Internal Family Systems:
IFS Therapy & Counseling
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?
From transportation concerns to travel obligations, we know there are many reasons why in-person therapy may not work for you. Fortunately, research has shown that virtual therapy can be just as beneficial and effective as in-person therapy. As part of our ongoing commitment to making wellness as accessible as possible, we are pleased to offer online counseling to residents of Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Utah, and Ohio. Our online therapy services are ideal for clients who need or prefer to receive care from the comfort of their home or on the go.
Understanding the parts
IFS therapy organizes the different parts of who you are into three categories: managers, firefighters, and exiles.
- The managers represent the parts of you that are critical, strategic, and always planning in advance to ensure you are protected from danger or unwanted circumstances.
- The firefighters are also protective, but they represent the more reactive aspects of your personality. Your firefighter parts will do everything they can to help you block or avoid emotional distress, even if it is through unhealthy or dissociative coping mechanisms.
- The exiles are your injured parts – the versions of you who endured hurt, shame, betrayal, and rejection. For many hurting individuals, their inner child is their exiled self. Because exiles are so vulnerable and expressive, they threaten to overwhelm the whole system. As a result, managers and firefighters do everything they can to shut exiles out of internal conversations.
The managers and firefighters work together using self-criticism, denial, and distraction to keep the exiles imprisoned and out of your mind’s spotlight. But the more the exiled version of you is suppressed the louder it cries for help. Fortunately, you have another part – a core, foundational, and dominant part. The Self.
- The Self – is the profoundly intuitive inner leader of the entire system. IFS therapy is centered around the belief that the Self is the leader of the psyche. When the Self compassionately intervenes, all the parts – even the hurt ones – settle into their appropriate roles.
How IFS Therapy Works
Through internal dialogue with your different parts, IFS therapy helps you access your Self so you can mediate inner conflict and facilitate cooperative relationships between your different parts.
For example…
Imagine that a part of you feels severe anxiety whenever you’re in social settings, and after a social interaction, a part of you is harshly critical, scrutinizing everything you said and did. As a result, you choose self-isolation the next several times a social opportunity comes around. But now another part of you feels intense loneliness.
During an IFS therapy session, your therapist would work with you to explore and understand both parts. Often, the anxious part of you is trying to protect you from external criticism, but the lonely part believes that you are worthy of friendship. By tapping into the wisdom of the Self – your calm, curious, heart’s center – you can help these various parts feel safe, seen, heard, and supported. In time and under the leadership of the Self, these inner parts will release the burdens they’ve been carrying and adopt healthier roles.
Mental health issues IFS Therapy Helps Treat
IFS is an experiential form of psychotherapy that has proven to be highly effective for treating a wide range of mental, emotional, and psychological issues. Specifically, IFS therapy is known to help individuals…
- Heal from trauma and PTSD
- Achieve post-traumatic growth
- Reduce anxiety and panic attacks
- Manage depression and feelings of despair
- Overcome self-criticism
- Process grief and loss
- Break patterns of addiction or compulsive behavior
- Address self-esteem, self-worth, and body image issues
- Improve relational interactions
- Resolve internal conflict and welcome inner peace
Benefits Of IFS Therapy
Whether you’re coping with childhood trauma wounds or battling with current life stressors, IFS is a gentle yet powerfully effective approach to healing. One of the reasons why so many of our clients find IFS so empowering and life-changings is because it honors every part of who you are – including the parts that may have been neglected, rejected, or silenced.
Perhaps most importantly, IFS equips you to become your own internal therapist, healer, and guide. By embracing this internal leadership role, IFS is a therapeutic gift that keeps on giving long after your treatment has concluded.
Benefits of Internal Family Systems Therapy
- Stronger emotional resilience
- Greater self-awareness and self-understanding
- Clarity regarding from past emotional wounds
- Reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety
- Relief from anxiety and inner conflict
- Increased self-compassion and confidence
- Authentic self-love and self-acceptance
- Reduced trauma-responses to emotional triggers
Improved relational interactions and communication skills
Lasting healing through inner connection and integration
More inner peace, sense of calm, and wholeness
Common Questions About IFS Therapy
Q: Is Internal Family Systems therapy evidence-based?
A: Yes, IFS is a research-supported therapy model that has proven to be an effective method for treating trauma, anxiety, depression, and more. Additionally, it’s recognized by the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
Q: What’s the difference between IFS therapy and traditional talk therapy?
A: Instead of analyzing your concerns from an external perspective, IFS focuses on the internal experience involving your inner parts and the Self. IFS therapy is a highly experiential, compassionate, and deeply healing modality that works without negatively interpreting or pathologizing any aspect of who you are. A core belief of IFS therapy is that there are no bad parts. There are only wounded parts. And by attending to those wounded parts, every part of who you are can come into balance, wholeness, and healing.
Q: Do I have to believe in ‘parts’ to benefit from IFS?
A: Not at all. If you’ve never heard of parts work before, the idea of having parts and sub-personalities can feel strange. But everyone has an inner critic, and a quick reflection over your own experiences will likely reveal there were times when you felt torn or conflicted. These internal experiences are real, and IFS therapy is simply a model for helping you relate to those aspects of your personality in a new and healthy way. When we listen with compassion to our internal voices, what we hear is truly amazing!
Q: How long does IFS therapy take to work?
A: The duration of treatment depends on your goals and the complexities of the issues you are experiencing. Most clients notice a significant shift in their mental health after about eight sessions, however clients with deeper trauma or emotional patterns tend to require more long-term care. At our practice, we have found that the most lasting and incredible healing transformations tend to happen over the course of six months to a year or 20-24 sessions.
…The four goals of IFS: to liberate parts from their roles and return them to their natural states, to restore trust in Self, to reharmonize the inner system, and to become Self-led.
Is IFS therapy right for me?
Internal Family Systems therapy is a deeply healing form of psychotherapy that can provide transformative experiences for any hurting individual. Whether you are seeking relief from past trauma, help with symptoms of depression or anxiety, or simply craving deeper self-awareness, IFS therapy can help.
If you’d like to learn more about how IFS therapy can help you reconnect with your sense of self, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You do not have to navigate your healing journey alone, and our IFS therapists would be honored to come alongside you and help you go from overwhelmed to overflowing.
To schedule your first IFS therapy session, please submit a Therapy Inquiry at the link below.
We offer in-person IFS therapy in Overland, Greenwood, and Harrisonville and online IFS therapy for residents across Kansas and Missouri.
We understand that finding a provider who is the right fit for you is essential. Fortunately, we have many providers who specialize in IFS therapy, so you have many options. We recommend you browse our list of providers at the link below. Otherwise, for help getting matched to the right provider, please call our office at: 816-974-7378