On May 22, 2025 we officially published Opening the Inner World: Spiritual Healing, Internal Family Systems, and Emanuel Swedenborg. This nonfiction book is a conversation between three voices discussing complimentary aspects of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg and Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapeutic model. We’re pleased to share with you some early media coverage in the form of YouTube videos.
We’re excited that early sales have been strong. As of this post, on Amazon this book is ranked in the top 100 for “Religion encyclopedia and subject guides,” and in the top 500 for both “Mental and Spiritual Healing,” and “Spiritual Self-Help Books.” It would be a fantastic help if readers post reviews of this book on our Amazon listing!
Excerpts from Opening the Inner World:
Bob: Traditional talk therapy thought that the healing occurred between the client and the therapist. We therapists were supposed to have these brilliant insights that we would pontificate about, and the client would go, “Oh, you saved me, and everything’s better.” The agency’s all in the therapist; the healing power of the agency is in the therapist. One of the things, when I train people doing IFS, is to hand that agency back to the client as much as possible. (Pg. 135)
Jonathan: Just a little bit that I’ve dipped my toe into IFS, experiencing a session myself, it was amazing to see how the parts respond… (Pg. 136)
Chelsea: All of this reminds me of the non-pathologizing approach of IFS. What does it mean if we’re not broken? Everything shifts when you start to think about IFS in that way. (Pg. 137)
Jonathan: [Swedenborg] writes about how even if you did something evil, if you could see that that wasn’t you, or see a distinction between you and that, you would not be culpable, even if you did it.…the trouble really comes in when we take on either the good or the bad stuff and misattribute it to ourselves. (Pg. 137)
Thanks again to our Swedenborg Foundation community members who gave their feedback on prospective titles and covers for this book. We are grateful for your time and thoughtfulness. If you’d like to be added to the list of people who participate in surveys about upcoming books, let us know at editor@swedenborg.com.
Stay tuned for announcements about the availability of the eBook (Fall 2025) by joining our email list.
Coverage of Opening the Inner World
