IFS and Food 6-Day Intensive Retreat
March 9-14, 2025 | Chester, Connecticut
The messages we absorb from the dominant culture as well as from family, friends, and others, in addition to other stressful or traumatic experiences and traumas, motivate parts of us to focus on food and the body to alleviate the shame, worthlessness, and anxiety other parts of us hold. Since these toxic messages are pervasive, we often don’t notice or question them. We continue to engage in diets and wellness plans that keep us stuck and also perpetuate these corrosive practices at the cultural level.
In this six-day retreat, you‘ll explore the different beliefs, emotions, and energies parts of you carry regarding food and your body. Through a combination of large group discussions, small group experiential exercises, and live demonstrations, you’ll get to know and heal the parts of yourself who carry burdens and are stuck in painful cycles of dieting or disconnecting from the body.
Please note: Participants will be expected to have some familiarity with the basic concepts of the IFS model. Preference will be given to applicants who have completed a Level 1 training.
Learning objectives:
Describe the three sources of burdens related to food and the body
List three cultural legacy burdens that impact how you relate to food and the body
List two common fears protectors hold about shifting out of their roles of focusing on or disconnecting from food and the body
Describe how IFS is used to address polarized parts engaged in disordered eating and eating disorders
List two ways to disrupt bias related to food and the body
Location
Retreat Details
Applications are currently open for this retreat, taking place over 6 days starting on Sunday night, March 9th and concluding on Friday, March 14th, 2025 after lunch.
Please be advised this is a highly experiential retreat for your personal growth and professional development. It is not a formal training, and participants should be prepared to explore their own parts related to food and their body.
This retreat is limited to 36 participants and all participants must be have an in-depth knowledge of IFS. Once you register your interest on the Souliology website, you will be seamlessly directed to a full registration form for completion. Once you complete a registration form and it is formally approved, we will send you an acceptance email offering you a place on this retreat. After your have been accepted onto this retreat, your place on the retreat will only be secured once a $1000 non-refundable deposit is received. Please do not make travel arrangements until your registration has been fully accepted by Souliology and we formally confirm in writing that the retreat is proceeding. Should we not reach the required numbers for the retreat to proceed, we will refund your non-refundable deposit and any other fees you have paid towards the retreat tuition cost only.
Any travel costs to the retreat location in Chester, Connecticut, USA is the sole responsibility of the participant.
Your Investment
Total Retreat Cost: – $3,000 per participant
The retreat cost includes the 6-day retreat itself with Jeanne, Marcella and Theresa, 5-nights private ensuite accommodation in this beautiful retreat location in Chester and 3 delicious meals a day to include a breakfast, lunch and a delicious evening meal throughout the retreat schedule (Dietary requirements and preferences available).
Please note: The facilitators are in the process of applying for up to 30 IFSI CE Credits for this program with can be used for IFS Certification or Recertification. They are also in the process of applying for 30 APA CE credits. If awarded and you wish to attain 30 APA CE credits, then an additional fee will be required.
Your Presentors
This 6 day intensive retreat will be led by Marcella Cox, Jeanne Catanzaro, and Theresa Chesnut.
A little about Jeanne Catanzaro …
PhD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Certified IFS Therapist & Approved Clinical Consultant
Jeanne Catanzaro, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and EMDR before discovering the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.
She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, disordered eating, and trauma for over twenty-five years. Her book, Unburdened Eating, focuses on helping people heal their relationships with food and their bodies using an IFS approach.
She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, disordered eating, and trauma for over twenty-five years. Her book, Unburdened Eating, focuses on helping people heal their relationships with food and their bodies using an IFS approach.
A little about Marcella Cox …
LMFT, Certified IFS Therapist, Approved IFS Clinical Consultant & Certified Eating Disorder Specialist - Supervisor (CEDS-C)
Marcella Cox, LMFT, is a Certified IFS Therapist specializing in treating eating disorders, disordered eating, body shame, and trauma. She recently contributed the chapter on IFS and Disordered Eating in Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends (Pivotal Press, 2023).
