A NEW SERIES OF TRAUMA-FOCUSED ONLINE COURSES
BEGINS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2ND*
*For the first time ever: Europe-friendly Zoom call times
THE PATH is a series of online courses that present a step-by-step process for healing, breaking cycles, and self-actualization.
Integrating the wisdom of Buddhism, the clarity of trauma theory, and the precision of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, we will progressively work towards meaningful and lasting change across every arena of our lives.
Through compassion-centered meditation, live Zoom calls, readings, journal prompts, and pre-recorded dharma talks, Ralph brings you the deepest tools from their 20+ years of practice and study and their time mentoring with Richard Schwartz.
If you are experiencing repetitive patterns — be they patterns of thought, emotional cycles, compulsive behaviors, or cycles in intimate and interpersonal relationships, you’ve come to the right place.
The truth is, we already have everything we need within us to move in the direction of healing and transformation.
What we all need is support in accessing this.
*Flexible payment options and no one turned away for lack of funds.
If you’ve taken online courses with Ralph before, you can expect a similar approach but with new meditations and new insights. Most of Ralph’s previous courses (Chrysalis and Coming Home in particular) were recorded 2019-2020. Since then, Ralph has continuously studied, practiced, been in therapy, wrote books, casually survived a pandemic, and mentored with Richard Schwartz.
“I’m very honored to have Ralph as an influential and authentic partner in our effort to bring collective awareness and healing through IFS. His journey from suffering to shining is inspiring and instructive and his integrating IFS with Buddhism and meditation makes his a uniquely valuable voice. De La Rosa entwines neurobiology, spirituality and parts work in an intriguing way and offers powerful experiential exercises that bring his approach to life.”
—Richard Schwartz,
founder and developer of the Internal Family Systems model
If you are a “yes” to one or more of the following:
You feel stuck, like there’s some piece of the truth you must be missing
You like the idea of self-compassion, but experiencing self-compassion is another story
You want practices + learning to support your ongoing therapy
You’ve been to therapy and needed something more instructive and engaging
You’ve tried all the things and still feel half-healed
You desire community with folks who are healing and growing like you are
You long for a space that’s non-hierarchical, where your inner wisdom is just as important as anyone else’s and the “teacher” is someone doing the work alongside you
You’re a helping professional interested in IFS training (which is best learned experientially)
You desire an experiential exploration of Buddha Nature (a.k.a. the heart of compassionate action)
You want to begin, refresh, or deepen your meditation practice
…this is for you
“A mirror becomes a razor when it is broken. A stick becomes a flute when it is loved.”
—Yoko Ono
A mix of self-paced content and weekly live Zoom calls.
EVERY WEEK YOU’LL GET
One or more guided meditations that deepen as we go
Pre-recorded dharma talk (20-30 mins)
Handout to accompany the talk
Reading assignment + journal prompt
Online discussion forum moderated by the amazing Tess Felder
Four group Zoom calls with Ralph on Wednesdays
Your choice:
Evening: 5-6pm PT / 8-9pm ET
Mid-day: 11am-12pm PT / 2-3pm ET (Europe-friendly option)
All Zoom calls are recorded and shared the next day to course participants
GOOD TO KNOW
Ideal time investment: 2 - 4 total hours per week. You’ll be supported in however deep you choose to go (or not go).
You do not have to do every single thing offered to get substantial benefit
Optional private sessions with Ralph are available
Each module is four weeks
You can begin any time in Modules 1-4
Readings assigned from The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You by (ahem) Ralph De La Rosa
MORE TESTIMONIALS BELOW
“Ralph has this wildly open, honest compassion that shows you what radically loving yourself actually means.”
—Susie Bertie, Personal Assistant
“I was able to get back to myself after a long period of basically being stuck. By far these are the most effective practices and methods I’ve ever learned.”
—Luca, Clothing Designer
"I just wanted to let you know that although I didn't do things when or how I was supposed to, I have gone through most of the course material (with the exception of the live group video discussions), and it is really fabulous-- SO SO SO SO great, and something I deeply need, even though I had absolutely no notion of what it was or how it would apply to me before we started."
—Sarah, Course Participant
Each module can be taken as a stand alone experience, or you can take them as an immersive series. It is up to you. You can also begin any time between Modules 1-4.
