Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy: What is it?

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy is an evidence-based therapy created by marriage and family therapy doctor Richard C. Schwartz. Its beginnings date back to the 1980s and its objective was to help adolescents with eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa, who, recurrently, spoke of “internal conversations” – many of them extreme. – with what they themselves called “the different subpersonalities within themselves”: the parts.

Schwartz understood that when these parties felt safe and their concerns were heard, they were less distressing and disturbing for these young people.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

The author realized that the therapist and the consultant were capable of convincing a “extreme part with TCA” to allow the client to mentally separate themselves from their distorted perspective. Thus, the consultant was able to adopt a position in which he did not judge her part, coming to observe her with curiosity. This attitude of relating to its different parts and being compassionate and kind with them is crucial for healing. This is a central axis of the IFS.

This therapy is based on a model that integrates systemic thinking with the premise that the mind is made up of different parts, each of them with distinctive ways of thinking and characteristics. It is integrative because it combines what was said above with family systems theory. As in family systems theory, each part assumes a different role that defines the inner world of the consultant: the self (the being, oneself).

IFS is based on multiplicity of mind, systems thinking, and attachment theory.

What parts exist?

Two parts are distinguished: the protective parts and the exiled parts

1. The protectors: proactive or reactive?

Each protective part attempts to expel the negative feelings, thoughts and behaviors that arise from the wounded parts with a clear purpose: avoid more pain and stay safe. However, there are different protective parts in response to emotional damage:

Proactive parties

The proactive parties They try to organize our existence in such a way that we leave suffering out of consciousness. Its objectives are to motivate us to be better, work, be productive and be social.

When these parts become extreme, they become dysfunctional: perfectionism appears, excessive intellectualization, caring at the expense of our own care, obsession with appearance or avoiding conflicts with a high psychological cost.

Reactive parts

They are the firefighters of emotions. When we suffer excessively, they try to distract us as quickly as possible no matter what: they do not take into account the consequences. They act under the premise of “if you need it, use it; “It doesn’t matter what happens.”

Taken to the extreme, they can lead to dysfunctional behaviors such as: binge eating and purging, addictions, dissociation, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Vulnerable parties: the exiles

They are the parts that They have suffered so much that ““they disconnect” of our conscience. When we suffer frightening experiences, especially when we are young, we can develop overwhelmingly threatening thoughts such as ““I don’t deserve to be loved,” “no one is going to love me” or “I’m worthless.”.

At this point, the protective parts come into play to keep these more vulnerable parts as out of consciousness as possible. Because ““the exiles” They are parts that have been shamed, humiliated, mistreated or rejected. The amount of energy the mind spends in achieving this is very great.

The self

When the different parts are attended to, it is possible to access what Schwartz calls “the wise leadership of the self“, which is nothing other than the coordination of different qualities: trust, openness and compassion.

The Self is the center from which the various parts that make up us are articulated. The self is “the you that is not a part”. Accessing it is the main goal of IFS.

When clients pay more attention to their self and listen to their parts instead of trying to suppress or alter them, their internal dialogues change: the extreme parts calm down and begin to feel better, with greater security, lightness, freedom and openness.

How are the parts related?

The relationships between the different parts can be of three types:

Polarization: occurs when there are two or more protective parties that confront each other when managing a conflict with an exiled party. This causes pain and over time becomes more extreme. When this contradiction is recognized by the self of the consultant, the protective parts that were polarized allow the Self to care for, protect and reconnect the exiled part. This is when mental energy expenditure decreases: the protective parts are released.Of protection: We have already mentioned these. They can be proactive and reactive.Alliance: It is one of the goals of the IFS. It is the cooperative relationship between different parties to work together in the pursuit of common goals.

The therapy

The IFS places the focus of the intervention on the consultant himself. In this way, the therapist is freed to focus on a valuable goal: to guide you toward accessing your self and helping you harness the wisdom you have about yourself.

The therapist begins the therapy by helping the client distance himself from his different parts to reconnect with his self. In this way, from the center of oneself, it is possible to observe each of the parts to understand and heal it. Because? To abandon self-destructive behaviors.

Among the objectives of therapy we can find:

Allow the consultants to help their protective parts separate. Establish a collaborative relationship with the protective parts and obtain “their permission” to be able to attend to the exiled parts: the wounds. Connect with the most wounded and abused parts, witnesses of terrible experiences, to help them release the beliefs they have and the harmful moods that accompany them so that they can heal. Ultimately, leave space for the parts that have healed and thus be able to reestablish the Self as the consultant’s command center.

A glimpse of the techniques used in IFS

One of the fundamental differences with the rest of psychotherapies is that it is a form of therapy that does not pathologize, does not impose diagnostic labels and, therefore, provides hope. Some of the resources used in IFS are the following:

The 6 steps to differentiate parts: find, focus, describe, feel, establish a good connection, fears.The 8 “Cs” that make up the qualities of self energy: curiosity, calm, clarity, connection, trust, courage, creativity and compassion.The “direct access”: It is a method of communication with the parties. The therapist speaks explicitly to the different parts of the consultant, for example: ““Can I talk directly to that part? Why do you want Andrea to drink?”Redo in a restorative way: when an exiled part takes the client back to a distressing and disturbing memory where they are stuck and tells the self to do what that part needed someone to have done for it then.Internal communication: requires that the client be aware of his different parts (with the help of visual, kinesthetic or auditory experiences) and that there is enough self energy to communicate directly with it. In this case, if protective parts block internal communication, direct access is usually used.

Richard C. Schwartz developed the IFS to understand our inner life.

Applications

We could consider IFS as a form of psychotherapy applicable to numerous forms of human suffering, but not only that, but also It is a fundamental ally for both personal and spiritual self-discovery. At a clinical level, we can apply it in:

Trauma: Clients who have, for example, dissociative identity disorder (DID), also called multiple personality, may have little or no access to their self for years, so the therapist must take the role of the client’s self.Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): In this disorder, the protective parts prohibit access to the wounded and exiled parts (desperate young parts, internally rejected, seeking to be rescued).Narcissistic personality disorder: In this disorder the efforts of the protective parts are shown that “Working very hard and self-idealizing is a perfect shield against the shame of feeling inadequate.”.Depression: Depression, according to IFS, suppresses the body’s emotional signals, and diminishes both the physical and emotional experience in a paralyzing way.

In addition to the above disorders, IFS also is promising against anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, sociopathy, addictive disorders and eating disorders.

Nevertheless, IFS is not a therapy without criticism. Some IFS therapists maintain that, while the therapy is effective, it has limitations. For example, self-development and self-discovery takes time and effort.

On the other hand, since it has a non-negligible component of focusing on emotion, it can be “excessively emotional” and generate more anxiety in the consultant. In addition, It is not a therapy that works well in cases of psychosis such as delusions, paranoia or schizophrenia.

You might be interested…