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Internal Family Systems
(IFS)
Befriend the Chaos
Life feels confusing inside?
All your parts mean well.
WHY IT MATTERS
You're not broken.
Your internal parts seem at odds.
You can help the parts that are suffering—
so the other parts don't have to work so hard.
Go Deeper. . .
Have you ever wondered why you feel what you feel and do what you do? Does it sometimes seem like part of you is scared or sad, while another part is telling you to “quit being so needy” or trying to get you to “just get back to work” and do what needs to be done? Do you find a part of yourself just wants to be distracted or maybe creates chaos in your life?
Then you have met the “exiles,” “managers,” and “firefighters” (various subpersonalities described by the Internal Family Systems model) that sometimes seem to control our lives despite our best intentions. IFS looks at what these parts fear that causes them to act in certain ways and asks us how we feel toward our various parts, helping us to find them, focus on them, and befriend them.
There are no bad parts. . .
By learning to recognize, thank, and occasionally invite our protective parts to “step back,” we can unburden those parts of us that carry pain and give all our parts new job descriptions so that we live healthier lives. The key is to let our “core self” take the lead. You can read more about IFS here, or check out this video and text by the developer of the model.
My Experience with IFS
I have level 1 training in IFS and while I am not actively practicing as an IFS therapist, frequently I find it helpful to talk with clients about their various “parts.”