Richard Schwartz and Cece Sykes, who—along with Martha Sweezy— have recently co-authored a book on Internal Family Systems for Addictions. 

Richard is the Founder of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model, a pioneering approach to psychotherapy which can be used to treat a wide range of problems, including eating disorders, self harm, addiction, and trauma. Cece is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and IFS Senior Trainer with over thirty years of clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families, specialising in working with the effects of trauma and addiction. 

In this lively and wide-ranging discussion, we cover: 

— A basic intro to the IFS Model 

— The root causes of addiction from an IFS lens

— Why IFS offers a highly effective treatment modality for addictive processes

— Best practices for using IFS when treating addiction and also important things to avoid. 

And more. 

You can learn more about Cece's work at www.cecesykeslcsw.com and find out information about Dr Schwartz's upcoming IFS trainings by visiting www.ifs-institute.com.

---

Cece Sykes, LCSW, ACSW; IFS Senior Trainer, US and international. Contributed to Levels 1 and 2 IFS training manuals and teaches L1 as well as L2 Trauma and Addiction. Cece has over thirty years of clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families, specializing in work with the effects of trauma and addiction. Her chapter on compassionate approaches to addictive process appears in IFS: Innovations and Elaborations, 2016, Routledge. Cece also has special interests in spiritual practices intersecting with therapy and in the impact of psychotherapy upon the life of the therapist and she lectures, consults and leads workshops on all of these topics. Cece lives and works in the city of Chicago.

Richard Schwartz, PhD., began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organized across clients. He also found that when the clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience spontaneously the qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion that Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. He found that when in that state of Self, clients would know how to heal their parts.

A featured speaker for national professional organizations, Dr. Schwartz has published many books and over fifty articles about IFS. Learn more at: www.ifs-institute.com.

---

3 Books Cece Recommends Every Therapist Should Read: 

— Drug use for grown-ups: Chasing liberty in the land of fear - Dr. Carl L. Hart - https://amzn.to/41YvsCJ

— Unbroken Brain, A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction - Szalavitz, Maia - https://amzn.to/3oVEBgu

— No Bad Parts; Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with IFS. Sounds- Richard Schwartz - https://amzn.to/3NuwDFu

3 Books Richard Recommends Every Therapist Should Read:

— Internal Family Systems Therapy for Addictions - Cece Sykes, Martha Sweezy, Richard C. Schwartz - https://amzn.to/3Hyyqpc

— Internal Family Systems Therapy: Second Edition - Richard Schwartz - https://amzn.to/44sagX9

— Introduction to Internal Family Systems- Richard Schwartz - https://amzn.to/3HBfgiC

IFS: Healing Parts and Accessing Self in Recovery — Dr Richard Schwartz & Cece Sykes

"The MadMan's Coming!" is the second Part of an album that will complete the "MadMan Tapes Series"(4 of 4)  as a continuation of the "Therapy Sessions." Shure Money, Business owner, artist, student of Hip Hop, Son of a LEGEND seeks guidance from his enlightener (The 7th Scribe) as he continues to try and navigate through LIFE while also seeking answers as to how to truly find PEACE! But Will The MadMan be a hinderance? Will he ever get the answers that he is searching for? Tune in and See!!!!!

9.) Therapy Session 9 "LETS TALK ABOUT IT "

7.) Therapy Session 7 "FOR REAL"

TAKE CAR OF YOURSELF AND MENTAL HEALTH. 🥲

11.30.2025 (jersey club)

“The Wrong Enemy” is a song about the painful realization that the battles we fight on the outside often come from wounds on the inside.
It explores how easily we misinterpret tones, gestures, or words — not because others meant harm, but because something unresolved within us reacts first.

The narrator reflects on years of blaming the world around him: other people, their voices, their intentions.
But every time the noise faded, the same familiar ache returned — proof that the real source was internal.

The song reveals a powerful shift:
the enemy wasn’t the other person.
It was the leftover echo of old beliefs, early defenses, and emotional patterns built long before adulthood.
Patterns designed to protect —
but now standing in the way.

The chorus opens wide with emotional clarity, admitting that the true conflict isn’t between him and the outside world, but between him and his own inherited reflexes.

