###### 🔑 Direct Access requires a therapist to be Self-led[^1] [[💡 Direct Access|Direct Access]] requires an [[💡 The IFS Practitioner|IFS Therapist]] to be [[💡 Self-Leadership|Self-Led]] and aware of any [[💡 Polarization|polarizations]] or alignments happening between their parts and ours. If the therapist is not in [[💡 Presence]], it's not Direct Access and it’s not [[⭐️ Internal Family Systems|IFS]] — it's conventional therapy. [[☀️ Curiosity]] is the most important quality for a therapist when using Direct Access. Not being able to do insight is not a failure of either the client or therapist. It just means there's a lack of trust. Stay curious and over time the client can unblend. > [!example] Example > If we often struggle to open up to our friends and one day tell our therapist we’re going to try to have a heart-to-heart with someone for the first time, and then our therapist says ”That’s a great idea!” one of our therapist’s parts has aligned with one of ours. > > We might have other parts who don't think that conversation is a good idea, but now the therapist's parts have taken sides. The therapist has encouraged one part and pushed another away. This could either worsen [[💡 Polarization|polarization]] between our parts (“But they said it was a a good idea…”) or create polarizations between our therapist's parts and ours ("They said they'd do it, so why didn't they?"). > > Instead the therapist might say "I'm hearing that there are parts who want to do this. Are there parts who don’t? What if we let them have their say, and you can make a decision with [[☀️ Clarity]] instead of from one part or the other?" to help us make a Self-lead decision. [^1]: [[📖 ✅ IFS Online Circle]] Month 4 - Conflicting but Complimentary & Direct Access and In-Sight: A Decision - Focus on Direct Access