Everything IFS Blog

Internal Family Systems

A woman wearing a patterned headscarf sits peacefully in a comfortable chair beside a large sunlit window, appearing physically fragile but calm and reflective. Arranged neatly on a wooden table in front of her are several completed legacy projects, including a ribbon-tied stack of handwritten letters, a family photo album, a wooden memory box, a strand of colorful treatment beads draped across the box, a small wrapped keepsake gift, and a smartphone on a tripod used for recording messages. Warm natural daylight fills the room, illuminating the treasured objects and creating an atmosphere of dignity, love, and meaning. The scene captures a quiet moment of fulfillment as she reflects on the memories, stories, wisdom, and gifts she has prepared to leave behind for future generations.

🦋Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free IFS Academy course on legacy projects for the dying from the Death and Dying Series: fifteen lessons covering the legacy letter, future-dated messages, life story telling, voice and video recordings, photographs, recipes, handmade keepsakes, heirlooms, words of repair, living legacies, digital legacy, and the farewell in your own words. Every lesson ends with an IFS and parts work exercise so you can begin working with what you learn.

Legacy Projects Course

3 min read

A Hispanic man in his early 50s sits at a dining table in a bright, sunlit home, appearing seriously ill while connected to a portable oxygen concentrator. Spread across the table are a wide variety of legacy projects, including photo albums, loose family photographs, handwritten letters tied with ribbon, journals, keepsake boxes, small wrapped gifts, and a smartphone mounted on a tripod for recording messages. Rather than working on a single project, he quietly studies the collection of memories, stories, and gifts he has created for loved ones. Family photographs fill the room, and warm natural daylight illuminates the scene, capturing the essence of legacy projects as meaningful ways to preserve love, wisdom, memories, and connection for future generations.

🦋Module 1 — What Are Legacy Projects? | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on legacy projects for the dying: discover what a legacy project is, from ethical wills and recorded voices to recipe cards, hand molds, and trees planted forward. Meet Harvey Chochinov's dignity therapy research, the centuries-old Jewish ethical will tradition, hospice keepsake craft, and the death doula movement behind this work..

Legacy Projects Course

7 min read

A woman wearing a patterned headscarf sits comfortably in a recliner, surrounded by photographs, notebooks, memory albums, and personal keepsakes as she reflects on how she wants to preserve her legacy. Medical equipment beside her chair suggests ongoing treatment, while family photos and mementos are spread across her lap and nearby tables. Holding a pen thoughtfully to her lips, she studies a scrapbook and journal filled with memories, weighing different ideas and projects that could carry her stories forward. Soft natural daylight fills the room, creating a quiet, contemplative atmosphere as she considers the shape and meaning of the legacy she hopes to leave behind.

🦋Module 2 — Choosing and Shaping Your Legacy Project | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on choosing a legacy project when dying: learn the three matching questions, the three project sizes (table, lap, and bed), why a finished small thing beats an abandoned grand one, the perfectionism trap, borrowing other hands without losing authorship, and the home, keeper, and line habit that keeps finished legacies from getting lost.

Legacy Projects Course

8 min read

A seriously ill Black woman sits upright in a hospital bed, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a nasal oxygen cannula, as she carefully writes a personal letter. Beside her, a professionally dressed woman reviews documents and offers guidance, creating the impression of a thoughtful discussion about values, wisdom, and the legacy she wishes to leave behind. Family photographs and notebooks sit nearby, while medical equipment in the background underscores the reality of her illness. The scene captures a deeply meaningful moment of reflection as she creates an ethical will and legacy letter, passing on life lessons, memories, and personal beliefs to future generations

🦋Module 3 — The Ethical Will and the Legacy Letter | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on the ethical will and legacy letter: explore the oldest legacy project in existence, from the Jewish tzava'ot tradition and Jacob's deathbed blessings in Genesis to what fills one today: values actually lived, lessons from mistakes, gratitude by name, family stories, and the ten-minute brainstorm that defeats the blank page.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

A woman in a hospital gown sits propped up in a hospital bed, surrounded by medical monitors, IV lines, and treatment equipment that indicate serious illness. Resting across her lap and bedside table are dozens of handwritten letters and decorated envelopes prepared for loved ones. Some envelopes feature hand-drawn flowers, hearts, and colorful stickers, while others are bundled into small stacks tied neatly with ribbons. With a pen in hand, she works on another letter, adding to the collection of messages intended for future birthdays, milestones, and special occasions. The contrast between the clinical hospital environment and the care poured into each envelope creates a deeply moving scene of love, preparation, and connection that will continue long after she is gone.