The bridge speaks quietly but sharply:
he has slammed doors where no walls existed, fought battles that never belonged to him, reacted to ghosts from the past rather than to the present moment.

By the final chorus, the insight becomes resolve:
the pattern can be broken,
the fight can be faced consciously,
and the blame no longer needs to be placed outward.

“The Wrong Enemy” is a moment of honesty —
a song about turning inward, owning the truth, and releasing the weight of misdirected battles.

The Wrong Enemy

“Mirror Image” is a gentle, emotional acoustic piece about the gap between how we see ourselves and how the people who love us see us.
It begins with a simple story — a friend looking in the mirror and seeing nothing good left — and how someone else proved them wrong.

That moment becomes a catalyst for the narrator’s own realization:
we often judge ourselves through old, distorted eyes.

The verses capture the vulnerability of standing in front of a mirror and truly looking, not with habit or dismissal, but with honesty.
What appears at first is uncertainty: a version of oneself shaped by old beliefs, old words, and old wounds.
Writing down what he sees becomes a small but significant act — a short, raw, painfully honest list.
But the turning point comes when someone who loves him is given the same task.
Their list is full — full of qualities he cannot yet feel in himself: strength, warmth, courage, kindness, heart.

The chorus opens into a wide emotional space:
their reflection shows a man larger, brighter, and more human than the one he sees in his own mirror.
The second verse explores the painful truth behind it:
we learn ourselves small,
while others often see us in the light.

His blind spot becomes clear — he measures himself by his scars, not by what has survived.
The final message is quiet but powerful:
the path to healing begins when we learn to look at ourselves with the same compassion, truth, and clarity that others already do.

“Mirror Image” is a soft awakening —
a reminder that sometimes, the truth of who we are lives in the eyes of those who love us,
until we are ready to see it ourselves.

Mirror Image

In Part II of our boundaries series, we dive into dynamics and strategies that are important to observe when we are navigating relationships. Through Transactional Analysis, we look at the strategies people might use to coerce outcomes that they desire. Getting savvy about what we are seeing is imperative when we are deciding and enforcing boundaries 

Episode 296 - Adult to Adult Relationships

„Solange mein Herz weiß, wofür es schlägt“ – by Marco Memory**
Dieser Song ist ein Tagebucheintrag aus dem Innersten eines Mannes, der mitten im Schmerz steht – körperlich, seelisch, existenziell.

Marco Memory schreibt nicht über eine überwundene Krise, sondern aus dem Feuer heraus, während sich seine Krankheit schneller ausbreitet, als es irgendein Mensch ertragen sollte.
Es ist ein Lied über Nächte, die brennen.
Über Atemzüge, die weh tun.
Über Knochen, die brechen, und doch einen Willen, der nicht nachgibt.

Ein Lied darüber, wie ein Körper schwächer wird – und ein Herz gleichzeitig stärker.
Der Song erzählt von Angst, Müdigkeit und Ohnmacht, aber auch von einem Schwur, der nicht bricht: dem Versprechen, aufzustehen, so lange die Kraft reicht, und darüber hinaus.
Und er zeigt, was einen Menschen wirklich trägt:
die Bilder seiner Kinder, die Ziele, die noch vor ihm liegen, der Wunsch, ihnen Zukunft schenken zu dürfen.

Mit rauer Stimme, ruhigen Gitarren, tiefen Drums und intensiven spoken-word Momenten entsteht ein Stück, das weh tut –
aber Kraft gibt.

Ein Song für alle, die kämpfen.
Für alle, die jeden Tag neu entscheiden müssen, weiterzugehen.
Für alle, deren Herz weiß, wofür es schlägt.

Am Ende bleibt kein Pathos – nur ein Satz, der leuchtet wie ein letzter, aber unzerbrechlicher Funke:
„Ich bleib hier… solange mein Herz noch weiß, wofür es schlägt.“

So lange mein Herz weiß, wofür es schlägt

FIND YOURSELF is a raw, NF-inspired rap about walking out of treatment with a quiet you don’t recognize, a past you can’t outrun, and a future you’re still learning how to write.

This track dives into identity, relapse, recovery, and the haunting space between who you were and who you’re becoming.

It’s about the war behind the smile.
The craving that screams at 3 a.m.
The mirror that won’t give you answers.
And the moment you finally pick up the pen and decide to author yourself.

