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Attending to Grief Amidst the Holidays

By David McCallum

grief

curiousity emotions Grief holidays interconnectedness Managing Stress mental health

Posted: December 22, 2025

Grief often amplifies within our systems during the holiday season. From an Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective, grief is not a problem to solve—it is made up of many parts that carry love, loss, and longing. The following prompts gently invite you to meet your grieving parts with compassion and curiousity over the holiday season.

Addressing the Holistic Impact of Grief

By David McCallum

grief

loss

Posted: November 24, 2025

Grief has a holistic impact on our wellbeing —it touches our emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and physical health. Grief is not a linear journey or a set of stages to complete. It’s an adaptive process that the mind and body move through while learning to live with loss. Understanding what’s happening inside you—and having tangible strategies to support yourself along the journey—can make this experience feel less overwhelming.

“When Summer Slips Away”: Holding Personal & Global Grief with IFS

By David McCallum

seasons mental health Self Awareness

Enjoying Life self compassion Grief

Posted: August 18, 2025

There is something undeniably tender about late summer; the golden light, the weight of warm air, the growing awareness that something is ending, even as the world still hums along. As August turns the corner, many of us begin to notice the quiet ache of grieving parts within our systems – some of these may be harder for us to name. They might be cued by the sadness of summer fading, or the anticipation of what's ahead. Or, it could be something even deeper: a mix of personal and global sorrow that feels too much for our systems to hold all at once.

Navigating Fear and Anxiety

By David McCallum

anxiety

internal family systems mental health self compassion trauma

Posted: June 3, 2025

As we navigate our lives, there are always two dynamic forces at play. The first is the relationship we have with our inner world or system (can be used interchangeably). We all have varying degrees of awareness of what the landscape of our inner world...

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