Internal Family Systems Therapy
Do you feel unbalanced inside and want to feel more balanced and whole?
Do you ever feel like you have lost control over parts of you?
Do you want to restore trust in yourself?
What is Internal Family Systems?
Internal Family Systems is a powerfully transformative, non-pathologizing, and evidence-based model of psychotherapy. The IFS Institute describes IFS as a “transformative tool that conceives every human as being a system of protective and wounded inner parts lead by a core Self.” People often naturally refer to themselves in parts, for example, when making a decision we may say “well one part of me wants to, but another part of me doesn’t want to”. We naturally think of ourselves in parts. In Internal Family systems “we believe the mind if naturally multiple and that is a good thing. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us”.
What issues can IFS help with?
Internal Family Systems has been shown to be an effective treatment for:
Trauma
Chronic stress
Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
Compulsive behaviors
Depression
Bipolar
Body image issues
Anxiety
Phobias
Substance dependency
What would a first IFS therapy session look like?
The IFS practitioner will start with a standard overview. They may ask you about what you would like to work on and for you to share anything anything about your past that would like to share. Depending on your experience with IFS, the practitioner may give you a short introduction to the model and explain a flow of the session. Next if you are willing, you will be asked to name a part of you that you would like to work on.
Why IFS?
IFS Therapy is a gentle and non-pathologizing approach to therapy. It meets you where you are at and does not try to change you. Also, IFS does not reduce a client to their diagnosis. Instead, IFS compassionately reframes symptoms as being a constellation of parts that have been activated and take on extreme roles. Take for example an individual who struggles with anger. Instead of being shamed for it, it is more productive to think about it as a part who feels that anger. The most exciting part of the work is to be able to discover and separate out some parts of yourself and get to know them as you would a friend.
Take the Next Step…
In IFS the goal is to liberate parts of you from extreme roles as well as stepping into a life with the 8Cs: confidence, calm, compassion, courage, creativity, curiosity, and connectedness.
You deserve to live a life where you can be liberated from constant suffering and experience the 8CS. Talk to me about IFS therapy.