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Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a psychotherapy approach that explores and addresses the various sub-personalities or "parts" within an individual's mental system. These parts include wounded aspects and painful emotions such as anger and shame, as well as protective parts that try to shield the person from this pain. Often, these sub-personalities are in conflict with each other and with the core Self—the central, confident, and compassionate essence of each individual. IFS aims to heal these wounded parts and restore mental balance and harmony by altering the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.

IFS was developed by psychologist Richard Schwartz. While working as a family therapist, Schwartz noticed a recurring pattern in how people described their inner experiences: “What I heard repeatedly were descriptions of what they often called their 'parts'—the conflicted subpersonalities that resided within them,” Schwartz notes. He began to envision the mind as a family, with these parts acting as family members interacting with one another. This insight laid the groundwork for IFS and the concept of the core Self.

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From Psychology Today 2022

Inner Child Sculputure

Inner Child - Love Statue by Alexander Milov

Parts of Self wanting to be heard

According to IFS, the undamaged core Self is the essence of who you are. A person's parts can be healed, transformed, and better managed by the Self by achieving three goals of IFS:

  • Free the parts from their extreme roles

  • Restore trust in the Self

  • Coordinate and harmonize the Self and the parts, so they can work together as a team with the Self in charge

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