MISSION
As an optimistic psychotherapist with over thirty years experience, I remain convinced in the human capacity for tapping into a deep source of inner wisdom. Each individual can develop the self-knowledge and self-acceptance they need to confront their challenges and to restore a compassionate perspective to their lives.
Working with both systemic and experiential approaches, we will tackle the process using a lively sense of curiosity, open hearts and regular doses of humor.
IFS and Addictive Processes: Bridging the Gap Between Psychotherapy and Recovery
By Cece Sykes, Martha Sweezy & Richard Schwartz
Read Cece’s article in the July/August issue of Psychotherapy Networker.
IFS offers a novel way of working with addiction, one that links the inner focus of trauma treatment with the behavioral focus of addiction treatment. As a special gift, Cece’s subscribers are offered a FREE 60-day subscription to the magazine, which includes unlimited access to Psychotherapy Networker’s entire archives of stories and case studies.
UPCOMING EVENTS
IFS Workshop at The Cape Cod Institute:
Compassion for “Big A” and “Small a” Addictive Processes
August 11-15, 2025
Monday - Friday: 9:00a.m. - 12:30p.m. EDT
In-Person or Live-Online
Most of us are familiar with feeling ‘addicted.’ We’re glued to our phones, work too much or worry about late-night drinks, food patterns, or spending. While we deem these behaviors “Small a” addictions, what does it mean when we can’t change? Others of us, and many clients, struggle with higher-risk “Big A” addictive processes: heavy drinking or drug use, chronic disordered eating, or sexually compulsive or self-harming activity.
Faced with these common yet challenging issues, therapists need more options than just referring to treatment centers or self-help groups. While sometimes this works, what happens when it doesn’t? IFS offers a paradigm shift. Rather than viewing addictive behaviors as self-destructive pathologies, we view parts engaged in compulsive behavior as trapped in an extreme role, yet desperately trying to help. In this approach, we build new inner relationships by working directly with extreme behaviors and offering safe methods for addressing the underlying emotional pain these desperate parts have been tasked with protecting.
In this experiential workshop, you will learn how to create clear road maps using your own experiences, avoid power struggles, discover positive intentions behind ‘negative’ behaviors, and how to build safe inner connection to underlying trauma. We will also explore how therapists can combine self-compassion with effective compassion for others.
Register now at The Cape Cod Institute
Get Ready for the 2025 IFS Annual Conference – Registration is Almost Here!
September 18th-20th, 2025
Q Center
St. Charles, IL
The IFS Institute is excited to welcome you to the 2025 IFS Conference, returning in-person this fall, September 18 - 20, 2025, at the beautiful Q Center in St. Charles, Illinois. This year’s conference will feature 70+ workshops led by IFS trainers, practitioners, and community members from around the world, including Cece!
Check out the other workshops and register here!
Heart Lessons of the Journey:
For Therapists
October 3-5, 2025
Avon, connecticut
A Unique Workshop for Therapists – Professional/ Personal Exploration
This is a wonderful opportunity to work with IFS Institute Senior Lead Trainer, Cece Sykes, in a beautiful residential setting in the UK. Cece developed her Heart Lessons of the Journey retreat over numerous years, emerging from her own experiences, and from her work with therapists.
In this retreat, we will explore...
What led you to become a therapist?
How can new awareness of your story enrich your work?
How can a deeper understanding of your story nurture and resource your spirit?
Life as a therapist is interesting, challenging and deeply rewarding. Yet the life of a therapist is also continually evolving. What happens when we face personal struggles, andhow does it impact our professional journey?
We are so accustomed to sharing our patience and compassion with others ...Do we take enough time to open our hearts and listen to ourselves?
Limited to 28 participants who completed Level 1 IFS Training and are a LicensedTherapist or Counselor
IFS, Substance Use and Eating Disorders:
A Compassionate, Trauma Informed Approach to Addictive Processes: IFS For Substances, Food, Gambling & More
Live 4 Week Online Course – WEBINAR - Open to Anyone
October 10 & 24, November 7 & 21, 2025
Recorded Seminars & Webinars for purchase:
Use discount code “CECE" for 20% off
until the end of 2024!
A series of 3 IFS online workshops focusing on identifying and working with extreme managers
8 IFS CEs available to be applied for IFS certification for those who have completed Level 1 training
Mission Empowerment
ON DEMAND WEBINAR
Education Hours: 11
In this workshop, we will re-envision addictive processes through an IFS lens, and apply the model to intervene effectively with both high and low-risk addictive processes including substance abuse, screen addiction, disordered eating, anger, sexual preoccupation and others.
Cost: $419 CAD + GST/HST (if applicable)
**All prices are in CAD$. American Patrons - your dollar goes further!
More…
IFS Continuity Program; IFS and the Voices of Addiction, a 4-module Seminar with Cece Sykes LCSW, ACSW, Mary Kruger, MS LCPC Richard Schwartz, PhD
Life Architects: Compassion for Addictive Process, a 3-module seminar
Internal Family Systems: A Compassionate Approach to Trauma and Addictive Processes, a PESI webinar with Cece Sykes LCSW, Frank Anderson MD, and Richard Schwartz, PhD
Subscribe to Cece’s newsletter to stay updated on workshops, events, trainings, and more.
Past Events
Cece has taught IFS trainings, hosted Heart Lessons of the Journey workshops, and spoken on IFS at conferences across the globe both in person and online, including Spain, Australia, the UK, Russia, Ireland, France, and throughout the United States.
Check them out here!
Coming Soon…
Check back soon for more details & registration links!
August 25th-29th, 2025: IFS Level 3 (Online, US Central Time Zone)
October 14 - 18, 2025 Level 2: Compassion for Addictive Processes (Lisbon, Portugal)
November 10 - 14, 2025 Level 2: Compassion for Addictive Processes (Q Center, St. Charles, IL)
More about cece
Cece saw her first client, a thirteen-year old sexually abused runaway foster child, at a community-based family services agency in 1978. Initially trained as a structural-strategic family therapist, Cece spent the next twelve years working in Chicago with families affected by abuse, neglect and addiction. Her focus included treating adult trauma survivors and eating disordered clients, providing individual, couples and group treatment.
During this time Cece provided workshops and training on family therapy and trauma treatment at the Institute for Juvenile Research, the Department of Children and Family Services, The Family Institute at Northwestern and many other mental health agencies. She co-authored a chapter on family treatment with incest-impacted families in the late 1980's.
In 1992 Cece opened her private practice, treating adults, couples and families. She also taught experiential psychology seminars for women at Governors State University for five years and for three years was adjunct faculty at the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Cece expanded her clinical focus to include the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of psychotherapy in the late 1990's. She is a Senior Trainer for the Internal Family Systems Institute and beginning in 2004 led level one, two and three IFS training programs across the country and internationally. Cece contributed a chapter on IFS approaches to treating addictive processes, titled “An IFS Lens on Addiction: Compassion for Extreme Parts,” in the 2016 book Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy.
In 2023, Internal Family Systems Therapy for Addictions was published, a best-selling manual co-authored by Cece, IFS author Martha Sweezy, and IFS founder Richard Schwartz on how to use the IFS model to understand and treat addictive processes.
Another component of Cece's work is the intersection of psychotherapy with spirituality. She has worked with a wide range of spiritual practices, from Zen communities to groups with traditional religious beliefs and also twelve-step followers on how to fold their vision of the inner spirit into the practice of psychotherapy.
After decades spent in the field, Cece developed an interest in the impact of psychotherapy upon the life story of the clinician. She created and leads the Heart Lessons of the Journey workshops, exploring the personal narratives of psychotherapists across the globe.
