How IFS Therapy Can Help You
In previous posts, we talked about IFS therapy. Maybe you have read through some of these and are still a little confused about it. You likely have wondered, “Great, but what can it help with, exactly? How can it help me?”
While we have discussed this in some detail, we haven’t explored how IFS therapy can actually help you. Our purpose with this week’s post is to focus less on the methodology of IFS and talk more about its uses.
What To Expect From IFS Therapy
While all forms of therapy can take you on a journey, an IFS therapist can help you on your greatest one yet — discovering who you are.
It begins with the foundational work of identifying your sub-personalities. It’s about learning about the different parts of yourself and their roles, such as the firefighters, managers, and exiles. As you work with your therapist, you will hone in on the parts of you that are out of balance and causing you the most pain.
In sessions, your therapist will help you learn tools and coping mechanisms to learn about your different parts. These methods could include:
Journaling
Breathing exercises (to help you when your anxiety or other symptoms ramp up)
Diagrams to help you visualize how your parts interact with one another
Visualization exercises
What Does IFS Therapy Help With?
Most commonly, IFS is used to help people who went through a traumatic experience. The great thing about IFS therapy is that it can especially help someone who may have multiple mental health struggles that they are going through. More than that, it can just help someone struggling with personal growth.
Another fantastic component of IFS therapy is that it goes far beyond talk therapy. There are a lot of people who find great results just by talking about their issues with their therapist. However, other people may feel frustrated that they aren’t seeing great results from traditional therapy. This is when IFS therapy can be extremely useful due to getting to the parts of who a person is. It is truly a deep dive into a person and what they are “made up of.”
IFS therapy is most commonly used for the following conditions:
Trauma
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
Social anxiety
Depression
Bipolar disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Phobias
Relationship/attachment issues
Burnout
OCD
Addiction to substances (alcohol or drugs)
Self-esteem issues
Physical ailments due to chronic illness
Goals of IFS Therapy
IFS can help an individual reach many different goals. In general, IFS therapy can teach a variety of skills.
While IFS therapy goes beyond talk therapy, one of its goals is to help clients feel comfortable opening up about their issues in a safe and judgment-free zone. Additionally, it can help you to understand and show compassion towards yourself. We are often our own harshest critics, so it can help you view yourself in a non-judgmental way.
Even if you didn’t experience trauma, it is great for overall healing. It can help you see the past as something that shaped you into the person you are but also holds space for understanding that the past does not define who you are.
IFS therapy can also help you feel prepared for any challenges that may come up in the future. It can help you see what your strengths and weaknesses are and how the different parts of yourself can contribute to mental health struggles.
How To Get Started
If you think you could benefit from IFS therapy, don’t hesitate to contact me to learn more. I offer a confidential consultation to determine whether this or other types of therapy would be suitable for you.
