IFS has gained more popularity in recent years, and there is increasing evidence that it is effective as a therapeutic method.
Your thoughts, feelings, and actions are all related to each other.
Internal Family Systems are a different way of therapy that connects the client’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. IFS understands that our thoughts, feelings, and actions are all intertwined. So, in IFS, I am not going to tell you to ignore, redirect, or change unwanted thoughts, feelings, and behaviors but to explore them with curiosity. You will stop battling yourself and get the various parts of yourself to start working together.
IFS Therapy: How Working with Parts Can Heal You
How often do you find yourself unable to decide between two different options? For example, the part of you that feels stuck and wants to move on and the part of you that is terrified of change and wants to stay put. The part of you that wants to say “no” to unreasonable expectations from others and the other that doesn’t want to disappoint or be abandoned.
Sounds familiar? This sense of being torn between wanting two different and contradicting things is a common human experience.
Each one of us has parts. The mind has a natural tendency to divide into infinite parts or subpersonalities. While we tend to see ourselves as a whole, we often talk about the different aspects of who we are, particularly when they contradict one another.
We work directly with these parts of you at IFS.
Is having parts of Self Normal?
At IFS, we feel that having parts is normal and healthy. Everyone is born with different parts; just because you have more of them does not mean something is wrong with you. According to Richard Schwartz, the creator of Internal Family Systems, our mind works as an “inner family.”
The purpose of IFS therapy is not to eliminate parts causing distress but to assist you in finding their non-extreme roles. Together, we will:
– Identify and work with your parts to gain self-awareness and self-regulation.
– Help you achieve balance within internal systems.
– Provides a better understanding of Self.
– Distinguish and elevate the Self so that it can connect and heal each part.
– Heal parts, help them let go of their destructive roles, and awaken their capacities that reflect their non-extreme intentions.
There are no bad parts. All parts are welcome.
Even when parts create stress, anxiety, anger, or sadness, they believe that what they do is necessary to protect you and keep you safe. So, none of your parts are wrong or bad; they try to defend you using tools that don’t serve you anymore.
IFS therapy online or in-office can provide a secure environment to accept all parts of yourself as equally significant, good, and welcome. By allowing each part of yourself to be seen and heard, you foster self-respect and self-compassion, enabling you to connect with the deepest parts of yourself and bring them to conscious awareness.
Which Issues Can IFS Help With?
The IFS approach is often used to treat anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance disorders, and eating disorders, among other mental health problems. It is also often used in couple and family therapy because it can help people understand the dynamics and conflicts in their relationships and work through them.
You will work directly with parts of yourself to understand what they are trying to achieve, how they are attempting it, and, most importantly, why.
Together we will identify parts of yourself that contribute to your current problems or symptoms.
We will work with you on acceptance of your parts as valuable contributors to your whole rather than as enemies to be destroyed.
Once you understand your parts better, I will help you understand the specific role each part plays in your internal system and their protective role, access them, and process any suppressed emotions or trauma that may be contained in them.
Finally, We will put these different parts together into a whole, helping you become more self-aware, self-compassionate, and in better self-control.