Listening to Pain and Dissociation with IFS and EMDR

In this episode, David speaks with Tina Taylor, a Syzygy trainer, IFS Institute assistant trainer, and contributor to IFS Informed EMDR. Together, they explore the intersection of IFS, EMDR, pain, dissociation, and safety in trauma healing.

Tina shares how EMDR was instrumental in addressing her social anxiety, and how IFS later helped her heal legacy burdens connected to that anxiety. This layered healing highlights how different models can work together to address both symptoms and deeper roots.

Tina offers a powerful theme when working with pain: 
“Pain is communication.”
Rather than something to eliminate or override, pain can be understood as a message from parts of the system. Some parts may amplify pain to be heard, while others attempt to suppress or escape it. IFS allows us to slow down and listen to what pain is asking for.

The conversation also explores dissociation and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Tina reflects on how IFS can look different when working with highly dissociative systems and why goals and pacing matter deeply in this work. While there are clinicians integrating IFS with dissociation, there is currently no dedicated IFS Institute training focused specifically on DID, beyond the Level 2 trauma track.

David and Tina discuss how dissociation itself can be understood as a meaningful communication from the system. The work begins not with pushing toward exiles, but with safety, stability, and strengthening managers so the system can regulate more evenly.

A key takeaway is the importance of cultivating Self energy as a form of resourcing. Tina notes that the amount of Self needed, the “critical mass of Self,” is relative to the intensity of the burden being held. Protectors often know what the system is ready for, and IFS invites us to trust them.

As Tina emphasizes, IFS gives us a simple but profound instruction:
“Just ask.”