Inner Sanctuary Institute
November 2026 - May 2027 |
$2500IFS Clergy Training
INNER SANCTUARY LEVEL 1What to ExpectOver approximately 112 hours of intensive training, you'll be guided by a select group of experienced IFSI trained trainers and program assistants. The program is structured so that there is plenty of time for supported small practice groups, with a participant-to-staff ratio of 3:1. This setup allows you to practice IFS through the lens of ISI and spiritual formation and leadership within small breakout groups, providing you with the opportunity to hone your skills in a safe, supportive environment.
❋ PART ONE Foundation (ONLINE)January 11-15, 2027Part One introduces the core assumptions and structure of Internal Family Systems as a spiritually resonant, non-pathologizing model of the human inner world. Emphasis is placed on Self leadership, sacred multiplicity, and the alignment between IFS and faith traditions that affirm inherent goodness, dignity, and relational healing.
This part establishes shared language, safety, consent, and group norms, and begins the work of translating IFS concepts into each participant’s own faith vocabulary.
❋ BRIDGE DAY Practice (ONLINE)March 10, 2027 9-4 CTBridge Practice Days offer a spacious place between our intensive training weeks to slow down, integrate what we are learning, and strengthen our capacity to practice together. We will begin with time for questions, connections, and conversation about what participants are noticing in their practice, their own systems, and the emerging Inner Sanctuary framework. The heart of the day will be a facilitated Practice Group with three rounds of practice, giving each participant an opportunity to practice, receive, and observe. We will make room between rounds for reflection, feedback, questions, and integration, paying particular attention to Self-to-parts relationship, consent, attunement, and how the movements of Inner Sanctuary are becoming embodied in practice. The day is designed as a bridge: a place to metabolize what we have learned, discover where we need more support, and deepen the relationships and practices that will carry us into our next intensive together.
❋ PART TWO Formation (ONLINE)February 8-12, 2027Part Two is centered on ISI as an embodied, relational way of living within faith, leadership, and community life. Emphasis is placed on presence, discernment, facilitation, and integration rather than technique.
Participants practice in circles, receive feedback, and reflect on how Self leadership reshapes pastoral presence, preaching, teaching, and communal authority.
❋ PART THREE Integration (ONLINE) May 3-7, 2027Part Three deepens engagement with protector systems, burdens, and the relational dynamics that shape spiritual life, leadership, and community in conversation with a developmental understanding of spiritual growth. Participants explore how people and communities make meaning through belonging, certainty, questioning, inner knowing, and shared life. These recurring landscapes help us recognize what our protective parts are trying to preserve and how our relationship with authority, difference, and the sacred shapes our readiness for change.
Through demonstrations, supported practice, and theological reflection, participants learn to discern what kind of accompaniment serves the person before them. They attend to shifts in energy, internal consent, and the need for grounding, witnessing, or integration, while noticing how their own spiritual assumptions influence the care they offer. The intensive closes by exploring how growing inner freedom becomes visible in the ways we make agreements, share power, remain connected across difference, and participate in repair.
Special attention is given to legacy and cultural burdens, spiritualized protectors, and the ways faith communities often unknowingly reinforce polarized inner systems. Participants observe and reflect on facilitated demonstrations of IFS work within a faith-informed context.
Meet the TeamLead Trainers
Margaret Conley, LCSW, MDiv
Margaret L. Conley, LCSW, MDiv, (She/Her/Hers), is the Executive Director of MLC Consulting, LLC, and the President of Mending Life Concepts Empowerment Group, Inc. She is a Licensed Clinical Social worker in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee where she provides crisis services and trauma-focused clinical therapy. Margaret is trained as a trauma therapist in Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting, EMDR, and Adlerian Play Therapy. Margaret is a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator and LEGO® Serious Play® Facilitator. Margaret is a Certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor endorsed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
Margaret produced an evidence-based model which is a clinically aligned theological method designed for use by clergy, academics, and clinicians to help lead the conversation around Faith-Based Trauma in individual and community settings. She is the founder of Healthy and Holy® Conversations and the producer of the Healthy & Holy® Summit.
Margaret received her Bachelor of Art focused on Sociology and Anthropology with a concentration in child welfare services from Valdosta State University. She received her Master of Social Work degree from Clark Atlanta University in 2009. Margaret completed her Master of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center in 2013.
Jory Agate, LMHC, MDiv, MA
Jory Agate, LMHC, MDiv, MA, is both a certified IFS therapist and IFS assistant trainer.
Jory has been a student of IFS for over 10 years and has logged thousands of hours with a wide variety of patient populations. As an assistant trainer for the Center for Self Leadership (CSL), the IFS organization founded by IFS creator Richard Schwartz, PhD, Jory presents IFS workshops around the country and abroad. She maintains a long affiliation with CSL and their passion to educate mental health professionals worldwide.
She has successfully used IFS principles in a variety of cases and understands the real-world application of this effective treatment modality. As a speaker, Jory offers a unique blend of technical understanding of theory and clinical expertise, providing learners with comprehensive knowledge of the IFS approach.
Her private practice is located Cambridge, MA where she specializes in working with trauma, attachment, families, couples, sexuality and identity, and parenting. She received her counseling degree from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Previously, she had a 20-year career in Unitarian Universalist ministry.
Rev. Dr. Celeste Lebak
An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and Internal Family Systems practitioner specializing in trauma-informed spiritual care and the intersection of mental health and spiritual formation. She holds a Doctor of Ministry and brings more than twenty years of experience across parish ministry, prison, hospital, and social justice chaplaincy.
Dr. Lebak is the founder of the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma and the Inner Sanctuary Institute, where she develops IFS-informed education for clergy, chaplains, and religious organizations. Her work integrates contemplative practice, systems awareness, and attention to internal multiplicity, with a focus on religious leaders who can offer grounded, ethically attuned presence within complex institutional settings.
All the Details❋ ELIGIBILITYOpen to clergy, chaplains, spiritual directors, ministers in formation, lay leaders, and others whose work involves spiritual care or leadership. Participants from diverse faith traditions and spiritual paths are welcome.
Applicants should be willing to explore their own inner lives, practice accompanying others, and engage in shared learning with curiosity, respect for difference, and attention to consent. If you are unsure whether this training fits your experience or context, we welcome a conversation.
❋ TUITION$2500
❋ APPLICATIONAccepting applications on a rolling basis until filled. Limited spaces available.
Thank you!