Starting With Self with Ralph de la Rosa

In this episode I chat with Ralph De La Rosa, a meditation teacher, therapist, and author of Outshining Trauma. Ralph shares his personal journey of healing from PTSD, depression, and addiction, and how IFS helped him access Self Energy beyond traditional meditation.

Key Takeaways:

• Self Energy and Buddhist concepts like Buddha-nature share striking similarities.
• Meditation can be a powerful tool for parts work, offering a structured way to access Self.
• What happens when Self meets our most burdened parts?
• Self Energy as a reparenting force
• Instead of rejecting painful emotions or defensive parts, he encourages holding them with warmth, like placing them in the sunlight of Self.
• Trauma constricts and healing expands
• Start with Self rather than diving directly into the pain.
• Parts are just like people
• Radical self-compassion as meeting every part of ourselves—including the ones that hold fear, addiction, or pain—with love, rather than trying to suppress or fix them.
• Reparenting happens naturally when we turn toward our parts with compassion.

Favorite Quote:
"One thing I've learned from direct experience of Self is that it can expand to be bigger than any level of heartache, any sense of brokenness, any sense of wounding, no matter how deep, no matter how wide, no matter how big. Self-energy can expand to fill the entire room you're sitting in. If you practice with it, if you practice with it and your parts, we could begin to trust that." – Ralph De La Rosa

About Ralph De La Rosa:
Ralph De La Rosa is a psychotherapist, meditation teacher, and author of Outshining Trauma: A New Vision of Radical Self-Compassion. His work integrates IFS, neuroscience, and Buddhist wisdom to help people navigate healing and transformation.

Check out his upcoming online course: www.ralphdelarosa.com/breaking-cycles-course

Episode Sponsor: Sentur

Propel your healing journey forward with an IFS-inspired trauma-informed digital mental health companion designed for real transformation. Download the Sentur app here

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Jeff Schrum co-produces The One Inside Podcast. He is a writer, counselor, and IFS Level 1 practitioner.

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