🦋Module 4 — Letters and Messages for Future Moments | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on letters written now to arrive later: follow the craft of milestone letters, birthday runs, open-when envelopes, letters to a partner, and writing to children who will grow up without you, plus the labeling, keeper, and master list machinery that gets every letter to its moment.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

A very thin red-haired man sits at a wooden table near a bright window, writing carefully in a notebook as he documents the story of his life. An oxygen cannula rests beneath his nose, and his frail appearance suggests serious illness. Spread across the table are family photographs, keepsake boxes tied with ribbons, journals, and personal mementos that appear to help him remember different chapters of his past. Several completed gift boxes sit beside others still waiting to be finished. Soft natural daylight fills the room, creating a reflective and intimate atmosphere as he records memories, experiences, and family stories for the people he loves.

🦋Module 5 — Telling Your Life Story | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on telling your life story at the end of life: learn Harvey Chochinov's dignity therapy questions, the recorded interview model proven by StoryCorps, the one-question-a-week method, memoir in fragments, and photographs used as story keys, plus why research shows the telling itself eases the teller.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

🦋Module 6 — Voice and Video Recordings | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on voice and video recordings for the dying: capture the story always told, names said aloud, a goodnight in the exact bedtime cadence, recordable storybooks for grandchildren, camera-shy video, hospice heartbeat recordings, voicemail rescue, and the file habits that keep a voice playable for sixty years.

Legacy Projects Course

10 min read

A Tongan man sits at a wooden kitchen table surrounded by family photographs, albums, and memory boxes, carefully sorting through images from different stages of his life. A nasal oxygen cannula and medical dressing on his upper chest suggest serious illness, while his focused expression reflects the importance of the task. Open photo albums, framed family portraits, and stacks of loose photographs cover the table, alongside a few wrapped keepsake boxes prepared for loved ones. Warm daylight fills the kitchen, creating a sense of comfort and connection as he organizes family memories and preserves stories for future generations.

🦋Module 7 — Photographs and Family History | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on photographs and family history at the end of life: explore the naming work only one person alive can do, the three-pile triage that tames a lifetime of photos, soft pencil annotation with the one-line story, annotated albums, photo books, scanning routes, and the family tree with real people beside the names.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

A frail middle-aged woman sits in a wheelchair at the center of a bright family kitchen, wearing a soft robe with slightly messy hair and a nasal oxygen cannula. Surrounded by her adult daughter and teenage grandchild, she points to handwritten recipe cards spread across the counter while they help prepare a family meal together. An open wooden box labeled “Mom’s Recipe Box” sits prominently in the foreground, filled with treasured recipe cards collected over many years. Bowls of ingredients, vegetables, flour, and cooking utensils cover the kitchen island as the family works side by side. Warm daylight pours through large windows, capturing a touching moment of a mother passing down family recipes, traditions, and memories that will live on through future generations.

🦋Module 8 — Recipes, Food, and Family Traditions | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on recipes, food, and family traditions as legacy: learn why handwritten recipe cards become framed treasures, the one-session method for pinning down a pinch and a glug into real measurements, the cooking video that archives the hands, the stories behind the dishes, and the tradition record of holidays, sayings, and songs.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

A woman wearing a soft pink robe sits beside an oxygen tank in a comfortable home, her hair loosely gathered and slightly unkempt, reflecting the realities of serious illness. Seated next to a healthy younger woman, she gently presses her hand into a mold-making mixture as they create a hand-cast keepsake together. Both women smile softly, focused on the shared activity, while a finished plaster sculpture of clasped hands rests on the table nearby. Natural daylight fills the room, highlighting a tender moment of connection, memory-making, and love as they create a handmade keepsake that will endure long into the future.

🦋Module 9 — Handmade Keepsakes | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on handmade keepsakes at the end of life: meet the hand molds, thumbprint stones, and fingerprint jewelry hospice teams make at bedsides, handwriting preserved and engraved, memory quilts sewn from chosen clothing with the reasons recorded, half-finished made gifts that still count, and the centuries-old custom of a lock of hair.

Legacy Projects Course

10 min read

A thin red-haired man sits at a kitchen table in a bright, sunlit home, carefully assembling small keepsake gift boxes intended for loved ones. Several completed boxes are neatly tied with ribbons and bows, while open boxes in front of him contain treasured items such as photographs, jewelry, fabric swatches, and personal mementos waiting to be arranged. A visible medical dressing on his upper chest suggests serious illness, yet his attention is focused and deliberate as he prepares meaningful heirlooms and gifts for the future. The scene conveys thoughtfulness, love, and the desire to leave behind tangible reminders of connection and memory.

