I'm new to learning about IFS, as I've just started therapy with an IFS specialist who has found it to be really effective with highly sensitive people (HSPs). Thanks for this overview, really helpful background info!
I am tip toeing my way into the work of IFS and I found this essay extremely helpful. Thank you, Satya.
Just being able to name my manager - see her for who is she and why she feels she needs to protect me and all those around me I love, well, there’s self-compassion there that I didn’t expect to find.
Thanks for this. I enjoyed the refresher. IFS was a game-changer for me while in a residential program earlier this year. I just published a piece reflecting on the year anniversary beginning that journey. https://goodforsomething.substack.com/p/the-way-back
I have read this article many times since you first posted it here last February. Your presentation of the key points in IFS therapy continue to help me find a way to navigate internal seascapes which grow very stormy at times! Mostly my difficult areas are based around shame and guilt even though I now realise that such emotions were the only way my childish mind could make sense about what was happening. And still these emotions hold far too much control over my life. It is reassuring to know that IFS therapy works well in conjunction with Mindful Self-Compassion. It means that it is possible to work on ourselves and maybe alter our perceptions of the present moment just enough to potentially make the future a slightly more loving and compassionate place to be.
This IFS system makes total sense! Does this throw "dissociative disorder" out the window? My son was diagnosed with DD and yet, after reading about all the "parts"...I wonder, where does one end and the other begin? Hmmm....
Thank you for the resources and this clear overview of IFS I have heard friends talk about it but this is helpful for understanding it. It makes a lot of sense to me and seems a really compassionate approach which always ticks the box for me.
Thanks for this post. I was always wondering about parts of myself that make no sense to me. I can get real upset or angry and not know why I am over reacting. Now I get it!
Thanks Robyn. I practice and teach Mindful Self-compassion which is a very natural partner to IFS. The same principle is present in that different aspects of ourselves are trying to be helpful - yes even the self-critic - though - like the self-critic - they don't always do so in a very helpful way. So when the self-critic is banging away, instead of trying to shut that voice up, we can look instead for a compassionate voice, a voice that wants the same outcome but is a bit more loving in their approach. Works wonders... :-)
Thanks so much for writing this. I spent around 18 months in IFS therapy with an excellent counsellor, and it helped me to completely re-evaluate my perspective on a couple of critical areas of my life. More than that, it gave me the tools to accept those exiles and bring them back into the "self" part of my experience. It genuinely increased my peace-of-mind, even beyond the areas that I'd gone to therapy for.
The thing I loved most about IFS was its deep basis in science and process - that you can understand why this does that, why you need permissions, how you need to go deeper, etc. It gives a powerful framework to base recovery around. Yet, going through the therapy itself is not an intellectual pursuit - instead, it's digging into those feelings and emotions, guided by a skilled practitioner who can help you center yourself within the experience and guide where you need to go next.
Although IFS was hard, it was an almost completely positive experience, and now I look back on it from a couple of years later, and can still see the profound effect it had on the way I think and feel even now.
Thank you for a warm, approachable explanation of parts! I'm passing it on to some of my clients with whom I'm already doing IFS work, and will be in the future. Very helpful!
Thank you for sharing this perspective. By acknowledging our internal family voices we enhance our ability to see them at work within ourselves and others. This understanding should remind me to be less judgmental especially when under stress or when deeply frustrated.
By acknowledging which family voice has the floor at the moment it will hopefully remind me to ask myself “what is my intention?” and is this my best voice to achieve it. Thanks for sharing this.
I’ve been exploring IFS in recent months and I find it very valuable, especially in regard to being more accepting of myself, and curious about my experience, as well as how different parts of myself function/how they evolved etc. Some of them are very young and fearful!
Because I’ve also been delving into some books on Zen lately, I’ve been wondering how IFS fits in with the Buddhist view of no-self as they seem almost diametrically opposed. Curious to hear your thoughts!
I found the image is (apparently) by an artist called Alberto Ruggieri but I couldn’t find it on his website, even though there are many similar ones. There’s a link to his website on the page below that I found which credits him:
I'm new to learning about IFS, as I've just started therapy with an IFS specialist who has found it to be really effective with highly sensitive people (HSPs). Thanks for this overview, really helpful background info!
