Therapists hear this every day—not just in words, but in the body language of collapse, the clench of shame, the retreat into perfectionism, the inability to receive care.

The inner critic may not walk into the room with your client—but it’s always perched beside them, whispering doubt, shame, and fear.

This cruel and relentless inner voice has the power to stall progress entirely. It reminds our clients that they are unworthy of healing. That they’re broken. That even the impulse to grow is narcissistic or selfish. And no matter how supportive the therapist, how safe the room, or how stable the outer world may seem—the critic insists that it’s never enough.

It would be to the therapeutic detriment to label it as simply a cognitive pattern or low self-esteem. It runs deeper. It’s a survival strategy – a protective mechanism formed in the context of trauma, shame, and unmet attachment needs. And when left unaddressed, it can quietly sabotage even the most carefully constructed therapeutic work.

Why This Training, Why Now

In this timely and clinically rich two-part workshop, internationally respected trauma educator Lisa Ferentz draws somatic awareness, expressive therapies and Internal Family Systems (IFS), to radically reframe how we approach the inner critic in our clients—and ourselves.

In this workshop, Lisa invites us to take a radically different approach: she encourages us to stop pathologising the inner critic as something to fight or eliminate, and instead to engage it through a compassionate lens. While harsh and destructive, it was once a survival strategy. It kept clients small to keep them safe. Critical to keep them connected. Silenced to keep them from being hurt again.

Rather than suppress or override this voice, Lisa offers a way to acknowledge, engage, and transform it—creating space for clients to access the part of themselves that can offer comfort, regulation, and repair: the Self.

The Clinical Dilemma: When Progress Isn’t Enough

Clients may be making visible progress—showing up, using tools, even reporting external change—but beneath it all, the inner critic remains active and toxic. It questions every step forward. It revives old shame. It tells them they are an imposter in recovery.

And for therapists, this presents a unique challenge. Despite best intentions, we may find ourselves:

• Feeling frustrated by the client’s resistance
• Annoyed with the slow progress despite ‘all going well’ external signs
• Over-identifying with their helplessness
• Triggered by our own internal critics
• Struggling to hold both the critic and the Self in the room

How can we learn to work with the critic, not against it?
How can we help clients develop an internal relationship where compassion—rather than contempt—becomes the default response?

Introducing a New Frame: Compassionate Inner Dialogue

Lisa brings decades of experience to this workshop, blending experiential learning with parts-based theory and somatic applications to help therapists:

• Understand how inner critics form in response to trauma and attachment wounding
• Identify multiple types of critics (punitive, perfectionistic, anxious)
• Map how they relate to exiles, protectors, and the Self in the IFS system
• Use creative techniques like art, narrative, and breath to help clients externalise and engage

Rather than rely on abstract psychoeducation or cognitive reframes, Lisa leads therapists into the client’s internal world—using expressive methods that help clients see, hear, and speak to their inner critics in safe and transformative ways.

What You’ll Learn

Across two evenings, you’ll gain practical tools and clinical insights to help clients recognise, reframe, and transform the inner critic—while strengthening access to Self-energy and internal compassion.

You will learn how to:

• Differentiate inner critic subtypes and understand their roles as trauma-informed protectors, not enemies to eliminate
• Apply two structured frameworks to assess how inner critics show up in behaviour, language, and relational dynamics
• Use expressive writing and art to externalise critical voices, reduce shame, and facilitate inner dialogue
• Introduce somatic tools—including breathwork and posture awareness—to help clients anchor in Self-energy
• Support compassionate negotiations between critic parts and Self
• Track signs of internal integration and help clients build more coherent, Self-led systems

What Makes This Workshop Unique

Lisa’s approach is grounded, accessible, and refreshingly practical. Her teaching is infused with warmth, humour, and humility—and her capacity to normalise therapists’ struggles (including our own inner critics) is one of her greatest strengths.

What sets this workshop apart is its blend of theoretical clarity and experiential depth. Throughout both evenings, participants will:

• Watch clinical concepts come alive through vivid client scenarios
• Participate in real-time experiential exercises (e.g., writing, imagery, art)
• Witness how even entrenched internal systems can begin to shift with safety, curiosity, and creative engagement

Lisa’s integration of somatic tools, IFS principles, and expressive modalities offers a rare kind of training—one that is intellectually robust and emotionally regenerative.

Workshop Structure

Evening One: Mapping the Terrain of the Inner Critic

This evening lays the groundwork for identifying and compassionately engaging the inner critic, using an IFS-informed lens and creative modalities.

Topics include:

• A concise overview of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model
• Two distinct frameworks for understanding how inner critics manifest
• Guided writing exercise: Addressing imposter syndrome
• Exploring the “protective intention” of inner critics and their relationship to shame
• The paradox of using creativity to engage parts that often resist expression
• Setting the stage for safety, regulation, and inner dialogue
• Art and writing experiential: Acknowledging and reframing the inner critic
• How to process clients’ artwork in a therapeutically attuned manner
• Beginning to negotiate with, rather than suppress, the inner critic

Evening Two: Strengthening the Self, Healing from Within

Building on the work from evening one, this session focuses on empowering the Self and deepening the internal healing relationship.

Topics include:

• Understanding the IFS concept of Self: the “8 C’s” of Self-energy
• Creative, somatic strategies to help clients access Self: Focusing, power poses, breathwork, body awareness
• Art-based exercises to illustrate and anchor Self in the client’s internal world
• Processing clients’ expressive work to illuminate progress and stuckness
• Dialoguing between Self and the Inner Critic
• Using Self-energy to create safe internal spaces for the critic
• The Self-led therapist: introducing the “4 P’s” of the clinician
• Clinical indicators that a client is becoming more Self-led in their system

Who Should Attend

This workshop is designed for clinicians who want to move beyond insight-based approaches and bring real transformation to the internal world of their clients. It is especially relevant for:

✔ Psychotherapists, counsellors, and psychologists working with trauma, shame, or developmental wounds
✔ Practitioners familiar with IFS or interested in parts-based frameworks
✔ Therapists using creative, narrative, or somatic tools in their work
✔ Those seeking to deepen their own self-awareness and therapeutic presence

About Lisa Ferentz

Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA, is a recognized expert in the treatment of trauma, abuse, and neglect. A bestselling author and sought-after speaker, she brings over four decades of clinical experience to her workshops.

Lisa is the founder of The Ferentz Institute, through which she has trained thousands of clinicians in strengths-based, creative, and compassion-centred approaches to trauma therapy.

Her signature teaching style combines deep clinical knowledge with warmth, clarity, and a genuine respect for the therapeutic process. Participants consistently praise her for delivering workshops that are not only intellectually rich, but personally meaningful.

Final Thoughts: Beyond Criticism, Toward Connection

Inner critics are part of almost every trauma story. But they are not the final chapter.

When clients learn to meet those voices with curiosity, compassion, and creativity, something remarkable begins to happen: they stop fighting with themselves. They start forming new internal relationships. And slowly, they begin to trust the part of themselves that was never broken to begin with- their own healing Self.

This workshop will give you the tools—and the inner clarity—to guide them there.

© nscience 2025 / 26