Integrating IFS and ACT for Clinical Practice
Rivka A. Edery, PsyD, MSW, LCSW
$29.00 Original price was: $29.00.$23.20Current price is: $23.20.
Course Abstract
Integrating IFS and ACT for Clinical Practice is a 2-hour online video-based continuing education (CE) course that explores the integration of Internal Family Systems (IFS) with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Dr. Rivka Edery presents the U-Model™, a clinical framework that integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) to enhance therapeutic effectiveness, especially with clients experiencing trauma, complex protection-exile dynamics, and legacy burdens. This approach reframes resistance and stuckness as protective actions by internal parts rather than problems to be overcome, offering clinicians both a functional container (ACT) and relational content (IFS) to guide therapy.
The U-Model™ unfolds in three phases – descent, turn, and ascent – mirroring a “U-shaped” clinical journey: beginning with a compassionate understanding of a client’s internal system fragmentation, moving to witnessing rather than fixing (presence), and culminating in self-led integration and values-driven committed action. Central to this integration is sovereign leadership, the activation of the client’s core Self as a compassionate guide of internal parts.
Key clinical innovations include prioritizing personalized, idiomatic understanding of a client’s internal experience over syndromal diagnoses, explicitly addressing legacy debt (inherited trauma, cultural shame, systemic burdens), and using the expanded six Fs technique to engage protective parts compassionately. The model is grounded in research highlighting the mediating power of exile avoidance in psychopathology and the clinical advantages of combining ACT’s psychological flexibility processes with IFS’s parts-based relational work.
The course underscores the ethical stance that protectors are never discarded but respectfully repurposed and that healing honors scars rather than erasing them, captured metaphorically by the Japanese art of Kintsugi – repairing broken pottery with gold seams to underscore its history and beauty. Practical application advice includes starting with simple curiosity audits, pacing integration carefully, and scaling committed action from internal boundaries to relational truth-telling to systemic advocacy.
Course #21-73 | 2026 | 15 posttest questions
Learning Objectives
- Identify three specific alignments between ACTs functional processes (the Hevaflex) and IFS elements (the Multiplicity of Parts)
- Categorize the parts of Internal System Multiplicity into the functional roles of Managers, Firefighters, Exiles, and Self
- Describe two examples of “stuckness” and two examples of “protective action”
- Explain how the use of the 6 F’s facilitates compassion-based interventions in clinical practice
- Interpret idionomic modeling data to differentiate person-specific treatment pathways from standard syndromal approaches
- Identify two values driven “Committed Actions” that scale from internal sovereignty (Micro) to relational truth-speaking (Meso) and systemic trauma informed advocacy (Macro)
Course Directions
This video course provides instant access to the course video, course handout, and the CE test. The CE test is open book (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while watching the course video).
Successful completion of this course involves passing an online test (80% required, 3 chances to take) and we ask that you also complete a brief course evaluation.
About the Author(s)
Rivka Edery, PsyD, MSW, LCSW : Find out More
Dr. Rivka A. Edery is a distinguished Doctor of Psychology and Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 16 years of expertise in trauma-informed care. She has dedicated her career to supporting diverse populations, including trauma survivors, military personnel, veterans, and foster care families, with a deep focus on attachment theory and complex trauma. As the innovative creator of the U-Model™, Dr. Edery has pioneered a unique integration of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), earning her the 2025 ACBS Recognition of Excellence in Social Work Award. She is the author of Trauma and Transformation: A 12-Step Guide (2013) and the founder of Edery House Press, a new imprint committed to publishing transformative mental health books and courses. Her latest work, Between Self and Parts: A 30-Day Journey of Self-Discovery with The U Model™: ACT & IFS (2025) offers a groundbreaking, neurodivergent-friendly guide to self-leadership and healing.
Discover more about Dr. Edery’s work at www.rivkaedery.com.
Disclosure
Financial: Dr Edery receives author compensation from Professional Development Resources.
Nonfinancial: No relevant nonfinancial relationships exist.
CE Information
Counseling
Professional Development Resources (PDR) has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5590. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. PDR is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners; the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling; the Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and MFTs; the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for Professional Counselors; the Mississippi State Board of Examiners for Licensed Professional Counselors; the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0135 - Note: New York counselors will receive 2 continuing education credits for completing this self-study course); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Family Therapist Board; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists (#193); the Tennessee Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists; the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors; the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported within 24 hours).
Marriage and Family Therapy
Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB #1046, ACE Program); the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners; the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling; the Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and MFTs; the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for Marriage & Family Therapy; the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice; the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists (#MFT-0100 - Note: New York MFTs will receive 2 continuing education credit(s) for completing this self-study course); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Family Therapist Board; the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors, and Psycho-Educational Specialists (#193); the Tennessee Board for Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marital and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Pastoral Therapists; the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists (#114); and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported within 24 hours).
Psychology
Professional Development Resources, Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners; the Florida Board of Psychology; the Georgia State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for Psychology; the Michigan Board of Psychology; the New Hampshire Board of Psychologists; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of self-study continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0145); the North Carolina Psychology Board; the North Dakota State Board of Psychologist Examiners; the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology; the Tennessee Board of Examiners of Psychology; the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; the Wyoming Board of Psychology; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported within 24 hours).
School Psychology
Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners; the Florida Board of Psychology and Office of School Psychology; the Georgia State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for Psychology; the Michigan Board of Psychology; the New Hampshire Board of Psychologists; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of self-study continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0145); the North Carolina Psychology Board; the North Dakota State Board of Psychologist Examiners; the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology; the Tennessee Board of Examiners of Psychology; the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; the Wyoming Board of Psychology; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported within 24 hours).
Social Work
Professional Development Resources, #1046, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 6/12/2025 - 6/12/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 2 clinical continuing education credits. ACE format: Reading-based asynchronous distance learning.
Professional Development Resources is also approved by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners; the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling; the Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and MFTs; the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for Social Workers; the Michigan Board of Social Work; the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice; the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (#SW-0664 - Note: New York social workers will receive 2 continuing education credit(s) for completing this self-study course); the North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Family Therapist Board; the South Carolina Board of Social Work Examiners; the Tennessee Board of Social Workers; the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678); the West Virginia Board of Social Work; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported within 24 hours).
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