What is Internal Family Systems Therapy and how does it work?
Do you ever feel conflicted and feel like you have one part of you that wants to try something new and another part that is afraid? Or a part that wants to berate you for not finishing all your to-do list and another that wants to prioritise resting? Maybe you are also aware of a time when all of yourself (parts) seem aligned in one direction. If so, you are aware that you are made up of parts and you’ll know that sometimes these parts can be conflicted!
Exploring different parts of ourselves is the focus of Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), which is a new paradigm-shifting therapy modality that is transforming the way we view mental health. It works on the basis of bringing each of these parts of ourselves to therapy, working with them and their relationships with each other to create more a balanced and harmonious inner system.
The IFS model was developed by Richard Schwartz through listening to his clients talk about parts of themselves, and discovering that these parts had relationships with each other, a little bit like a family - hence Internal Family Systems. He applied his training in family systems therapy to the inner internal family to help work with psychological and even physical difficulties. “There are no bad parts” as Dick emphasises - the parts we don’t like often are wounded and are calling for our attention, often in ways that we may not like. As we speak with our parts, we discover all parts actually always have good intentions behind the way they are behaving.
What do the sessions of Internal Family Systems therapy look like?
Many of my clients love working with IFS as it provides another way of getting into their inner world compared to traditional talking therapy (which is beneficial but sometimes limited). Each client has their own way of getting in touch with their parts which can sometimes look like being in meditation, a dream-like state, or even look like traditional talking therapy from the outside. The key difference is that we are connecting with the unconscious, through what we can feel in the body, see in our mind’s eye or hear via thoughts, all of which we might otherwise dismiss.
These parts can be known as subpersonalities and have different emotions, physical feelings, memories and traumas. I’m aware, this may sound a little bit out there! But I consistently see with clients whether they initially believe it or not, that during sessions they will get a sense of these different parts.
You might be thinking..all these different parts and voices in people’s heads sounds a bit like multiple personality disorder? Multiplicity has been shamed in our culture due to the fear of it being an indicator of diagnoses like Disassociative Identity Disorder (previously Multiple Personality Disorder). DID clients, however, are acting from different parts that take over their system one at a time (rather than being aware of a few at once, which most of us are) and they may not remember their different identities. However, many ancient traditions such as shamanism embrace multiplicity as part of our human nature and engage with parts in the healing process.
How does it work?
The key premise is that we are all made of parts, we cannot remove parts and there are no bad parts! We do, however, have a Self-energy that is behind all the parts, like the sun behind the clouds that is calm, compassionate, courageous, connected, has clarity, confidence, and creativity. These are known as ‘the 7 C’s.’ The aim of IFS therapy is to get more in touch with our Self-energy so that the Self can lead the parts and help to heal the parts that are in difficulty.
The parts can be categorised into:
Protectors-These are subdivided into managers and firefighters. Managers try to prevent emotional negativity by planning, getting things done, or providing feedback. They might show up as the inner critic, obsessive thinking, or over-planning. Whilst firefighters deal with emotional difficulty as soon as possible by distracting us from our pain, maybe by drinking alcohol, binge eating, or overworking.
Exiles- These are the wounded parts of us, that have a lot of strong difficult feelings. They often have been shut away in our system but they want to be healed. They carry emotional feelings that haven’t been processed from the past, often in the form of shame and guilt.
Quite often, people experience a few parts that seem to overwork and are present a lot more than the others. These dominant parts can be frustrating as we can feel like we have no control over them. The way we view these parts in IFS is that these parts are actually calling for our attention for a reason and we need to find out what that deeper need is (this may not be the demand that they are making but a deeper need that even the part isn’t fully aware of.) When these parts have a relationship with our Self, then they often feel a sense of safety and ease and can choose whether they want to show up in the way that they have been or in a new way.
How does IFS view trauma?
Through the lens of IFS, we experience trauma when there is too much emotion for our Self (the calm, compassionate, courageous, true Self that is within all of us) to process at that moment and the emotion gets locked away. The part that holds those really difficult emotions, is often the exile as it contains deep, vulnerable, or painful feelings. When the exiled part of us is triggered, it overwhelms our system, which is of course, very unpleasant. So parts of us take on the protective role of managers (who try to prevent that exiled part from being triggered) and firefighters (who try to stop us from feeling the pain of the exile if it has been triggered) to keep our inner system relatively calm.
These parts are very useful for keeping ourselves functional and able to engage with everyday life. However, often these parts have to overwork or experience conflict with other parts (known as polarisations), and so do not really want these roles. In therapy, our role is to get in contact with our Self-energy and befriend and heal these burdened protectors, so they will feel safe enough to then heal the exile. Once this has taken place, you will often feel calmer, at peace and at ease, without the troubling behaviours of the firefighters and managers which often cause us secondary pain.
Who can benefit from IFS?
IFS is an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach that is suitable for many psychological difficulties. There is particular research on the effectiveness of PTSD (complex and simple), addictions and reducing pain for rheumatoid arthritis alongside medical treatment. IFS is also particularly suitable for:
Trauma
Anxiety -including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks, perfectionism, people-pleasing and phobias.
Depression
Body image issues and eating disorders
IFS is also a great method for self-exploration and just generally finding yourself and feeling more fulfilled. Many clients find the experience like nothing else they have done, life-changing, transformative and even fun. I have personally experienced a lot of IFS therapy myself and can confirm that it has totally changed my life! If you are interested in exploring your inner psyche and resolving deep inner conflicts and difficulties, IFS might be for you.
Do contact me if you are interested in working in this way.
References
Shadick NA, Sowell NF, Frits ML, Hoffman SM, Hartz SA, Booth FD, Sweezy M, Rogers PR, Dubin RL, Atkinson JC, Friedman AL, Augusto F, Iannaccone CK, Fossel AH, Quinn G, Cui J, Losina E, Schwartz RC. A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study. J Rheumatol. 2013 Nov;40(11):1831-41. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.121465. Epub 2013 Aug 15. PMID: 23950186.
Hilary B. Hodgdon, Frank G. Anderson, Elizabeth Southwell, Wendy Hrubec & Richard Schwartz (2022) Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Survivors of Multiple Childhood Trauma: A Pilot Effectiveness Study, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 31:1, 22-43, DOI: 10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375
Mehrad Sadr M, Borjali A, Eskandary H, Delavar A. (2023). Design and validation of a therapy program based on the internal family systems model and its efficacy on internet addiction. Journal of Psychological Science. 22(121), 19-36. doi:10.52547/JPS.22.121.19
URL: http://psychologicalscience.ir/article-1-1867-en.html