🔼: [[💡 Therapy]], [[⭐️ Parts Practice]], [[🦮 How to integrate your Shadow]] # Internal Family Systems (IFS) >"Do I contradict myself? >Very well then I contradict myself, >(I am large, I contain multitudes.)" >— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass Originally developed by [[👤 Richard Schwartz]], IFS is a [[💡 Trauma|trauma]]-informed psycho-spiritual model and [[💡 Therapy#Therapy Modalities|therapy modality]] which assumes the psyche is made up of an ecosystem (“internal family”) of subpersonalities called [[💡 Parts|Parts]]. > [!notice] > [[👤 Richard Schwartz|Richard Schwartz]] is supportive of my work here, but I do not represent the IFS Institute and am not a certified IFS Trainer. ###### Keys - [[🔑 We all have Parts]] - [[🔑 There are no bad Parts]] - [[🔑 Our inner family is an ecosystem]] - [[🔑 All Parts are welcome exactly as they are]] - [[🔑 There is nothing wrong with us]] - [[🔑 Presence does not need to be taught how to be Presence|🔑 Self does not need to be taught how to be Self]] - [[🔑 Our Parts set the pace]] - [[🔑 We don't have to reveal anything to our practitioner]] - [[🔑 Traditional IFS is not well-suited for solo work]] - [[🔑 Models do lots of weird and interesting things]] ###### Basic Terms - [[💡 Parts|Parts]] - [[💡 Protector Parts|Protectors]] - [[💡 Proactive Protectors|Managers]] - [[💡 Reactive Protectors|Firefighters]] - [[🛡 Presence-ing|Self-Like Parts]] - [[💡 Exiles|Exiles]] - [[💡 Burdens 🪨|Burdens]] - [[💡 Polarization|Polarization]] - [[💡 Trailheads|Trailheads]] - [[💡 Blending|Blending]] - [[🕯️ Unblending|Unblending]] - [[💡 Presence|Self]] - [[The Goals of Internal Family Systems]] - [[💡 The IFS Process|The IFS Process]] - [[💡 The IFS Practitioner|The IFS Practitioner]] - [[💡 The IFS Session|The IFS Session]] - [[💡 Guides|Guides]] - [[💡 Unattached Burdens|Unattached Burdens]] ![[🕯️ Parts Practices]] ![[Heather's Story]] #### Resources Check the "Links to this Page" section for books. ###### Support Groups - [[🧑🏼‍🤝‍🧑🏾 Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families]] - [Parts Work Practice](https://billtierneycoaching.com/parts-work-practice/) - [IFS Meditation & Check-In with Dr. Cortina](https://www.drcortina.com/circle) - [Support Group](https://www.emotionalhealingcoach.org/online-support-groups-and-facebook-groups.html) - https://www.path2recovery.org/ - [IFS Self-Led Parenting Facebook Group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/179324706079907) ###### Podcasts - [The One Inside](https://theoneinside.libsyn.com/) - [IFS Talks](https://internalfamilysystems.pt/ifs-talks) - [Live IFS](https://www.youtube.com/@liveifs6505) ###### Sites - https://ifs-institute.com/ - https://www.ifs-collective.com/ - https://foundationifs.org/ - Facebook: [IFS (Internal Family Systems) Community Group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/77511055358) - Reddit: [r/InternalFamilySystems](https://www.reddit.com/r/InternalFamilySystems/) - [https://robertfalconer.us](https://robertfalconer.us/) ###### Studies - [IFS for PTSD, Childhood Trauma](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375) - Touko Kuusi has made database of studies [here](https://www.zotero.org/groups/4985243/empirical_studies_on_ifs__internal_family_systems__-_a_comprehensive_database/collections/RXUDVWCW/item-list) ###### YouTube - [Internal Family Systems - IFS Institute](https://www.youtube.com/@InternalFamilySystems) - [Derek Scott - IFSCA](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRw6sRKzEVdbgw32JEKO-0Q) - [Dr. Tori Olds](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCJ2fBBavCJEoQPzbMIOuQ2luJDHrWPSL) - [Peter Gerlach](https://www.youtube.com/@gercacn) #### FAQs > [!FAQ]- FAQ: What are your thoughts on IFS? > I believe the many therapy modalities in circulation today are the result of circling around the truth of how our minds work. They share same problem: sort of true, but incomplete and often misguided. IFS even has some similar tools and techniques to those other modalities, but they're small parts of the whole. IFS is a kind of “meta-modality,” and it's the closest I've seen to a complete picture. > >Internal Family Systems is the foundation upon which the rest of the guide is built, because in my experience any modality that doesn’t include multiplicity is incomplete, and this can sometimes create roadblocks. Including IFS seems to make other tools and modalities more effective. > > IFS is both intuitive and complex. That complexity allows us to get extremely specific and achieve a level of granularity that I haven't seen in other models, like a therapeutic microscope. > > ##### IFS has some amount of overlap with... > - [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]] > - [[💡 Gestalt Therapy]] > - [[💡 Focusing]] > - [[💡 Narrative Therapy]] > - [[☀️ Compassion]] > - [[🕯️ Gratitude]] > - [[🛠 Safe Place Visualization]] > - [[🕯️ Reparenting]] > - [[🧘 RAIN Meditation]] > - [[🛠️ Nonviolent Communication]] > - Conflict resolution > - [[💡 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy]] > - [[💡 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy]] > - [[💡 Dialectical Behavior Therapy]] > > ##### Similar Modalities > - [[💡 Compassionate Inquiry]] > - [[🧘 RAIN Meditation]] > > ##### Complimentary Modalities > - [[💡 Somatic Experiencing]] > - [[💡 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing]] > - [[💡 Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy]] > - [[🛠 Neurofeedback]] > - [[💡 Brainspotting]] > - [[💡 Sensorimotor Psychotherapy]] > - Instinctual Trauma Response > - [[Hakomi Method]] > > ##### Complimentary Supports > - [[🕯️ Breathwork 💨]] > - Shiatsu > - [[👟 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga]] > - Accelerated Resolution Therapy > [!FAQ]- FAQ: What can IFS treat? > I'm not sure there are any psychological issues that IFS can't help with in some way, and this is in large part because so many diagnoses can be explained by trauma and alleviated by healing it. Schwartz developed IFS while working with clients trying to recover from Complex PTSD, which itself umbrellas over so many diagnoses that if the DSM were to account for it it would shrink to the size of a small pamphlet. > >Traumatic Brain Injuries are a different story. "My conclusion is that for [[💡 Presence|Self]] to operate it needs a certain amount of hardware and if that hardware is damaged, it can't operate fully as a parent."[^1] ^35a382 > [!FAQ]- FAQ: How long does IFS take to work? > That depends on our individual systems and how much healing we feel we need. If there's one specific issue we're looking to heal from, it could take a few sessions or a couple of months. If we're dealing with something like [[💡 Complex PTSD]], it could take a couple of years, but [[🔑 Progress accumulates]]. It gets easier as we go and we make substantial progress along the way. [^1]: [[📖 ✅ IFS Online Circle]] Month 3: Working with Exiles & The Trauma Behind the Rage - Month 3 with Richard Schwartz