Internal Family Systems IFS

IFS is an evidence-based therapy approach that facilitates a compassionate process of inner exploration to better understand and heal a wide variety of psychological and physical symptoms and restore a natural state of balanced functioning. The human mind is complex, and we all have had the experience of feeling like one “part” of us wants to do something but another “part” of us is scared or hesitant to do so. In other words, we have an internal conflict about a particular issue or decision we are faced with. This is natural, and it is an experience all of us can relate to. IFS sees this idea of “parts” as a natural and completely non-pathological description of how the mind works.

For example, when we suffer emotional wounds through traumatic experiences, large or small, the raw feelings associated with these wounds are often pushed deep within. When emotional wounds are exiled rather than healed, an inner system of self-protection, partly functioning just out of conscious awareness, is set in place. It is the nature of the human psyche that when one part of the mind is wounded, another part arises and takes on the role of a protector. For example, an emotional wound that arises from early experiences of abandonment can result in a protector part that works diligently to avoid all possibilities of further abandonment in relationships as an adult. Social anxiety, lack of close emotional attachment, and lack of commitment can all be behavioral patterns orchestrated to avoid vulnerability and potential triggering of exiled and unhealed pain. Sometimes, protective parts of us can take on extreme roles, such as utilizing a variety of addictive substances or generating a litany of emotional and physical symptoms in an attempt to avoid the triggering and emergence of repressed and unhealed pain.

IFS allows for a deep level of transformational healing that relieves symptoms such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, addictive behaviors, self-harm, and dysfunctional relationship patterns. The restoration of a calm and self-compassionate state of inner being is an overriding goal of IFS therapy.