What's Internal Family Systems Therapy? Very brief Introduction to IFS

November 28, 2024

Very brief summary of IFS

Internal Family System Therapy was invented by Dr.Richard Schwartz in 1980s.

The basic idea is that, we all have different parts inside us.

We tend to intuitively know this, by saying things like "A part of me wants to drink coffee, but another part of me thinks it's not a good idea to drink more caffee in the afternoon".

IFS is a modality to understand the different parts within us, and try to make the internal battle within us into more like a harmonious gathering, where different pats are just peacefully expressing themselves, being heard and understood.

It's known to be highly effective in treating complex trauma, and I can say that personally it's one of the go-to treatments for me.

You can choose to have sessions with IFS informed therapists, and IFS community in general claims that it's effective very quickly, like 10-20 sessions and you could feel noticeably different.

On top of the sessions with the therapists, I feel like it's something you can practice 5 min a day at home and can make a huge difference over time.

(Nervous system physically takes time to heal, so doing ongoing work is always important!)

Resources to learn more about IFS

If you are interested in knowing more about IFS, I recommend reading 'No bad parts' written by Richard Schwartz.

If you get an audible version, it comes with guided meditations read by Richard Schwartz himself, and it's really a great tool for doing daily/weekly meditations at home.

No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the internal family systems model

This is also a great introduction to IFS.


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