IFS
IFS or Internal Family Systems is a therapy modality that posits that we all have “parts,” and is a helpful framework to relate to and get to know your own inner life and emotions. If we think of our emotions, thoughts, and feelings as parts then we can see how they are all related, like a family. We also notice as we get to know parts that we have feeling towards them. Some parts we find annoying, and wish they would go away. IFS asks us to consider what that part is afraid of or why it does what it does. Why do you have a part that makes you feel anxious when you’re around people you don’t know? What is that part afraid would happen if it didn’t make you feel anxious?
IFS is also a journey and a practice, and something you can do at home between therapy sessions. I am trained in IFS and feel very passionately about its ability to teach us and to heal us.
IFS Resources:
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
The One Inside Podcast
An IFS Guided Meditation with Richard Schwartz