Internal Family Systems

"IFS® is frequently used as an evidence-based psychotherapy, helping people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS® creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts." (IFS Institute Website)

IFS History of Development

"The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) has evolved over the past twenty years into a comprehensive approach that includes guidelines for working with individuals, couples, and families. The IFS Model represents a new synthesis of two already-existing paradigms: systems thinking and the multiplicity of the mind. It brings concepts and methods from the structural, strategic, narrative, and Bowenian schools of family therapy to the world of subpersonalities." ...more

IFS and Neuroscience

Neuroscience, Trauma, and IFS https://internalfamilysystems.pt/multimedia/webinars/ifs-trauma-and-neuroscience-frank-anderson

IFS and Neurosciience
https://pasterski.com/2019/12/ifs-vs-neuroscience/pasterski.com/2019/12/ifs-vs-neuroscience/

IFS: Your Brain's Operating System
https://www.percyballardmd.com/single-post/2018/04/05/ifs-your-brain-s-operating-system

IFS and Chronic Pain
https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/article/ifs-and-chronic-pain

IFS and PTSD
https://www.foundationifs.org/research/empirical-evidence

Podcast with Frank Anderson regarding IFS and Complex Trauma

IFS Resources

The official internal Family Systems website: https://ifs-institute.com/
The Large Self by Richard Schwartz

IFS is an evidence based treatment: www.foundationifs.org/news-articles/79-ifs-an-evidence-based-practice

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE IFS MODEL

(Taken from IFS Website)

It is the nature of the mind to be subdivided into an indeterminate number of subpersonalities or parts.
Everyone has a Self, and the Self can and should lead the individual's internal system.
The non-extreme intention of each part is something positive for the individual. There are no "bad" parts, and the goal of therapy is not to eliminate parts but instead to help them find their non-extreme roles.
As we develop, our parts develop and form a complex system of interactions among themselves; therefore, systems theory can be applied to the internal system. When the system is reorganized, parts can change rapidly.
Changes in the internal system will affect changes in the external system and vice versa. The implication of this assumption is that both the internal and external levels of system should be assessed.

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Benefits of Internal Family Systems