Internal Family Systems

Ever been of two minds? (Or more?) "One part of me wants to take a risk while the another wants to play it safe." "One part of me thinks I should go to spin class while another part wants to curl up with Ben & Jerry." What if we considered those parts to be real? And what if we took each of those parts seriously and listened to what they had to say? It's amazing what compassion and good communication can do for a family...what about the family that lives inside you?

I continue to add to my knowledge of IFS through readings and trainings. I have utilized IFS meditations with clients and recognize its power to cultivate self-compassion and improve one's knowledge of themselves.

There are so many facets to who you are, and layers to your experience - and they all deserve loving kindness. By getting to know and understand the parts which make up your whole self, we work to release old hurts and create new patterns. Whether as an individual or in relationships, it's important to learn "where am I speaking from?" and unburden those parts of you that are stuck in painful places so that you can move forward into becoming your most authentic self.

IFS takes the approach that we all have an inner world made up of of parts that want to help us, but who have taken on extreme roles in an effort to keep us safe. These extreme parts become less disruptive and more cooperative once their concerns are addressed and they feel safer. IFS is a research-supported therapy with established efficacy. It feels like doing family therapy in your head! When you listen to all your parts, and access your core Self, you can heal your wounded parts.

Internal Family Systems looks at how different "parts" of our younger selves, when triggered by current stress, can hijack our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. IFS takes the approach that the "mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing". Our inner parts contain valuable qualities and our core Self knows how to heal, allowing us to become integrated and whole. In IFS all parts are welcome.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps clients move through difficult times by becoming familiar with all "parts" of ourselves. Have you ever felt like, "part of me wants to do this thing, but another part of me doesn't want to?" If so, then you were experiencing an internal conflict between your parts. IFS helps us get to know our parts and the roles they play in keeping our internal system balanced.

What I like about IFS is that it's very intuitive. As we go through life, difficult experiences can lead us to create defense mechanisms that we put in place to protect ourselves from feeling vulnerable. Although those protective parts are necessary and helpful to our survival, sometimes they can go on overdrive and overtake our entire being. IFS can ease those protective parts so that we can feel more connected to our pre-traumatized selves and learn to once again, live a full & balance life

Rather than having one solid personality, we have multiple internal parts or subpersonalities that developed to help us cope with intense situations and have taken on extreme thoughts, feelings or behaviors. This can look like getting flooded suddenly by anxiety, an internal debate that goes in circles, a highly critical voice, an addictive behavior, or a physical sensation. With IFS, we work to get to know and appreciate our parts so they can take on more helpful roles in our current life.

Jordan finds that IFS pairs well with EMDR, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and treatment-resistant disorders as a way of normalizing clients' diverse inner experience and holding space for parts of self that may be hurting.

I utilize internal family systems as a framework for therapy. This is to get to know your inner child, inner critic, shadows, and other internal committee members. When we know our internal family, and can communicate with them, the internal world can live in more harmony.

I have been practicing Somatic IFS for the past seven years in various contexts. I have received both education and specified training in IFS.

With its transformative framework, IFS helps individuals explore their inner world, understand different parts of themselves, and cultivate self-compassion. By developing a compassionate relationship with these parts, healing and integration occur, leading to lasting change and personal growth. IFS empowers individuals to navigate challenges, heal wounds, and discover their innate resilience, resulting in greater well-being, and a more authentic, fulfilling life.

IFS is a non-pathologizing, evidence based modality. A foundational belief is there is multiplicity of the mind - that certain feelings and thoughts can represent individual sub-personalities or "parts". There are no bad parts - even the ones that may seem that way like "inner critic" parts. A therapist and client work together to get to know the parts, better understand them and heal any parts that are wounded. This can lead to reduction in anxiety, depression and more.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a cutting-edge psychotherapy that views individuals as composed of multiple "parts" or sub-personalities, each with its own characteristics and emotions. It aims to help clients understand and harmonize these parts, fostering self-leadership and healing. Through guided visualization and dialogue, clients explore their inner dynamics, resolving conflicts and achieving greater integration and balance within themselves.

My graduate training and education heavily focused on Internal Family Systems and Ego-State Therapy. Imagine if the bad-ass part of yourself that shows up at work could also be the part that shows up when you have lunch with your mother. That would be pretty powerful, and it's also fully possible. Conceptualizing who we are into parts of a diverse and hard-working team is such a powerful tool that can provide immediate results.

We all have a deep need to feel safe, loved, and belong. If you've ever felt like parts of you are in conflict, IFS supports the various "parts" of you, such as your inner child, inner teenager, inner adult, and inner critic to feel seen, understood, accepted, and integrated so that you can feel aligned, clear, and empowered in your choices. I utilize a somatic approach to IFS, following the body's felt sense to connect with, welcome, and integrate all parts of you into wholeness and thriving.

IFS is a relatively new approach that's been found to be very effective for trauma. It involves "parts work" or finding and exploring parts of ourselves that can show up as feelings, emotions, thoughts, sensations, personality traits, and opinions. Working through these parts' protective qualities will take you to more vulnerable parts that carry the trauma. IFS uses a process called "unburdening" to help you heal those parts.

IFS assumes that each person's mind is made up of "parts", each working to help the individual. Each individual also has a "Self" that, once embodied, allows for greater insight into parts' histories, roles, and experiences. By developing Self-leadership, clients become more confident in navigating their lives while also creating greater capacity to respond creatively to stressors. IFS shares many concepts with ideas and is best understood helping clients towards a new way of being.