(IFS) Internal Family Systems

IFS sounds like a corporate reorg and its central premise is that your mind is already running one.

It was developed by Richard Schwartz and is based on the idea that the mind is naturally split into multiples - that we all contain different “parts” with their own emotions, beliefs, ages, memories, and strategies. This is not the same thing as having multiple personalities. I assure you. It is a framework for understanding the completely normal experience of wanting contradictory things, reacting in ways you intellectually disagree with, or finding that one version of you has seized control of the day.

The goal is not to eliminate these parts or determine which one is the bad one. IFS assumes that every part is attempting to help or protect you, even when its methods have become outdated, destructive, extraordinarily annoying or all three.

There are managers, firefighters, exiles and the 'self'. According to IFS, beneath all this internal activity is a core Self characterized by calm, curiosity, compassion, confidence and clarity. The idea is to help you access enough Self to relate to your own parts differently, and to give those parts what they need.

A typical session might involve identifying parts and theorizing on their wants/needs/triggers etc. I recognizing that this sounds like making imaginary friends with your anxiety. It can also be an extraordinarily useful way of moving from “I am anxious” to “a part of me is anxious,” which creates a small but often meaningful amount of room between you and the feeling.

IFS is particularly compelling for those on the spectrum of neurodivergence who need to visualize what it going on in therapy as opposed to occupying an endlessly theoretical and abstract process. HUGE recommend.