Internal Family Systems Therapy (The Guilford Family Therapy)

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The treatment offers hope to clients wishing to find balance and harmony within their mind and facilitate the self to regain control. As his client some years ago, I had unforgettable experiences on this journey. I remember coming into a session after I had sent the final version of my essay “Facing a Wall of Silence” to the editors. As I listened inside, I did not notice any parts. Instead I had a strong feeling of being alive. He asked me to imagine walking up a path and leaving my parts behind. When I did this, the feeling of being alive only intensified. He invited me to ask this feeling what it had to tell me, and the first thing I heard was: “This is what you are here for.” The same feeling returned strongly and for some time, years later, when I wrote “Alice Miller: War and Betrayal Trauma.”

Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model

Schwartz, R. C. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the internal family systems model. Sounds True.Is there just one “you”? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds―or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us―and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.”

Internal Family Systems Model | IFS Institute Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model | IFS Institute

I selected a few demonstration videos of IFS sample sessions to help give an idea of how the work might unfold. In IFS therapy, most of the work happens inward however, so these only offer a partial view of what a session is like for the client. If you are interested to experience IFS therapy for yourself and see the inner changes IFS can bring, consider trying out a mini IFS session.

Not only that, it enables clients to unburden trauma, access self-energy, and form deeply satisfying relationships with themselves and others. IFS® is frequently used as an evidence-based psychotherapy, helping people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS® creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts. While managers help us plan and shape our lives and avoid discomfort and pain, firefighters rush in and try to fix the problem. We may recognize both in how we cope. For example, when life is calm, we may plan; when we’re hectic or stressed, we may eat or drink too much. In IFS, we become aware of our parts: those conflicting inner voices, feelings and beliefs that can overwhelm and confuse us. We also become aware of our Self: the healing force we all carry inside. These conversations, these compassionate inner exchanges, between our parts and our Self sustain and strengthen us throughout life’s challenges and changes. The outstanding second edition of this classic book presents the preeminent research-supported, integrative family systems approach to working with individuals as well as their couple and family relationships in their larger cultural contexts. The book is beautifully written, the theory is sophisticated and nuanced, and the clinical vignettes demonstrate the details of putting IFS into practice. IFS therapy dovetails wonderfully with the emerging emphasis on body-based psychotherapies, mindfulness practices, and the role of spirituality in mental health and well-being. This book should be read by all therapists--not just those who align with family systems--and should be a core text for graduate programs in all forms of psychotherapy. I will use it in my graduate courses!”--Peter Fraenkel, PhD, Department of Psychology, The City College of the City University of New York

The Most Helpful IFS Resources : IFS Videos, Meditations

While there are many aspects to IFS as a theory and treatment model, the primary healing relationship “is between the client’s Self and her young, injured parts” (Sweezy & Ziskind, 2013, p. 1). According to Schwartz (2021, p. 6), thinking involves parts “talking to each other and to you constantly about things you have to do or debating the best course of action, and so on.” Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model While IFS Therapy is a powerful approach for helping individuals, it can be equally successful with couples. According to Herbine-Blank (n.d.), “once the individuals in a couple have more access to Self, transformation is natural,” and they can find the space and capacity to choose a response rather than simply react to it, even if the other cannot at the time. The book is an easy read, and is a compilation of the writers theories as well as transcripts of meetings with clients. There is a spiritual element to the book that is carefully managed so its not a significant distraction to those not aligned with the authors worldview.

IFS Institute offers three progressive levels of professional training for those wishing to become IFS® therapists and practitioners. An IFS Level 1 Training is the minimum requirement for practicing IFS in a clinical or professional setting. This tool aims to help clients differentiate between their threat defense system (i.e., their inner critic) and their caregiving system (i.e., their inner coach), learning to let go of the former. The ReRooted podcast Francesca Maximé, a conversation about legacy burdens in IFS therapy and the relevance of the model to implicit racism, and social and environmental activism.