IFS - internal family systems therapy by Richard Schwartz
IFS is short for Internal Family Systems, a form of parts work therapy developed by american psychologist Richard Schwartz PhD. It is a gentle, yet powerful tool to explore the subconscious and heal deep seated trauma.
The realisation that the human psyche consists of many different parts with which we can communicate changes our understanding of ourselves.
All of us have a whole family of inner parts that become active in different situations and influence our behaviour. This explains, for example, why we sometimes behave in a way that we don't actually find useful or why we can come into conflict with ourselves. One part of us really wants to do something, while another part is afraid of what might happen.
IFS empowers us to not stay identified with these parts but to befriend them, build a loving relationship with them and convince them to entrust us with leadership of ourselves.
All our parts ultimately are just trying to help and keep us safe, no matter how inappropriate or destructive their behaviour might seem. Many of them are still trapped in traumatic memories, have no idea that we're grown-ups by now and are still clinging to outdated strategies in a desperate effort to keep us safe.
The IFS model is a powerful, compassion-based tool to connect with our parts, relieve them of old burdens and reintegrate them into our system as the amazing ressources they were meant to be.
It is an evidence-based method that has been proven to be effective for treating a wide range of psychological ailments and is endorsed by leading experts in trauma-therapy such as Bessel Van der Kolk.
To learn more about IFS I recommend reading Richard Schwartz's book "No Bad Parts".
