courage are far more effective guides than fear.The fourth tool in The Shiftless Wanderer’s toolbox—understanding the essential nature of Adolescence—comes to the forefront not only when we’re case consulting on teenagers, but also when clients are working with Adolescent parts. There is the ongoing work to create environments that are healthy for adolescents, whether they are present or not. Adolescents are the canaries in the mine; if it’s not healthy for adolescents, it’s not healthy for us. This is a lens through which I filter most of my experiences in the world. [end bullet list]
These aren't simply concepts we discuss; we embody them in our group consultation. They become lived experience in the moment.
Consultation Is About Becoming
Many people assume consultation is primarily about getting answers. I know that’s what I thought and what I wanted when I was on the steep IFS-therapist learning curve. I wanted someone to tell me how to do it right. I discovered quickly that it just didn’t work that way. Being a skilled IFS therapist is about becoming the kind of therapist who can stay present when there are no easy answers.
It is about developing confidence that comes not from knowing everything, but from trusting your capacity to remain connected, curious, and compassionate—especially when you are in the midst of uncertainty.
In many ways, consultation is where the real integration happens. Your IFS training introduced you to the model. Your own IFS therapy is where you go to the places you need to go so you can accompany your clients on their journey. And consultation is where we take the time to look at how these come together—your personal work, your professional work, and your client’s work.
If You're Looking for a Place to Grow
None of us were ever meant to do this work alone. And perhaps that is one of the most important things our clients teach us every day.
Whether you've recently completed Level 1 training or you've been practicing IFS for years, there is something deeply nourishing about learning alongside other thoughtful practitioners. Here’s what some of my past cohort participants have said about IFS Group Consultations:
“Robin is warm, caring and welcoming. She shares her deep wisdom and experience so graciously and holds each group member delicately while cultivating a group dynamic where each member trusts and values each other. I have gleaned so much from my group experience under Robin’s guidance. I highly recommend.”
“Robin is a sensitive, down to earth , knowledgeable supervisor with a wealth of wisdom that she generously shares with the group . We have all grown as practitioners and I truly believe a big part of that is due to the wonderful support our supervision group offers with Robin at its helm .”
If you're longing for a consultation experience that values depth, curiosity, and community over competition, I'd love to welcome you.
You can find out more about our next cohort here or alternatively you can send me a message over on my Instagram or pop me an email at robinbarre@theshiftlesswanderer.com
Photo By: Canva