I searched this thread and didn't find any reference to "Internal Family Systems" therapy. If anyone has any thoughts on IFS, I'd be interested in hearing them. I'm currently reading a book ("Internal Family Systems Therapy" by Richard Schwartz.
See also: Internal Family Systems. It's a form of therapy that considers all of us has having many different discrete "parts".
I recently started IFS therapy and have been having success with it. I'm not sure how literally I take the "parts" (I think they may be much less "solid" and more transient than IFS claims), but it seems to be a really interesting and helpful way to approach your own mind.
FWIW, I have a close relation that matches the pattern you’re identifying, and they have had very positive results from Internal Family Systems Therapy.
IFS is the "Internal Family Systems" model of psychotherapy. I'm coincidentally in the midst of reading No Bad Parts, which was written by the originator, and covers the basic ideas behind the practice and gives some instructions for exercises. I've enjoyed the book so far.
Internal Family Systems therapy is a form of therapy that uses the idea of different "parts" of ourselves, and postulates that we can heal these different parts of ourselves by accessing an inner source of compassion underneath all these "parts" - suppressed emotional pain, defense mechanisms, coping mechanisms, etc. I've found it to be the most effective form of therapy for healing anxiety, depression, and childhood trauma, when combined with other mind-body practices.
Sounds a bit like Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapeutic technique where you allow three different aspects of self talk to each other to solve deep seated psychological issues playfully.
IFS = Internal Family Systems. I don't think it's very big at least right now. I think it's also recommended for PTSD. To me it feels more in line with psychotherapy in that it looks at root causes, whereas CBT is more of a surface level thing. DBT seems somewhere in between.
+1: this comment describes me and I'm actively in internal family systems therapy. took me a while to get used to the style, but it's been beneficial for me.
This is not directed at you specifically, but I am close to someone with CPTSD and they have found Internal Family Systems therapy to be very helpful. Just sharing a keyword in case folks are looking.
I’d be interested in hearing about any experiences HN users have had with IFS. It was something I initially dismissed as sounding pretty woo, but I’ve been hearing enough about it lately that I’ve been thinking it’s worth a second look, and considering trying it. It seems like it may have some potential to fill in some of the gaps that CBT + mindfulness + casual stoicism have fallen short on.
One concern I have is whether these “parts” are actually considered to be present in the mind prior to therapy, or if the therapy itself is what actually instantiates them. I definitely agree that the mind is a very complex mix of various mental structures, rather than one single cohesive “self”, but I don’t know if I yet buy this idea of discrete “subpersonalities”. I could see it potentially being a useful tool, though, for grouping and understanding your own behaviors and impulses with compassion. When I read some people’s experiences with IFS it almost sounds like they’re talking about tulpas, which makes me slightly nervous about the possibility for woo. But despite that, I can see the potential for it being a helpful model for approaching and trying to understand the complexities and contradictions of your own mind, from a place of compassion.
Any HN users had good or bad experiences with IFS?
More to your question, have you looked into Internal Family Systems Therapy? I'm currently reading a book on this by Schwartz, and I'm finding it helpful.
Similarly, you might enjoy learning about IFS, Internal Family Systems therapy. It's a psychotherapy approach where you interact with yourself as a series of independent personalities, each with their own motives.
The guided meditation might make the concepts a little more obvious.
He could also try Internal Family Systems (IFS). It's way better than cognitive behavioral therapy, IMHO, because it's about understanding the parts of the psyche. This includes the helpful, not so helpful, and parts that make us do negative behaviors and coming to terms with them instead of suppressing them.
I feel like my IFS trained therapist is actually a professional doing skilled work helping me explore and understand my personality instead of just being a rent-a-friend like my previous therapists.
Absolutely. Internal Family Systems \ Voice Dialogue perspective enables this process to continue and deepen. I would say that IFS puts too much of an accent on trauma, healing, changing (it is therapeutic approach after all), where VD is (in my opinion) more allowing, more positive, less patologizing. It does not matter after all, the perspective of having these voices is key.
But DBT is talk therapy. I'm not familiar with IFS. DBT is still talk therapy while perhaps having a more active aspect to it as well. I can see how that would be more successful for some folks for sure!
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