IFS Therapy
What is IFS Therapy (Internal Family System)?
IFS Therapy is an evidence-based, relatively new psychological direction and stands for Internal Family System. Created by American Richard Schwartz, the method draws on systemic thinking, attachment theory and also builds on Jung and Reich’s ways of understanding the body and mind. According to IFS, the psyche consists of several subpersonalities that play different roles. In other words, multiplicity in the psyche is not a psychiatric condition but a normal state. It is the roles the parts have taken on, the burdens they carry and their internal relationships that determine how much we suffer from inappropriate behavior or heavy emotions and thoughts. Some of our parts are protectors, ensuring that other injured parts do not suffer pain again. Although the protector parts can have extreme and harmful roles in the client’s life, Richard Schwartz concluded that all parts of our system have positive intentions and work in different ways to do the best for us.
Experience the IFS view of your inner world and get an impression of me by following my free morning meditations here: Camilla Zacho
Another assumption in IFS is that we are all born with a Self and thus contain the healing power needed to work with the extreme or burdened parts. The self contains qualities such as compassion, calm, connectedness, clarity and curiosity. Healing in therapy happens largely through the process whereby the subpersonalities make contact with the Self. The self is present in all of us but is often hidden away during childhood. So the therapy is about creating more space for the Self, so that the Self can take a natural leading role in the system. The Self has an inherent wisdom about healing both external and internal relationships. The therapist’s Self is a substitute for the client’s Self until the client has more access to their own Self.
If you want to hear more about IFS Therapy, you are welcome to contact me.