Internal Family Systems (IFS) was developed by Dr Richard Schwartz in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. IFS is an evidence-based transformative psychotherapy that promotes internal healing by accessing and loving our protective and wounded inner parts. At the centre of this therapy is the fundamental belief that the mind is naturally multiple and just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us. Building relationships between these ‘parts’ and the core Self allows for greater self-awareness, personal growth and healing.
Self is in everyone, it can’t be damaged and it knows how to heal.
“By helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts, IFS creates inner and outer connectedness.”
IFS therapy can help with various mental health conditions, such as anxiety disorders, by teaching people how to manage their thoughts and emotions.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Co-dependency
- Emotional dysregulation
- Trauma response
- Anger
- Stress relief
- Relationship difficulties