Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach that helps individuals gain a better understanding of themselves. IFS can be used to treat symptoms of trauma, relational concerns, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, phobias, eating disorders, substance use, and coping with rheumatoid arthritis. 

 

The idea behind IFS is that each person has various parts within themselves that sometimes work together and sometimes they don’t. These parts can resemble a family system. Your therapist will work with you to identify these parts and what role they play in your life. It helps you understand and heal the different parts of yourself, fostering personal growth, emotional healing and allows you to cope better.

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Let’s say someone has a part of them that feels anxious and a part that is critical. The anxious part might be afraid of failure, while the critical part might try to push the person to be perfect to avoid mistakes. In IFS therapy, the person would learn to connect with their anxious part and understand its fears, then connect with the critical part to see how it's trying to protect them. Over time, the therapist helps the person integrate these parts so that they no longer feel torn between anxiety and self-criticism.