About Joan Ryan
Joan R. Ryan, J.D. is an attorney, a Senior Leadership Coach, and has over 25 years experience as an Enneagram Practitioner. Trained originally in the Narrative Enneagram School, she had the honor of being directly mentored by Helen Palmer and the late Dr. David Daniels. She is the co-creator of the Enneagram Thailand Community and has taught internationally for many years. She served 2 terms on the Board of the IEA in the early 2000s. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based model of the mind and its component “Parts” created by Dr Richard Schwartz. In recent years it has gained extensive use in therapy and in coaching. Parts are “sub-personalities” that hold both positive and negative aspects of our personality. Parts may be Managers which activate to shield vulnerable Exiles (often young wounded or traumatized Parts) from triggering; Firefighters which activate to quench the “flames” when an Exile is triggered; or other Managers that hold some of our strengths. In addition, the IFS concept of Self is closely aligned with the Enneagram concepts of Essence, which are available when Parts make space in the internal landscape.
Knowledge of the structure of each Enneagram Type provides individuals a road map to key Parts. IFS provides Enneagram-informed individuals methods of internal inquiry that can be helpful in loosening the unconscious, habitual patterns of Type.
In relationships, personal or professional, the mapping of Parts connected to Type is a powerful method of exploring challenges. Finding Parts in either partner that might be polarized against each other is particularly useful in resolving disputes.
The Narrative style of Enneagram teaching is a good fit with the IFS method where the Practitioner helps the person locate, communicate, and get into relationship with their Parts.
Portions of the material in this workshop was published in “All Together Us: Integrating IFS with Key Modalities, Communities and Trends” edited by Jenna Riemersma, published in August 2023. It has been presented to IFS Conferences as well as to the IEA conference in 2023.
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