Straight From the Part: Understanding Internal Family Systems Therapy
All About IFS
If you’ve ever been trying to make a decision and felt like there were competing parts of yourself that wanted two completely different things, or if you’ve ever felt like certain people, places, or situations bring out totally different sides of you, you’re probably already thinking and speaking in the language of Internal Family Systems Therapy.
Originally developed by therapist Richard Schwartz in the 1980s while working with individuals with bulimia nervosa, Internal Family Systems Therapy posits that we as people are comprised of inner “parts,” which can be conceptualized as distinct subsections of our personality and identity. Under healthy and harmonious circumstances, these parts function together as a whole system that informs our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, actions, and more. Bringing all of our parts together is self energy, a constant and essential piece of ourselves that we are all born with, but more on this later.
We are born with a set of distinct parts that make us us, and as we develop, grow, and learn, additional parts are added into our system to serve particular functions. As examples, a child who recently started school and feels motivated to get good grades may develop a hardworking part that comes forward to provide drive, focus, and commitment to tasks like studying and completing homework, or a new parent may develop a nurturing and protective part as they assume their new role as mom or dad.
It can be helpful to think about our internal system of parts as passengers on a bus. Most of the time, we want our core self to be the one driving the bus. Sometimes certain situations, experiences, or even people we interact with will make one of our parts feel like it needs to take control of the wheel. When our internal system is functioning healthfully, there is an easy pendulation between parts coming forward to drive the bus, and then giving the wheel right back to our core self.
However, when we experience frightening, overwhelming, painful, or otherwise traumatic events, some of our parts may become so committed to ensuring those events don’t happen again, that they take control of the wheel and refuse to give it back to our core self. Maybe the child with the hardworking part experiences getting a bad grade and being made fun of by their peers, in response to which the hardworking part, in a bid to ensure that never happens again, takes over and turns in the direction of being excessively focused on studying and grades at the expense of other important aspects of the child’s life. Perhaps more extreme demonstrations of when parts start driving the bus can be seen in someone turning to substance use to avoid experiencing grief following the death of a loved one, or someone who develops a restrictive eating disorder as means of numbing traumatic memories held in their body.
What is key in all of the aforementioned examples is that, even when parts are driving the bus in a seemingly dysfunctional way, the behaviors, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes they drive us toward usually serve a purpose related to self-protection, even though the outcomes of their efforts may end up being more harmful than helpful. This is why developing a strong core self is crucial in being able to guide and integrate all our parts.
In Internal Family Systems Therapy, the goal is to strengthen our core self and approach our parts, even the most seemingly dysfunctional ones, with compassion, curiosity, and care, so that we might bring our parts into collaboration with one another and our core self. Pivotal to Internal Family Systems Therapy is the belief that all parts have inherently valuable qualities to offer us, and that through compassionate understanding and connection with these parts, we can figure out what those qualities are and give those parts a break from feeling like they have to always be the one driving the bus.
Who Can Benefit From IFS?
Because we all have unique internal systems comprised of parts specific to our personalities, life experiences, and general histories, Internal Family Systems Therapy can be an adaptive and beneficial modality for addressing a variety of ways in which our parts can become dysfunctional, disconnected, or dis-integrated.
Research into Internal Family Systems Therapy is still in early stages of exploration and development. Nevertheless, Internal Family Systems Therapy has shown potential benefit in the treatment and processing of post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumas, depression, the experience of living with chronic pain, anxiety disorders, and more. Because of its emphasis on self-compassion and understanding, as well as resilience, Internal Family Systems can also be supportive for individuals experiencing life stressors such as grief, life transitions, and relational struggles, and has been adapted for use in group, family, and couples counseling. To learn more about current and ongoing research on Internal Family Systems Therapy, see resource links at the end of the article.
Anecdotally from both clinicians and clients alike, Internal Family Systems Therapy can be a beneficial modality for people who have tried more traditional talk therapy and found themselves feeling stuck or pulled in multiple directions. If you’ve ever sat down on your therapist’s couch and said that logically, you know what you want to do, think, or feel differently, but it seems like there’s a block between the change you’d like to see and where you are now, it might be worth taking some time to get to know the parts of yourself that aren’t ready for that change.
So, What is IFS Therapy Actually Like?
In Internal Family Systems Therapy, clients are taught how to turn inward and map out the parts that make up their internal system, often by focusing on and getting curious about thoughts, feelings, or memories associated with specific parts. With the guidance of their therapist, clients are able to make contact with these parts of themselves, get to know these parts and what functions they serve, and ultimately understand how they can care for these parts and integrate them in a healthy and functional way. This might look like offering comfort and reassurance to frightened parts, helping direct the energy of our driven and hardworking parts toward projects and tasks that align with our values, or providing a compassionate space to learn about and acknowledge parts that had previously been shamed, avoided, or otherwise shut down.
Another key component of Internal Family Systems Therapy is exploring ways that clients can enhance their self energy in order to get back in touch with their core self, which is what allows us to heal and integrate our parts within our internal system. In moments of overwhelm, fear, or anxiety, our self energy can become diminished, and other parts may feel that they need to take over at the wheel. If you have a part that has been driving the bus for a really long time, and you’re asking that part to give the wheel back to your core self, that part is going to need to trust that your core self is strong and ready enough to get back to driving. As such, finding ways to enhance and strengthen your self energy is a pivotal factor in Internal Family Systems Therapy.
We can strengthen our self energy by enhancing and pursuing moments, experiences, and interactions that evoke what Internal Family Systems Therapy calls the 8 Cs and 5 Ps of self energy. These are qualities of presence, attitude, and action that, when we feel and observe them in ourselves, let us know we are tapping into self energy and our core self. When engaging with ourselves, our parts, and our world from a place of self energy, we want to do so with curiosity, calm, courage, creativity, compassion, clarity, confidence, and connectedness, as well as playfulness, patience, perspective, persistence, and presence. To end this brief primer on Internal Family Systems Therapy, below are some questions to reflect on or journal about that can help you identify moments and experiences where you have tapped into self energy.
Can you think of a time you felt deeply curious about something?
When do you feel the most creative?
When you feel courageous, what are you most likely doing in that moment?
Can you think of a moment in your life when you felt compassion from someone?
When was a time you felt most connected to yourself? When was a time you felt most connected to someone else?
What activities or situations help you have more clarity?
Can you think of a person in your life, or a character in a book, tv show, or movie that demonstrates playfulness? What about persistence?
Internal Family Systems-Informed Therapists at Austin Counseling and Nutrition
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