What to Know About Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe Self in IFS TherapyTechniquesWhat to ExpectWhat IFS Therapy Can Help WithBenefitsEffectivenessThings to ConsiderHow to Get Started

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

The Self in IFS Therapy

Techniques

What to Expect

What IFS Therapy Can Help With

Benefits

Effectiveness

Things to Consider

How to Get Started

Close

Internal family systems, or IFS, is a type of therapy that believes we are all made up of several parts or sub-personalities. It draws fromstructural, strategic, narrative, andBoweniantypes offamily therapy.

The founder of IFS therapy, Dr. Richard Schwartz, thought of the mind as an inner family and began applying techniques to individuals that he usually used with families.

The underlying concept of this theory is that we all have several parts living within us that fulfill both healthy and unhealthy roles. Life events or trauma, however, can force us out of those healthy roles into extreme roles.

The good news is that these internal roles are not static and can change with time and work. The goal of IFS therapy is to find your Self and bring all of these parts together.

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The Self is composed of what are known as the eight C’s and the 5 P’s. The eight C’s are:

The five P’s are:

IFS suggests that it is your core Self that is who you truly are. The therapy process promotes healing, trust in the Self, and the coordination of all C’s and P’s that make up the Self.

Techniques of IFS Therapy

While there may be infinite parts within you, there are three main types: firefighters, managers, and exiles.

An IFS therapist will use a six-step process to help you find these parts and release their burdens.

Find

If you’ve ever had an upset stomach because you were nervous, then you may understand how our mind and body work together on our emotions.

Focus

Next, you will be asked to turn your focus to this part.

Flesh Out

Once you’ve found and focused on a part, it is time to flesh it out—to see what else you can learn about it. What emotions are associated with it? Is it a particular color? Does it represent you at a particular age?

Feel Toward

How do you feel about this part? This will give your therapist an idea of how big or small of a role this part is playing in your life.

Befriend

This may be one of the hardest steps—getting to know the part and seeing how it takes shape in your life. It involves a degree of acceptance of the part’s existence, but that doesn’t mean it needs to stay there.

Fear

Fear is the last F. In the process of befriending, you will discover what the fears are of that part of you. What are they afraid will happen without their presence in your life?

Can you do IFS therapy on yourself?It can be helpful to work with a therapist trained in IFS therapy, but you can also use many of these techniques on your own.

Can you do IFS therapy on yourself?

It can be helpful to work with a therapist trained in IFS therapy, but you can also use many of these techniques on your own.

Your first session of IFS therapy will often cover basic information about the process and an initial assessment. Your therapist will ask background questions that will help them better understand what you need help with and what you hope to get out of therapy.

The therapeutic relationship is essential for the success of therapy, so it is important to build a comfortable, trusting rapport with your therapist.

During subsequent sessions, you will work with your therapist to identify the parts of the Self and build connections between all of these components. Each session often involves talk therapy and explores the inner parts of an individual. An individual is encouraged to focus on the inner Self, so it is normal sometimes to experience discomfort, fear, shame, or anger. Your therapist will help you manage these feelings and learn how to deal with such feelings in healthier ways.

IFS therapy can help with general life stressors likegrief, relationship, and career issues, and improve resilience andself-esteem.

Though it is non-pathologizing (does not reduce a client to their diagnosis), it may treat several mental health issues and conditions.

Research also suggests that IFS therapy shows promise as a treatment for trauma. A 2021 study found that IFS therapy led to significant decreases in PTSD symptoms in adults who had experienced childhood traumas.

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Benefits of IFS Therapy

In a study of college-aged women with moderate to severe depression,researchers found IFS therapy to have the following benefits for the participants:

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Effectiveness of IFS Therapy

IFS therapy was founded in the 1980s, but it has not been deeply researched.

However, in both the study of college-aged women and a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA),IFS therapy was shown to reduce signs of depression. In the RA study, IFS therapy was also linked to a reduction in pain symptoms.

In 2015, IFS therapy was added to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry for Evidence-Based Programs and Practices for its proven effectiveness in the RA study.

Its success at improving well-being earned it a rating of effective. It was also rated promising for the following:

(Note: Registry was discontinued in 2018.)

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As with other types of therapy, you may feel worse for a bit before you feel better as you begin to face your problems.

A degree of this is normal, but if you find yourself engaging in self-harm or experiencing suicidal ideation, you should talk to your therapist and consider stopping or slowing down this type of therapy.If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

A degree of this is normal, but if you find yourself engaging in self-harm or experiencing suicidal ideation, you should talk to your therapist and consider stopping or slowing down this type of therapy.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

Criticism of this kind of therapy includes failing to address any neurobiological underpinnings of mental health issues.

