Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a transformative therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s. IFS posits that the mind is naturally multiple, composed of sub-personalities or "parts," and that there is an undamaged core Self that can heal and harmonize these parts.
This non-pathologizing approach views symptoms as attempts by parts to protect or cope, rather than as fundamental flaws or illnesses. The goal of IFS is to help individuals access their core Self, characterized by qualities like compassion, curiosity, and calm, and from this state heal and harmonize their internal system of parts.
This may be a good fit if…
- ✓You feel at war with yourself: part of you wants one thing, part wants the opposite
- ✓You are harsh with yourself in a voice that does not sound like yours
- ✓You have insight into your patterns and they have not changed
- ✓Trauma work has felt like fighting your own defences
- ✓You want an approach that does not treat any part of you as the problem to eliminate
Key benefits
Nothing inside you is treated as the enemy
IFS starts from the position that every part of you, including the ones causing trouble, is trying to protect you with the tools it had at the time. That reframe alone changes how it feels to look at behaviour you are ashamed of.
It reaches what insight alone does not
Understanding why you do something rarely stops you doing it. IFS works with the part that does it directly, which is why clients who have been articulate about their patterns for years sometimes move quickly here.
It has a built-in brake
The model asks permission from protective parts before going anywhere near the vulnerable ones. That structure makes it unusually well suited to complex trauma, where going too fast is the main risk.
Self is not something you have to build
IFS holds that the calm, curious core is already there and is simply crowded out. The work is unburdening, not construction, which tends to land differently for people who have been told to develop self-esteem.
How IFS works
The IFS Model: Self at the Center
Every protective part is doing a job. The Self can lead them all with curiosity and compassion.
Managers
Plan, control, prevent pain
Firefighters
Distract from pain when it breaks through
Exiles
Carry the original wound
How we practise IFS at Crown Counseling
Sessions are slower and more internal than most talk therapy. Your therapist will ask you to notice where something sits in your body, to turn toward it, and to ask it questions. If that sounds unusual, it is, and most clients find it makes sense within a session or two.
- Mapping the system: which parts show up, and what each one does
- Working with protectors first, never around them
- Unburdening exiled parts only once protectors allow it
- Building a relationship with your own Self as the ongoing aim
Where IFS and trauma work meet
For single-incident trauma, a protocol like EMDR is often faster. For childhood or repeated trauma, where the defences themselves are the obstacle, IFS frequently succeeds where a more direct approach stalls. Several of our clinicians combine the two, using IFS to prepare the system and EMDR to process specific memories once it is safe to.
What to expect
A typical IFS session involves the therapist guiding you to focus inward and identify the different parts involved in a particular issue. You then work to understand these parts’ roles, unburden them from extreme beliefs or emotions, and restore them to healthy functioning, all led by your core Self.
- 1
A slower, more internally focused session than traditional talk therapy
- 2
Learning to notice parts by their sensation, tone, and age rather than by label
- 3
Getting to know protective parts and what they are afraid would happen if they stopped
- 4
Permission-seeking before any work with more vulnerable parts
- 5
Unburdening: releasing what a part has carried, often a belief formed very young
- 6
Ongoing work building your own Self-leadership rather than a fixed number of sessions
Ready to start?
Tell us a little about yourself and we will match you with a clinician trained in IFS.
Get matched →Therapists trained in IFS
Jonathan NewmanLicensed Master Social Worker
Moshe DelerbLicensed Master Social Worker
Sarie KorfLicensed Master Social Worker
Shmuel KesselmanMental Health Counselor & Operations Coordinator
Racheli SolomonLicensed Master Social Worker
Chanah FaygenLicensed Master Social Worker
Ben ShannonLicensed Clinical Social Worker
Jacqueline MizrachiLicensed Master Social Worker
Alexa GoldfederLicensed Master Social Worker
Rikal MangelLicensed Master Social Worker
