Curious About Internal Family Systems? Meet Rebecca Ching LMFT, San Diego Eating Disorder Therapist
Interested in the internal family systems model of psychotherapy? I interviewed Rebecca Ching, LMFT, CEO and founder of Potentia Therapy treatment center in San Diego. I met Rebecca a few years ago, and I could totally relate to her passion and joy in helping people. She is a top internal family systems trainer and uses this approach to treat eating disorders and trauma in San Diego. Enjoy getting to know her!
Why did you choose to become an eating disorder specialist in San Diego?
I remember in graduate school hearing a professor say eating disorders and trauma were the most difficult to treat because those struggling in these areas had less than great long-term outcomes. I did some anecdotal research and found a lot of professionals did not work with these populations and some of the most common responses were treatment challenges, “compliance,” acuity, complexity, and liability. This inspired me to dig deeper in my training and treatment focus in these areas, as a stubborn part of me wanted me to push back on these narratives and be a part of shifting them.
Also, I am deeply passionate and committed to supporting women through my mental health training. Eating disorders and trauma were two deeply connected issues which surfaced to the top as important areas for me to focus on in my studies and specialized training from the beginning of my graduate school experience.
I also knew I wanted to focus on areas where I knew I would be challenged throughout my career. The disordered eating spectrum and trauma spectrum have definitely provided the opportunity to learn and grow in my almost 17 years seeing clients.
What kind of treatment do you provide?
I work at the outpatient level of care, primarily with individuals. I offer care that is systemic, trauma-informed, deeply collaborative, and non-pathologizing. I am foundationally trained in systems theory, particularly structural family therapy. Salvador Minuchen, the founder of structural family therapy, has a highly regarded history of working with individuals and families around eating disorders, which influenced me early in my career. Fourteen years ago, I was trained in EMDR therapy and have become a Certified EMDR therapist.
This lens helped me move beyond insight-oriented approaches and help clients heal the pain and fears that fuel eating disorder behaviors. Such behaviors are compulsive, often accompanied by entrenched beliefs, and discomfort with fullness, and food fears. About five years ago, I began shifting my work to focusing mainly on an internal family systems (IFS) approach, though my previous straining and work continues to inform me, too. I am now a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist and can’t imagine doing life or my work without this lens.
Do you work with only eating disorders?
I am a trauma therapist at my core. I view eating disorders and trauma as inextricably connected. I have realized that my clients struggling with the spectrum of food and body issues were also navigating traumas— often during early developmental ages. So working with those who have experienced trauma, abuse, difficult life experiences, betrayal, neglect, attachment wounds, loss, and more, are a big part of my work. As a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator and Consultant, I love helping clients build their own shame resilience practice and Rising Strong™ practice when their brain’s are more fed, and they are able to do some insight-oriented work.
In the Daring Way™ community, we often say shame is trauma work and trauma work is shame work. So many clients have benefited from understanding how to identify the beliefs and stories of their many inner protectors - particularly around perfectionism, judgement, shame, fear, and self-worth. I have been leading workshop experiences based on this work for over seven years and this work is deeply meaningful for all involved.
How long have you been working with eating disorders overall, and how long have you been in San Diego?
Gulp! I have been seeing clients on the disordered eating spectrum in San Diego since 2003 and have been in San Diego since 2001.
You both use and train others on internal family systems (IFS) model of psychotherapy. Would you explain what the IFS model is and how you use it for eating disorder treatment?
Founded by Richard Schwartz, PhD about three decades ago, IFS was discovered and developed while Schwartz was working with individuals with high acuity eating disorders. Trained in family systems thinking with a focus on structural family therapy, he listened deeply to his clients and experimented with concepts of the mind and psyche outside of his foundational training. Applying family systems concepts of how members of a system influence each other toward the inner influences—or parts—of an individual led to his discovery of IFS.
Some of the basic assumptions of the IFS approach are - as noted from the Level 1 IFS manual -
It is the nature of the mind to be divided into an indeterminate number of subpersonalities of ‘parts’
Everyone has a Self. Self can and should lead the individual’s internal system.
The non-extreme intention of each part is something positive for the individual. There are no ‘bad’ parts and the goal of therapy is not to eliminate parts but instead to help them find their non-extreme role.
As we develop, our parts develop and form a complex system of interactions among themselves. Systems theory can be applied to the internal system. When the system is reorganized, parts can change rapidly.
Changes in the internal system will affect changes in the external system and vice versa. The implication of this assumption is that both the internal and external levels of the system should be assessed.
The goals of IFS therapy are to achieve balance within the internal system, help parts release their burdens so they can find their preferred roles in the system, and to differentiate and release Self. When Self is in the lead, it respects input from parts, who in turn respect Self to lead the system. This is where the bulk of the work lies in IFS.
Self is a different entity than the other parts. The concept of Self is what confirmed my passion for this approach, as it shows we are not permanently damaged or broken. Self is just often buried beneath many well-intended protective parts. There are 8 main qualities of Self: Calm, Curiosity, Compassion, Confidence, Courage, Clarity, Connectedness, Creativity and the aim to be mainly led by Self instead of our burdened protective parts.
The subpersonalities or parts of our inner system are clinically related to as people and may be experienced through thoughts, feelings, sensations, images, words, sounds, felt senses, inner voices, and physical symptoms. Their mission and way of organizing is to protect Self and can often be forced to extreme roles and behaviors by the external environment. These parts are usually protective and hold pain and vulnerability. Many of the parts develop into polarizations as they try to gain influence in the inner system.
I highly recommend checking out Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model and You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For —both books by Schwartz, for some beautifully written insight into this approach.
What do you wish people knew about getting IFS treatment for eating disorders?
Ahhhh. So much! Shifting my focus to that of a primarily IFS lens has been a powerful game-changer for me and my clients. I deeply value how the IFS focus is non-pathologizing and helps relax the common client-practitioner power struggle dynamic—especially around eating, not eating, matters around weight, movement, and beliefs about health.
This approach is also so respectful, not moving faster than the client is ready or willing. The client’s protective system guides the work, not my agendas. Given my training in other approaches, I still acknowledge and honor standards of care and best treatment outcomes. These standards are still very high for me. With IFS, the pace and the approach to honor these standards shift based on the client’s system, not my agenda. It is a dance, as safety is still a priority. With IFS, however, I feel more aligned with my clinical values and see progress, even if slow.
We as therapists can be really hard on ourselves and sometimes each other, as we are so protective and passionate about our particular approach to treatment. Using IFS has helped me let go of the fear and scarcity mindset that is so common in our field. I focus on leading my internal system when clients are struggling. Instead of blaming clients for being “resistant,” and instead of being hard on myself, I approach my own internal system with curiosity and compassion.
Practicing IFS leaves me feeling energized instead of exhausted, hopeful instead of cynical, compassionate instead of judgemental. I know and respect there are many ways to help clients find healing and wholeness. I am grateful that this approach is one of them.
How can people learn more and contact you?
For my clinical work, people can find me at:
www.facebook.com/PotentiaTherapy/
www.instagram.com/PotentiaTherapy/
For my leadership work, people can find me at:
www.facebook.com/RebeccaChingMFT
www.instagram.com/RebeccaChingMFT/
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Hey everyone, I really appreciate you reading my blog! Have a wonderful day. :)
Marianne
If you are struggling to find eating disorder treatment with help with binge eating in San Diego, schedule a free, 15-minute phone consultation using the online scheduler (just click on the orange button), and I will help you get where you need to be!
You can find more information about me on Instagram @drmariannemiller or on my Facebook page.