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Grief is one of the most profound and universal experiences of being human. Yes, if you're reading this you have either grieved or you will grieve. Yet, particularly in Western cultures, grief is often met with discomfort, avoidance, or an urgency to “move on.” Western culture values productivity, achievement, and emotional control, which leaves little room for the slow, unpredictable, and sacred process of grieving. From an Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective, our d

In Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy (and trauma therapy in general), dissociation is a protective strategy to understand, rather than one to try and eradicate, or get rid of. When a client zones out, becomes foggy, goes blank, loses track of the conversation, or suddenly feels disconnected from themselves, something very intelligent is happening in their internal system. The client is showing how they survived overwhelming circumstances, or their childhood as a whole.

Providing options between keeping the eyes open versus keeping the closed in IFS can add depth to the Internal Family Systems process by adding choice.

Speaking for parts rather than from them - a key IFS Therapy skill - can enhance communication and emotional clarity.

Forgiveness is one of those words that sounds great, but can hide a mess of complexity underneath. Sometimes, clients often talk about wanting to forgive or be forgiven. Whether it be a parent to child, child to parent, partner to partner, or protective part to Self, forgiveness is sometimes the final step in healing. Sometimes, it is. But in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, what looks like forgiveness can sometimes be a protective maneuver, or in IFS language, a ma

Using the IFS model to work with procrastinating parts can transform how you see parts that seem like they are trying to hurt, into adaptive strategies that are trying to prevent pain.

Working with shame requires working with the somatic experience of shame. In IFS protective parts generate body constriction, tension and tightness to keep younger parts holding shame hidden and small. This post explores this polarisation in some detail through the IFS Therapy Lens.

A hard truth most people don't get is that people learn to be abused at home. They learn in their family-of-origin through caregiver interactions who has power, who must submit, who is allowed needs, and whose needs are forbidden. Here, we look at victim/perpetrator dynamics through the healing lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy.

Therapist burnout is a hot topic in the field of psychotherapy. Taking an IFS Lens on the topic reveals that burnout is the result of hardworking caretaker parts leading the therapist's system, resulting in exhaustion for the therapist, and invisible limits placed on the client's progress through rescuing rather than empowering.

Many new to IFS Therapy think parts must be classified as Managers, Firefighters, or Exiles. Yet true freedom comes from seeing that parts aren’t fixed types and they simply take on roles that evolve, revealing the deeper flexibility and healing potential within our inner system.

Protective parts in IFS Therapy are driven by fear. Find out what the 10 most common protective fears are, and how to negotiate effectively with protective parts so they will relax and trust.

This post examines people pleasing through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy. Learn how people pleasers come to be prominent parts of the psyche and how you can befriend and help them transform through the IFS Therapy process.

Suffer from Perfectionism, or get called a Perfectionist? Here's an IFS Understanding of Perfectionism and Perfectionists and how to connect to this systems of parts.

What are the 6F's in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, and why are they so important in the process of getting to know your parts? Find out in this insightful blog post.

Unblending is a key concept in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy. This post explains what unblending is, how to do the unblending process, and the benefits for people when they unblend from parts and lead from a place of Self using the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.

Caretaker Parts are one of the most socially rewarded, but internally burdened parts in IFS Therapy. Learn how they are formed, and how we can help them become less extreme, by approaching them with compassion and curiosity, using Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy.

The Inner Critic protects against a range of Exiles in IFS. Learn about the specific types of Exiles that Inner Critics Protect in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

This post clears up common misconceptions about Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy. Get clarity around what IFS is, and what it is not.

The "U-turn" is a core skill of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy inviting radical self-reflection in a moment of relational rupture.

Compassion and empathy are key elements in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy. Find out how these qualities operate in the IFS framework