Additionally,several lawsuitsalleged that practitioners of IFS therapy pushed them to “recover memories” of repressed trauma.

If you have schizophrenia or are dealing with any active delusions or paranoia, this may not be the right type of therapy for you.

How to Get Started With IFS Therapy

If you’re interested in trying IFS therapy, this section will discusshow to find a providerfor this kind of treatment and what you can expect at your first appointment.

The first appointment will be similar to any other type of therapy—filling out paperwork, and telling the therapist more about yourself and what brings you to therapy. In the first session, you may already begin the work to identify your parts.

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pais S.A systemic approach to the treatment of dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 2009;20(1):72-88. doi:10.1080/08975350802716566Lester RJ.Self-governance, psychotherapy, and the subject of managed care: Internal Family Systems therapy and the multiple self in a US eating-disorders treatment center: Eating disorders and managed care.American Ethnologist. 2017;44(1):23-35. doi:10.1111/amet.12423Hodgdon HB, Anderson FG, Southwell E, Hrubec W, Schwartz R.Internal family systems (Ifs) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (Ptsd) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: a pilot effectiveness study.Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2022;31(1):22-43. doi:10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375Haddock SA, Weiler LM, Trump LJ, Henry KL.The efficacy of internal family systems therapy in the treatment of depression among female college students: a pilot study.J Marital Fam Ther. 2017;43(1):131-144. doi:10.1111/jmft.12184Shadick NA, Sowell NF, Frits ML, et al.A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study.J Rheumatol. 2013;40(11):1831-1841. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.121465Foundation for Self Leadership.IFS, An Evidence-Based Practice.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pais S.A systemic approach to the treatment of dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 2009;20(1):72-88. doi:10.1080/08975350802716566Lester RJ.Self-governance, psychotherapy, and the subject of managed care: Internal Family Systems therapy and the multiple self in a US eating-disorders treatment center: Eating disorders and managed care.American Ethnologist. 2017;44(1):23-35. doi:10.1111/amet.12423Hodgdon HB, Anderson FG, Southwell E, Hrubec W, Schwartz R.Internal family systems (Ifs) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (Ptsd) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: a pilot effectiveness study.Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2022;31(1):22-43. doi:10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375Haddock SA, Weiler LM, Trump LJ, Henry KL.The efficacy of internal family systems therapy in the treatment of depression among female college students: a pilot study.J Marital Fam Ther. 2017;43(1):131-144. doi:10.1111/jmft.12184Shadick NA, Sowell NF, Frits ML, et al.A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study.J Rheumatol. 2013;40(11):1831-1841. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.121465Foundation for Self Leadership.IFS, An Evidence-Based Practice.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Pais S.A systemic approach to the treatment of dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 2009;20(1):72-88. doi:10.1080/08975350802716566Lester RJ.Self-governance, psychotherapy, and the subject of managed care: Internal Family Systems therapy and the multiple self in a US eating-disorders treatment center: Eating disorders and managed care.American Ethnologist. 2017;44(1):23-35. doi:10.1111/amet.12423Hodgdon HB, Anderson FG, Southwell E, Hrubec W, Schwartz R.Internal family systems (Ifs) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (Ptsd) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: a pilot effectiveness study.Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2022;31(1):22-43. doi:10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375Haddock SA, Weiler LM, Trump LJ, Henry KL.The efficacy of internal family systems therapy in the treatment of depression among female college students: a pilot study.J Marital Fam Ther. 2017;43(1):131-144. doi:10.1111/jmft.12184Shadick NA, Sowell NF, Frits ML, et al.A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study.J Rheumatol. 2013;40(11):1831-1841. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.121465Foundation for Self Leadership.IFS, An Evidence-Based Practice.

Pais S.A systemic approach to the treatment of dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 2009;20(1):72-88. doi:10.1080/08975350802716566

Lester RJ.Self-governance, psychotherapy, and the subject of managed care: Internal Family Systems therapy and the multiple self in a US eating-disorders treatment center: Eating disorders and managed care.American Ethnologist. 2017;44(1):23-35. doi:10.1111/amet.12423

Hodgdon HB, Anderson FG, Southwell E, Hrubec W, Schwartz R.Internal family systems (Ifs) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (Ptsd) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: a pilot effectiveness study.Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2022;31(1):22-43. doi:10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375

Haddock SA, Weiler LM, Trump LJ, Henry KL.The efficacy of internal family systems therapy in the treatment of depression among female college students: a pilot study.J Marital Fam Ther. 2017;43(1):131-144. doi:10.1111/jmft.12184

Shadick NA, Sowell NF, Frits ML, et al.A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study.J Rheumatol. 2013;40(11):1831-1841. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.121465

Foundation for Self Leadership.IFS, An Evidence-Based Practice.

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