Exploring the IFS Therapy Model
If you have never heard of IFS Therapy, you aren’t alone. Almost everyone understands therapy in the traditional sense. Often known as talk therapy, this is where you sit on a couch and talk about the issues you are facing with a therapist. Modern-day therapy is so much more than that. It involves more than “just talking” and can be a powerful tool for healing, self-growth, or discovery.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy goes beyond the traditional image of talk therapy. When we get to other therapy types, most are left with the question, “Ok…what exactly is that?” IFS Therapy is no different.
What Is IFS Therapy?
IFS was initially developed in the 1980s and divides the mind into different parts or families. Each of these parts plays a crucial role in how balanced we feel regarding our mental health. They all interact with one another. Sometimes, that isn’t always the best thing. That’s not to say that any part is necessarily bad. When these parts conflict, you can almost look at it as a virus in your immune system. If you get the flu, it doesn’t mean you are completely broken and without repair; rather, just one part of you is sick. You eventually heal, and your immune system returns to normal. Let’s take this analogy and dive a little deeper into the parts of our minds.
Where Do Parts Come From In Internal Family Systems?
The Self
The Self represents the very basis of who you are; your core. This encompasses your kindness, creativity, and inner confidence you possess. It’s everything that is positive and helps you to feel balanced. The core of who you are is not corrupt; however, the other parts of you can make you feel as if you are. They almost overpower the Self. So what are these different parts that can overpower your core?
The Exiles
The exiles are the parts of you that hold the pain and hurt you have gone through. It’s where the negative emotions, thoughts, and experiences that you have ever gone through reside. Living rent-free in your mind, the exiles are often pushed to the side by the next part of your mind, the managers.
The Managers
The Managers role is to try and protect you. They help to keep you “running smoothly” by avoiding anything that causes you distress, aka the Exiles, which sounds good, in theory. However, Managers can sometimes do more harm than good. Their role is to help suppress anything that causes you pain or discomfort. This can be very deceiving because they do such a good job that they imitate the Self, which can be a problem, as it leaves the mind thinking that everything is fine. But, deep inside, it really isn’t. After all, out of sight, out of mind, is their viewpoint, essentially.
The Firefighters
Here come the firefighters. Seeing the Managers and Exiles feuding like siblings, this role steps in and says, “enough!” This would be good, except the distractions and methods the Firefighters use to make things better don’t often improve things. Rather, they provide temporary solutions for long-term problems. This is where we start to see unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as avoidance or self-isolation, emerge. Alternatively, substance abuse can be used to ignore the feuding parts of the mind.
The Bottom Line Of IFS Therapy
Each of the roles above has very specific duties they carry out. It doesn’t mean that something is wrong with you when your parts are in conflict or that these parts are always going to cause you harm. Rather, each is just a part of yourself that need healing to grow and bring back balance into your life.
IFS Therapy is beneficial for various issues, such as eating disorders, substance abuse, anxiety, or depression. If you are struggling with any mental health concerns, contact me to learn how IFS Therapy can help you heal.