I am tip toeing my way into the work of IFS and I found this essay extremely helpful. Thank you, Satya.
Just being able to name my manager - see her for who is she and why she feels she needs to protect me and all those around me I love, well, there’s self-compassion there that I didn’t expect to find.
And the puppies. They helped, too. 💕
Does IFS help with chronic health issues? I have done a lot of parts work but not from this lens.
Thanks for this. I enjoyed the refresher. IFS was a game-changer for me while in a residential program earlier this year. I just published a piece reflecting on the year anniversary beginning that journey. https://goodforsomething.substack.com/p/the-way-back
Beautiful. IFS also has been incredibly helpful for my own healing. Thank you for writing such a well thought out article about it 🙏🏽❤️🩹
I have read this article many times since you first posted it here last February. Your presentation of the key points in IFS therapy continue to help me find a way to navigate internal seascapes which grow very stormy at times! Mostly my difficult areas are based around shame and guilt even though I now realise that such emotions were the only way my childish mind could make sense about what was happening. And still these emotions hold far too much control over my life. It is reassuring to know that IFS therapy works well in conjunction with Mindful Self-Compassion. It means that it is possible to work on ourselves and maybe alter our perceptions of the present moment just enough to potentially make the future a slightly more loving and compassionate place to be.
This IFS system makes total sense! Does this throw "dissociative disorder" out the window? My son was diagnosed with DD and yet, after reading about all the "parts"...I wonder, where does one end and the other begin? Hmmm....
Thank you for the resources and this clear overview of IFS I have heard friends talk about it but this is helpful for understanding it. It makes a lot of sense to me and seems a really compassionate approach which always ticks the box for me.
Thanks for this post. I was always wondering about parts of myself that make no sense to me. I can get real upset or angry and not know why I am over reacting. Now I get it!
Thanks Robyn. I practice and teach Mindful Self-compassion which is a very natural partner to IFS. The same principle is present in that different aspects of ourselves are trying to be helpful - yes even the self-critic - though - like the self-critic - they don't always do so in a very helpful way. So when the self-critic is banging away, instead of trying to shut that voice up, we can look instead for a compassionate voice, a voice that wants the same outcome but is a bit more loving in their approach. Works wonders... :-)
Thanks so much for writing this. I spent around 18 months in IFS therapy with an excellent counsellor, and it helped me to completely re-evaluate my perspective on a couple of critical areas of my life. More than that, it gave me the tools to accept those exiles and bring them back into the "self" part of my experience. It genuinely increased my peace-of-mind, even beyond the areas that I'd gone to therapy for.
The thing I loved most about IFS was its deep basis in science and process - that you can understand why this does that, why you need permissions, how you need to go deeper, etc. It gives a powerful framework to base recovery around. Yet, going through the therapy itself is not an intellectual pursuit - instead, it's digging into those feelings and emotions, guided by a skilled practitioner who can help you center yourself within the experience and guide where you need to go next.
Although IFS was hard, it was an almost completely positive experience, and now I look back on it from a couple of years later, and can still see the profound effect it had on the way I think and feel even now.
Thank you for a warm, approachable explanation of parts! I'm passing it on to some of my clients with whom I'm already doing IFS work, and will be in the future. Very helpful!
Thank you for sharing this perspective. By acknowledging our internal family voices we enhance our ability to see them at work within ourselves and others. This understanding should remind me to be less judgmental especially when under stress or when deeply frustrated.
By acknowledging which family voice has the floor at the moment it will hopefully remind me to ask myself “what is my intention?” and is this my best voice to achieve it. Thanks for sharing this.
Love and light
Kim
Hi
I’ve been exploring IFS in recent months and I find it very valuable, especially in regard to being more accepting of myself, and curious about my experience, as well as how different parts of myself function/how they evolved etc. Some of them are very young and fearful!
Because I’ve also been delving into some books on Zen lately, I’ve been wondering how IFS fits in with the Buddhist view of no-self as they seem almost diametrically opposed. Curious to hear your thoughts!
I found the image is (apparently) by an artist called Alberto Ruggieri but I couldn’t find it on his website, even though there are many similar ones. There’s a link to his website on the page below that I found which credits him:
https://machinatorium.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/1204-alberto-ruggieri/