She is also on the staff of Susan McConnell, developer of Somatic IFS, an approach that blends the IFS model of therapy with embodiment practices. As an Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, Marcella provides professional consultation and supervision. She also leads workshops, trainings and retreats. Her certifications as a Body Trust Provider, Daring Way Facilitator and Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher also inform her professional work. You can learn more about Marcella at Kindful Body.
She is also on the staff of Susan McConnell, developer of Somatic IFS, an approach that blends the IFS model of therapy with embodiment practices. As an Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, Marcella provides professional consultation and supervision. She also leads workshops, trainings and retreats. Her certifications as a Body Trust Provider, Daring Way Facilitator and Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher also inform her professional work.
Marcella is the founder of Kindful Body, a collaboration of experienced eating disorder professionals providing online therapy and nutrition counseling throughout California. She also co-founded the IFS Telehealth Collective with lead IFS trainers, Mariel Pastor, LMFT and Paul Ginter, Ed.D. The IFS Telehealth Collective is a multi-state mental health group practice dedicated to providing authentic, high-quality IFS Therapy online throughout California, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Oregon and Michigan. To learn more, visit www.kindfulbody.com or www.ifstherapyonline.com.
A little about Theresa Chesnut …
LCSW, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist - Supervisor (CEDS-C)
Theresa Chesnut, LCSW, CEDS-S, is a passionate and dedicated therapist with over 30 years of experience in eating disorders and trauma. She maintains a private practice in Northern California and demonstrates her leadership and entrepreneurial skills as the founder/owner of The Chesnut Group, which has locations in California and Indiana.
She is also on the staff of Susan McConnell, developer of Somatic IFS, an approach that blends the IFS model of therapy with embodiment practices. As an Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, Marcella provides professional consultation and supervision. She also leads workshops, trainings and retreats. Her certifications as a Body Trust Provider, Daring Way Facilitator and Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher also inform her professional work. You can learn more about Marcella at Kindful Body.
Theresa, a Level One Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist trained by Dr. Richard Schwartz in 2002, offers consultation and supervision to other therapists. Her unique perspective, deeply informed by her own lived experience of having and recovering from an eating disorder, fuels her empathetic and effective approach to treatment and healing from eating disorders.
In addition to her private and group practices, Theresa partners with Holly’s House, a Child Advocacy Center in Evansville, IN, where she oversees and supervises therapists working with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. Her team is trained in CF-TSI (Child and Family Traumatic Stress Interventions) and TF-CBT to support these clients.
Before establishing her private practice, Theresa was the Clinical Director at The Healthy Teen Project, an adolescent eating disorder-specific outpatient clinic. She also spent 13 years at Castlewood Treatment Center, where she held various roles, including Program Director, individual and group Therapist, and MSW Intern Supervisor. At Castlewood, she played a key role in starting new programs, training staff, overseeing operations and expanding existing practices into new geographic locations.
Theresa lectures locally and nationally on therapeutic interventions targeting the entire eating disorder recovery process. She hosts the annual Tri-State Eating Disorder Conference in Evansville, IN, and has lectured on college campuses to students and allied professionals, covering symptom identification and eating disorder prevention. She is also trained in Family-Based Therapy (FBT), Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT).
Her professional outreach has included training elite athletes, coaches, and trainers on the signs and symptoms of disordered eating and collaborating with high schools and universities in these areas. Theresa holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Kansas and has served as a staff member of the Menninger Clinic. She has also held leadership roles for the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), including Secretary, Vice-Chair, and Chair, where she was a board member from 2009-2015.
To learn more, visit – The Chesnut Group
Can't Make it?
If you can’t make this group, but would like to be informed about future offerings, please sign up here. If you know of someone who may be interested in this group, please pass this information along to them.