Each module is four weeks and each week includes all the content described under “How It Works”
PHASE ONE: ROOTS
3 modules. How to access self-compassion and use it for healing.
MODULE ONE
EMBODYING SELF-COMPASSION
Rest, Resourcing, and Reclaiming Sanity
BEGINS OCTOBER 2ND, 2024
We start where we are: most likely overworked, needing some care, wanting to feel better. In this module, we focus on reconnecting to the more essential aspects of our lives: body, breath, the Earth, and how to experience compassion directly. We bring relief and rest to the nervous system, explore the challenges involved in letting go, and release help tension in the body. You’ll learn some of the neuroscience of embodied presence, the art of emotional self-regulation, pain management techniques, how trauma works, and how to access the resources of compassion.
MODULE TWO
REDEFINING SELF-LOVE
Expanding What We Thought Was Possible
BEGINS OCTOBER 30TH, 2024
In this module, you’ll get an Introduction to IFS, including an intro to parts work meditation (which unfolds differently outside the therapy room), and begin working directly with parts of you that may be stuck. You’ll learn several ways of getting to self-love—what IFS calls “Self energy”, even when you can’t seem to find it inside. You’ll also learn a method developed by neuroscience for helping positive states to rewire our nervous system more deeply.
MODULE THREE
BREAKING CYCLES
Managing Our Lives with Empowerment and Dignity
BEGINS DECEMBER 4TH, 2024
“Managers” are the aspects of our psyche that organize our lives, avoid distress, cling to habits, generate endless thoughts, repress and regulate emotions, and maintain the status quo. We wouldn’t survive without these parts of us, and they are also the gatekeepers of the changes we seek. In this module, you’ll learn how to relate directly to these parts of yourself, how to address our instinctive fear of change, how to address inner conflict and polarization, develop a vision of what a life of mature freedom and happiness looks like for you (it looks different for everybody), and begin taking steps in that direction. You’ll also learn the 6F’s, an approach for working fruitfully with just about any part of you.
PHASE TWO: BRANCHES
Three modules. How to become your own therapist.
MODULE FOUR
REACTIVE DEFENSES.
Working with Big Emotions and Habits
BEGINS JANUARY 8TH, 2025
Anger, panic, inner critics, dissociation, resentment, compulsive behaviors, automatic and involuntary reactions…
The parts of the psyche that hold these patterns and potentials might be extreme and reactive, but only to the extent that we perceive vulnerability and threat. The truth is, these are some of the most powerful aspects of our being—what if they could become our allies? What if we could enhance the awareness of these parts of ourselves? In this module, we’ll explore some of the wisest ways we could protect ourselves and guard our wellbeing in the face of difficulty. Using the wealth of tools we’ve cultivated together, we’ll process how these patterns began for us, begin to take back our sanity, and end the war inside.
MODULE FIVE
INNER CHILD, INNER BUDDHA.
Healing Pain, Shame, and Fear
BEGINS FEBRUARY 12TH, 2025
The parts of us that hold the most vulnerable burdens and wounds lie at the epicenter of every repetitive pattern and cycle in our lives. Paradoxically enough, these are also the parts that hold our deepest joy, our propensity for play and fun, and endless creative spark. In this module, we’ll begin getting to know these parts. You’ll learn how to apply the methods you’ve learned to bring relief, healing, and hope to these wounded places. Along the way, you can begin reclaiming some of the good qualities you lost along the way.
MODULE SIX
BEARING WITNESS
Intermediate Parts Work: Meditation with Subsystems or “Clusters”
BEGINS MARCH 12TH, 2025
*Prerequisite: Modules 1-5 or a conversation with Ralph. If you are an experienced with IFS and meditation and want to begin here, write ralph@ralphdelarosa.com
At this point, the following is most likely true: You have amassed an arsenal of healing methods, your self-awareness has greatly increased, you’ve had transformational experiences doing parts work, you are beginning to trust yourself more, trust life more, and know how to navigate relationships with more clarity. You’re ready to dive into the deep end of the pool (with support, of course).
In this module, we put everything we’ve learned together and continue our parts work in a manner that honors the full complexity of your world. You will begin working with parts in clusters, you will learn parts mapping, you will learn advanced and nuanced ways of compassionately exploring your inner world to deepen the evolution you have begun. Most chiefly, you will begin healing your Exiled parts at an even deeper level than before.