🦋Module 10 — Heirlooms, Belongings, and Gifts for the Future | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on heirlooms and belongings at the end of life: discover giving while living, the story attached that turns a dented hammer into an heirloom, allocation craft that keeps families whole (ask what they'd treasure, match by meaning, say why), gifts set aside for future occasions, the memory box, and releasing what should never be passed on.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

🦋Module 11 — Words of Repair and Reconciliation | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on words of repair at the end of life: explore Ira Byock's four things that matter most (please forgive me, I forgive you, thank you, I love you), the sent repair letter and its three craft moves, the unsent letter and its three endings, honest options when a tie will not mend, and words for people long gone.

Legacy Projects Course

11 min read

A middle-aged man with a shaved head sits at a wooden table in a bright, comfortable home, carefully arranging a living succulent garden while family photographs and a memory album lie open beside him. A visible medical dressing on his upper chest suggests serious illness, yet his attention is fully on nurturing the plants. The scene conveys the creation of a living legacy—something that will continue to grow and be cared for by loved ones long after he is gone.

🦋Module 12 — Living Legacies | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on living legacies: explore the memorial tree and garden, in-lieu-of-flowers designations, memorial funds at community foundations, the scholarship any ordinary family can found, collections placed where hungry hands will use them, skills taught forward one afternoon at a time, and acts of kindness launched entirely from bed.

Legacy Projects Course

10 min read

A middle-aged woman wearing a patterned headscarf reclines comfortably in bed, using both a laptop and smartphone while surrounded by soft blankets and personal belongings. A small medical patch on her upper chest suggests ongoing treatment, while a framed family photo nearby hints at the people she is thinking about. Bathed in gentle natural daylight, she appears focused and intentional as she organizes important digital accounts, memories, and online information as part of preparing her digital legacy

🦋Module 13 — Your Digital Legacy | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

An elderly man receiving oxygen therapy sits in a comfortable armchair beside a sunlit window, carefully writing in a journal held on his lap. Family photographs and personal mementos rest nearby, while the quiet home setting creates a sense of reflection and intention. His focused expression and handwritten pages suggest he is composing a personal farewell message, preserving his thoughts, memories, and final words for the people he loves.

🦋Module 14 — Your Farewell in Your Own Words | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on authoring your own farewell: learn the self-written obituary that corrects the resume, the one-page letter read aloud to the room (gratitude, one story, one blessing), choosing the music and readings that were actually yours, and the recorded message played at the gathering, with honest counsel on when to hold it in reserve.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

An elderly woman with a bald head sits upright in a hospital bed bathed in soft natural daylight, carefully assembling a scrapbook filled with family photographs and handwritten memories. A bedside table is covered with photos, craft supplies, and keepsakes, while subtle medical details such as a hospital wristband and IV dressing quietly suggest serious illness. Her focused expression conveys purpose and reflection as she thoughtfully organizes the story of her life into a lasting legacy project.

🦋Module 15 — Putting Your Legacy Plan Together | Legacy Projects for the Dying Course

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on putting a legacy plan together: learn the triage when time is short (voice first, short letter second, photo names third), the one good hour that feeds several legacies at once, handing off unfinished projects with instructions and a blessing, the plan on one page, and letting done be enough.

Legacy Projects Course

9 min read

🦉 Welcome to the Aristotle Course for Everyday People

A free IFS Academy course on logic, ethics, and the four causes in the philosophy of Aristotle: who Aristotle was, his dramatic life from the Academy to the Lyceum, his break from Plato, the four causes, hylomorphism, the unmoved mover, eudaimonia, the golden mean, rhetoric, and the Poetics, taught for everyday people from first-timer to longtime reader. Every lesson ends with an IFS and parts work practice so you can begin applying it.

Everything IFS

✨ Welcome to Sigil Magic

A free course by Everything IFS Academy on sigil magic: a complete education in the made mark across 15 lessons, from your first intention statement to a finished alphabet of desire. Explore the classic letter method, charging and activation, pictorial and intuitive design, the sigil wheel, planetary kameas, borrowed traditional seals, anchored long workings, and the hypersigil, a working that unfolds through time as a story you live inside. Build a Sigil Workbook page by pag

Everything IFS

A warm adult therapist in casual colorful clothing sits in a cozy chair inside a bright play therapy room, reading a large book labeled “Play Therapy,” surrounded by dolls, stuffed animals, blocks, books, plants, child-sized furniture, and cheerful wall art.

Play Therapy: A Free Clear, Compassionate Guide

Play therapy explained in plain, compassionate language. What it is, how it works, where it came from, what it helps with, and how to find a qualified play therapist for your child.

Everything IFS