​​Sometimes we understand why we react the way we do, but that understanding alone doesn’t necessarily change what happens inside us.

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A part of us may know that we are safe, while another part remains anxious, guarded, angry, ashamed, or afraid. We may find ourselves repeating familiar patterns even when we genuinely want to respond differently.

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Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy offers a compassionate way of understanding these different parts of ourselves and the roles they have learned to play.

 

What Is Internal Family Systems Therapy?

 

Internal Family Systems, commonly called IFS, was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. The approach is based on the idea that our inner world is made up of different “parts,” each with its own feelings, beliefs, memories, and ways of trying to protect us.

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Some parts may work very hard to keep life under control. Others may become anxious, critical, perfectionistic, angry, withdrawn, or focused on taking care of everyone else.

 

And some parts may carry experiences of fear, shame, loneliness, rejection, or hurt that we have learned to keep at a distance.

 

Rather than viewing these responses as something that needs to be eliminated, IFS approaches them with curiosity.

 

What is this part trying to protect? What happened that made this response necessary?

 

Often, behaviours that seem frustrating in the present once served an important purpose.

 

IFS and Trauma

 

Traumatic and painful experiences can shape the way our internal system organizes itself.

 

Protective parts may become particularly vigilant after experiences of abuse, neglect, loss, rejection, instability, or emotional disconnection. Even years later, they may respond as though the original danger is still present.

 

IFS therapy can help us approach these protective responses without fighting against them.

 

As safety develops, it may become possible to understand what these parts are protecting and to gently work with the experiences underneath them.

 

What Can IFS Therapy Help With?

 

IFS may be helpful for people experiencing anxiety, trauma and PTSD, shame and self-criticism, relationship difficulties, perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional overwhelm, difficulty setting boundaries, or a sense of being internally conflicted.

 

It can also be useful when you find yourself thinking: “Part of me wants this, but another part of me absolutely doesn’t.”

 

That internal conflict is something IFS takes seriously rather than treating as irrational.

 

Integrating IFS With Trauma Therapy

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At our practice, IFS does not have to be used as a stand-alone therapy.

 

We may draw on IFS alongside other trauma-informed approaches, including, EMDR, attachment-focused therapy, and body- and neuroscience-informed approaches.

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Different approaches can help us work with different aspects of an experience. IFS can be particularly useful for understanding internal conflict and developing a more compassionate relationship with protective responses.

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Therapy is adapted to the individual rather than requiring you to fit within one particular model.​