Internal Family Systems Therapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a unique approach to therapy, developed by Richard Schwartz. It sees your mind as home to an internal family, consisting of different parts or sub-personalities that enable you to navigate life. These parts are divided into two main categories: wounded and protective. The wounded parts harbor painful feelings and experiences, while the protective parts protect you from these wounded parts. Basically, they are in conflict with one another; however, it does not have to be this way.

The reason is the Self. The Self oversees the parts while also representing the person you truly are. Your Self holds the key to bringing the wounded and protective parts together; this is where the internal family systems therapy, or “parts work” therapy, comes in. It lets you gain insight into your inner conflicts and foster meaningful personal growth. With IFS therapy, you can achieve healing and harmony in your life.

Internal family systems therapy can effectively treat a wide spectrum of behavioral and mental health challenges, such as the following:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Phobia
• Trauma
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Eating disorders
• Substance use disorders

Internal family systems therapy views these challenges only as a “part” of your entire person. It acknowledges and respects these parts instead of trying to fight them. In doing so, it will allow you to approach your challenges with curiosity and kindness rather than as the enemy.

In internal family systems therapy, you and your therapist will first seek to understand the parts of your mind. For this reason, it is also known as the “parts work” therapy. Think of these parts as characters, each with a certain role to play in the family that is your mind.

Exiles:

Right at the beginning, we have the exiles. These are the wounded parts. They hold onto the pain and the suffering so that you do not have to face them.

Managers:

Next up, we have the managers. These are the protector parts. They manage your day-to-day functioning by keeping the exiles at bay. When you do not have to face the exiles, you can avoid painful experiences.

Firefighters:

Lastly, we have the firefighters. They are like the managers, but they come into play when things become overwhelming for the managers. They swoop in and restrict the negative emotions. But their efforts can veer toward the unhealthy category. Even impulsive behaviors like substance use or binge eating.

Once you understand the parts, you can release your emotions and learn to manage your challenges on your own. You will also develop certain tools and skills like relaxation exercises, journaling, and charting the relationship between the different parts and the Self so that you can move toward healing.

Meanwhile, the center of IFS therapy is the Self. It is the entirety of who you are. The Self has many positive traits, the main ones being the 8Cs and the 5Ps.

The 8 C’s are as follows:

• Confidence
• Calmness
• Creativity
• Clarity
• Curiosity
• Courage
• Compassion
• Connectedness

The 5 P’s are as follows:

• Presence
• Patience
• Perspective
• Persistence
• Playfulness

An internal family systems therapist will use these positive traits to identify the relevant parts that need healing through a six-step process:

• Find
• Focus
• Flesh Out
• Feel Toward
• Befriend
• Fear

The internal family systems therapy enables you to understand and manage your challenges by exploring the different parts of your mind we spoke about before - the exiles, managers, and firefighters. Negativity tends to stem from the overactive manager, which is somewhat like your inner critic or worrier. However, IFS therapy will not ask you to bury this negativity; instead, you will find and focus on it to recognize its motives.

Then, you flesh it out. You will delve into your inner critic to understand what it is and why it behaves the way it does with you. As you connect with your inner critic, you will learn to feel the emotions it evokes within you. This can be discomforting, but at the same time, it is crucial to your healing.

Once you experience your inner critic, you will befriend it rather than treat it as an adversary. You will speak to it and understand where it is coming from and what it is telling you. As you befriend it, you uncover its fears. What is it really afraid of, and what can you do to ease its anxiety?

As you uncover its fears, your inner critic will seem less like a bully and more like someone who is trying to protect you. With understanding, you can move toward peace.

Internal family systems therapy enables you to see yourself as an observer when facing your challenges. It is not about criticizing the parts within you but approaching them with curiosity and kindness. As you recognize and understand these parts, you can move toward healing and self-discovery.

In all this, the Self is central to IFS therapy. It can heal, transform, and get these parts to work together like a well-functioning family. Toward the same, the goals of the therapy are:

• To uplift the Self as an efficient leader.
• To have the parts recognize the Self as the leader and submit to its decision-making.
• To have the parts co-exist together and be productive in a non-extreme manner.

Yes, internal family systems therapy is very effective. As of 2015, it became designated as an evidence-based practice by the National Registry for Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). NREPP is a repository maintained by the U.S. government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 

As a mode of treatment, it has been rated as effective in improving the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and even some physical health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.

However, it is not useful in the treatment of all disorders, especially psychotic disorders. For example, in the case of schizophrenia, the emphasis on “sub-personalities” is not really useful. It may not be useful in the treatment of dissociative identity disorder for the same reason as well.

Internal family systems therapy is among the diverse range of therapies we offer at the NuView Treatment Center. We will first seek to understand your background, challenges, needs, strengths, and goals to connect you with a licensed internal family systems therapist best aligned with your healing journey. Your therapy sessions will involve you and your therapist working together to identify the Self and build cohesion among the conflicting parts within the family of your mind.

The success of the internal family systems therapy mainly depends on your rapport with your therapist. To this end, we always strive to provide you with a private, secure, and conducive environment where you feel safe to explore even your most discomforting thoughts and emotions. We are committed to your healing, and will be there with you all the way on this journey.