What is Internal Family Systems Therapy?

Caitlin Nash
Mar 28, 2025
3 min read

Internal Family Systems Therapy, or IFS, is one of the approaches I use the most in my sessions. But what is it?

The Basics of Internal Family Systems Therapy

IFS, or parts work, was developed by psychologist Richard Schwartz. When working with clients, he noticed that just like in a family unit where each person plays a role and there are certain dynamics amongst the people in the unit, clients had a constellation of parts within themselves (their internal family system).

Some examples of these parts might be an anxious part, an angry part, a caregiver part, an adventurous part, etc. He noticed that clients could readily describe their parts, and what each wanted and needed. Once this happened, the parts tended to quiet down, and the client felt more peaceful.This is the premise of IFS: we work on getting to know the parts in your system, what their job is, and what they need in this moment, so we may experience more harmony in our system.

What Does Internal Family Systems Look Like In a Session?

Describing IFS can sound very abstract to start! What it actually looks like usually involves a variation of the following...

First, I often invite clients to do a short mindfulness practice together, to help sink into the body, and out of the head. This also helps us ground into the Self, which is the centred, adult, wise part of us. It is important we explore parts from our Self Energy, otherwise, the parts are less likely to get integrated.

Then, I will invite clients to notice where in their body they can feel a part. For example, if someone is experiencing strong anxiety, we notice where that shows up in the body, and what the sensations are.

Next, we get to know these sensations, such as anxiety, as a part. Sometimes it helps people to visualize it as a character or version of themselves sitting beside them in a chair. We get to know the part using the "6F process", and invite it to tell you about its job in your system, fears, concerns, etc.

This process is organic and different for each person. The eventual goal is to relieve the "exile" parts in our system, and the "manager" and "firefighter" parts that have developed around the exile. Exiles form when we have emotional experiences that are too painful or overwhelming, so our system locks them off and develops protectors (eg behaviours) around them so we never have to experience that emotion again. For example, if someone felt very unworthy as a child (the exile), they might develop a manager part that is very wary of any criticism (shuts down, gets defensive), and if this frontline protecting system is failing and they are starting to feel unworthy, they might resort to a more fight/flight/freeze response form the firefighter part (e.g. addiction, yelling). All of these parts develop to help us survive at some point in our lives.

Suffering often arises because parts are often stuck in the past, and don't know they don't need to to their job as much anymore. For example, if someone has the above parts, they might have difficulty receiving any feedback from their partner (because they internalize it as "I am not good enough) so they keep shutting down. The work would then be to show the parts that they are safe, and this eventually leads to behavioural change and a new emotional experience, with the Self responding to situations, rather than wounded parts.