The date for our 2027 gathering is Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th April.
As usual, we’ll be meeting at the Penny Brohn Centre, near Bristol.
We’ll opening for bookings in early 2027 and details will be provided on this page nearer the time..
Welcome to the website of IFS Open Space. You’ll find information here about the annual weekend events, details of how to book (when open) and how to contact us.
The first IFS Open Space weekend took place in 2018 and the gatherings have taken place every Spring since. The aim is to support a growing UK Internal Family Systems community, to have a channel for IFS enthusiasm and ideas, and to share our learning and our ‘not-knowing’.
Not a training or a conference, the weekend events are a way of coming together as a community of IFS practitioners to learn, explore and have fun, making the most of shared time with others who love IFS too. The gatherings are open to those who have completed (or are in the process of) an IFSI Level 1 training. We see our community as beyond the UK borders and participants from overseas are very welcome.
The gatherings have taken place at the Penny Brohn Centre near Bristol, apart from in 2021 when the Covid pandemic meant that we moved online.
We gather around a question related to IFS and use the Open Space process as a way to make the most of our time together. Our weekends start with us co-creating the agenda, with time and space available for exploration of whatever matters to the people there at the time. Those present are totally invited to do whatever is right for them and their parts, and people are encouraged to follow their IFS interests and passions, including if that means shifting in the middle of something to go where they’d rather be. We are relaxed but conscious about time, and trust in the Self-leadership and Self-organisation of the group.
Each year has attracted more participants and each year there has been a rich feast of conversations on a range of topics to do with IFS. We have talked a lot, laughed, played, sung, meditated, walked, and danced together. With time to work, rest and play, there’s something to satisfy all parts.
Initially the hosting team was Angela Hayes, Liz Martins, Annzella Gregg, Toni Buffham, and Marion Blain.
From 2020 the hosting team has been Liz Martins, Toni Buffham and Sarah Burns.
We’ve been fortunate to have great admin support – Carolyn Caldwell for the first few years, then Mary Tryner, and for our online gathering in 2021, Filip Nowak provided technical support. In 2026 Lynn Palethorpe supported us, and she has now joined the hosting team.
What previous participants have said
“it stimulated my mind and heart”
“nurturing, creative, fabulous… I came away feeling so good”
“never before have I experienced such exquisite, beautiful freedom”
“an incredible opportunity to explore a range of IFS topics with highly creative and open-minded colleagues, in the safety of a perfect venue”
“a buffet of deliciousness”
“I’m grinning from ear to ear and my heart is full and warm and overflowing. That expresses how the weekend has been and also how my parts long for the connection and community and how blessed I feel to be part of, and belong to, this community”
“IFS and Open Space is a match made in heaven”
“…..the conversations, the listening, the open heartedness, the courage, the sharing and the willingness and humility and humanity to just come into a space and say I don’t know anything about this but I’m interested“
“a warm space for connection”
For more information, you can listen to an IFS Talks podcast from 12 September 2020 titled: ‘The UK IFS Open Space: A Talk with Liz Martins‘. From about 13 minutes in, Liz talks about the origins of the event, describes Open Space, gives a flavour of what’s happened in previous gatherings, and makes links between IFS and Open Space.
You can find more information about IFS at www.ifs-institute.com and about Open Space at www.openspaceworld.org
You can join our mailing list at http://eepurl.com/dFqPwL