PHASE THREE: PETALS AND LEAVES
Three modules: Discharging trauma from the body and basking in joy
MODULE SEVEN
RETRIEVAL
Intermediate Parts Work: Rewiring Harmful Memories and Core Beliefs
BEGINS APRIL 16TH, 2025
*Prerequisite: Modules 1-5 or a conversation with Ralph.
All traumatic stress, emotional patterns, and core beliefs boil down to the ways memories live in our nervous systems. In this module we’ll safely go directly into core memories, bring Self energy to the situation, stand up to bullies and abusers, reclaim our power, and rescue the Exiled parts stuck in these places. We rewire the ways these memories live in our bodies and bring truth to the harmful, confused beliefs we picked up along the way. This prepares the ground for Unburdening.
MODULE EIGHT
UNBURDENING AND INTEGRATION
Intermediate Parts Work: The Final Healing
BEGINS MAY 21, 2025
*Prerequisite: Modules 1-5 or a conversation with Ralph.
What is absorbed can be released. What’s been wired into the nervous system can be wired out. Most wounds are not permanent. Most traumas can be healed. The ones that remain—their cracks can be filled with gold. In this module, we work with parts to directly discharge the stored emotional energy from past experiences from the body. This opens up space for us to claim and reclaim desirable and heart-centered qualities that help us lead lives of wisdom, freedom, and altruism.
MODULE NINE
SPACE AND THE AWARENESS OF SPACE
Advanced Parts Work: Esoteric Aspects of IFS and Buddhist Yoga
BEGINS JUNE 18, 2025
*Prerequisite: Modules 1-5 or a conversation with Ralph.
As one deepens on the path of healing and meditation, one begins to notice things at a more subtle level. This fruitional module explores experiences such as intuition and guidance, cleaning the emotions we take on for others, absolute vs. relative reality, and the subtle body. We will also take a moment to reflect and celebrate all we’ve accomplished together.
As the Buddha exclaimed upon liberation from suffering, “Done is what had to be done!”
“As a long-term Buddhist meditation practitioner and dabbler in IFS, Ralph’s extensive experience of Buddhist meditation combined with Internal Family Systems is the most potent, powerful effective method I’ve come across. You can tell Ralph takes their students needs incredibly seriously and holds their needs, both scary and joyous, with deep intuitive reverence so they can discover a true opening to freedom. I am blessed to have found Ralph’s work, and plan to continue working with them for a long time. The community aspect of the courses is an important component for me, the respect and safety that was emphasized and modeled by Ralph made me be able to see my own path with clarity and mirrored in others. A unique, needed, healing process.”
Angela L. - Artist, Meditation Teacher
These courses are guided by the following principles:
Radical non-pathology: The audacious notion that nothing is wrong with you. You’re not broken, dysfunctional, or neurotic. You had to figure out how to survive and feel emotionally safe in some tough situations, though. You were also born into an emotionally unintelligent society where aggression is normal and conformity is demanded. Whatever’s driving you to this course—be it depression, anxiety, relationship rollercoasters, grief, self-medication cycles, or simply the sense that there must be more—is the product of how you adapted to all this. And it worked. You survived. And it is also an excellent idea to evolve now.
Compassion first: Compassion is the strongest, cleanest fuel for healing and growth. Curiosity is the doorway to removing obstacles and past conditionings. Self-love is the essential nutrient we’re hungry for. If self-shaming and self-punishment worked, you wouldn’t be reading this.
Start where you are: Whatever the level (or lack) of trauma, whether you’re a beginning meditator or a fifth-level bodhisattva, we all start in the same place: what it’s like here and now. We all do the same work, even if at different levels of subtlety. And we will all mess up, miss a day, get behind, etc. In these courses, the invitation is to continually accept where we are, and keep going from there. (If you’re getting the vibe that you’re allowed to be utterly human around here, good.)
Community amplification: Healing in isolation is one thing, healing with folks who are having their own insights and breakthroughs amplifies our own process—even for introverts who are attached to our pillow forts.
Meditation is a must: We all know change comes from within, but how much time do we spend there, within? If we want our lives to evolve, we simply must relate directly to what’s happening inside of us. Meditation offers us a self-governed home base where we can do inner work any time, anywhere, and free of charge. The meditations offered here different. They are an invitation to a kind of self-relationship that’s only available when we spend time inside. Busy minds are welcome here.