If you’re navigating sobriety, rebuilding your identity, or trying to survive the first year clean — this one is for you.

🔥 JOIN YOU. UNCENSORED. — A community for people navigating their first year of sobriety.

Real conversations. No shame. No masks.
Just people healing out loud and helping each other stay standing.

👉 Join here: http://bit.ly/4rae1fe

🎧 Headphones recommended.
💬 Comment which line hit you the hardest — I read every one.

YOU. UNCENSORED.

Find Yourself - [FREE DOWNLOAD]

“Hormones” is a powerful, introspective modern rock track about the body’s automatic reactions — the biochemical echoes of old experiences that still shape how we feel today.
It’s a song about the invisible forces inside us: adrenaline, cortisol, oxytocin, dopamine — all the signals that once protected us, but now sometimes pull us back into emotional worlds that no longer exist.
The narrator describes how a single word, look, or tone can unleash a hormonal response that doesn’t match the present moment.
His body reacts as if danger were still here, even though his mind knows he’s no longer living in the past.
The chorus expands with emotional weight:
hormones can drag him down, make wounds louder, or freeze him in old reflexes — but they can also give strength, warmth, and hope.

The body isn’t just the place where trauma lives; it’s also the place where healing begins.
The second verse opens into softness, showing the other side of biology:
how being held releases warmth,
how success sparks lightness,
how a smile or a kind word can shift the entire emotional landscape.

The bridge delivers the central insight:
maybe it isn’t the world that triggers him —
maybe it’s an inner system still fighting a long-gone battle.
And the path forward is not fighting the body,
but teaching it what is true today.

By the final chorus, the message becomes clear:
hormones influence him, but they do not define him.
He is more than his pulse, more than his blood chemistry, more than his old fear.
He can learn to understand his body — and write new stories into it.

“Hormones” is an emotional conversation between a man and his own physiology —
a song about reclaiming control, compassion, and truth inside the very system that once overwhelmed him.

Hormones

A mental health educator compelled to walk with people through the stress, challenges, and traumas that unfold in our stories

SPEED DIAL 1 ; 1-800-RAZ MAIN [MY EVIL BRUV] ( @1800-729 )
SPEED DIAL 2 ; THAT CRACKHEAD ENERGY (CYPHERS)
SPEED DIAL 3 ; BEATS
SPEED DIAL 4 ; DJ MIXES

Ich schreibe, was ich denke, fühle und erlebe. Schreiben hilft mir, Erinnerungen einzuordnen und ihnen Klarheit zu geben. Wenn Gefühle eine Melodie bekommen, entsteht etwas Wunderbares – eine Botschaft, die direkt ins Herz geht.

Für mich ist es ein Ausgleich, ein Stück Selbsttherapie. Die Texte sind ehrlich und frisch aus dem Herzen. Und wenn ich damit jemanden berühre, der genauso fühlt wie ich, freut es mich umso mehr.

Da ich selbst nicht gut singen kann, nutze ich KI für die Melodie und die Stimme. Ich bin dankbar für diese Möglichkeit, meinen Gefühlen Ausdruck zu verleihen.

Viel Freude beim Hören 🥰

Gruß, Marco Memory

PS: Ehrliche Kommentare sind willkommen – aber bitte keine Angebote, ich kaufe nichts.



I write what I think, feel, and experience. Writing helps me sort out memories and bring them clarity. When feelings find a melody, something wonderful is created – a message that speaks straight to the heart.

For me, it’s a balance, a bit of self-therapy. The lyrics are honest and straight from the heart. And if they touch someone who feels the same way I do, it makes me even happier.

Since I can’t sing well myself, I use AI for the melody and voice. I’m grateful for this opportunity to give my feelings a voice.

Enjoy listening 🥰

Best, Marco Memory

PS: Honest comments are always welcome – but please no offers, I’m not looking to buy anything.

Insights for Evolving Consciousness

In-depth interviews with leading thinkers at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, culture, and spirituality.

This show is for you if you’re interested in:

– Reducing suffering — in yourself and others
– Continuously upgrading your perspective
– Realising more of your potential
– Experiencing a greater sense of awe, meaning, and connection in everyday life.

New episodes every Thursday.

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New tracks tagged #therapy