Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

You are not one self. You are many — and they don't always agree. The work is not to eliminate the parts you don't like, but to know them, listen to them, and gradually relieve them of the jobs they've been doing for far too long.

Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz over the last several decades, is one of the most widely-adopted and evidence-supported parts-based therapies in contemporary practice. It is now formally listed by SAMHSA (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) as an evidence-based practice for general functioning and a range of clinical concerns.

At Baraka, IFS is one of our most frequently-used clinical lenses, particularly for trauma, self- esteem, adult ADHD, addictive patterns, and the deeper work of integrating disowned parts of the self. Available in English and Farsi, in person at our Ambleside office and online across British Columbia.

The core idea

The central insight of IFS: the mind is naturally multiple. Within each of us are many distinct sub- personalities or "parts" — each with its own emotions, beliefs, history, and way of trying to help us survive. When we say "part of me wants to leave this job and part of me wants to stay," we are pointing to a literal psychological reality, not a metaphor.

IFS organizes these parts into a few categories:

• Exiles — the parts of us that hold the painful, vulnerable, unbearable feelings (often from childhood) that we have learned to keep out of consciousness. The wounded child. The unloved one. The terrified one.
• Managers — the parts that work hard every day to keep the exiles out of awareness and keep our lives functioning. The inner critic, the perfectionist, the over-achiever, the people- pleaser, the controller.