Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an innovative approach to psychotherapy in Sioux Falls. Our team has seen great success in using IFS across all of our counseling services.

Find out what IFS is, how it works, and whether or not you can benefit from IFS therapy.

What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?

Developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a groundbreaking, evidence-based approach to psychotherapy that seeks to understand the mind, help people heal, and ultimately make the world a more compassionate place.

IFS therapists believe the mind is naturally multiple — and that’s okay! We all have inner parts, or '“internal families,” that contain valuable qualities. Our core Self can help us balance these parts, allowing us to become integrated and whole.

One of our counselors in Sioux Falls explains it like this:

[IFS] is a psychodynamic model that focuses on a person’s internal system as various parts, almost like a family. Everyone in a family has different personalities that interact with each other differently. With IFS, it’s accessing and working with the family of parts inside yourself.

The IFS model asserts that each person has some wounded parts, like anger or shame, and other parts that try to control and protect us from those wounded parts. IFS therapists help identify and reconcile these parts, so the person’s core Self can find true healing.

Schwartz explains IFS therapy in more detail in this video.

Does That Mean I Have Multiple Personality Disorder?

No!

Every person has many internal “parts.” That itself does not mean that you have a problem. It reflects the way our internal psyche is structured and functions.

If you think about the dynamics of separate people in your family and the relationships between each person and the system of your family as a whole, you will start to grasp how your internal system of parts may look and function.

What Are the 3 Main “Parts” in IFS?

Learning IFS requires understanding specific language used in the model to describe common parts to all people.

Dr. Schwartz identified common patterns after years of working with clients and classified three types of parts:

First, he found that all people he worked with had parts whose role was to protect them. He called these parts managers. Managers seek control over internal states or external environments.
Second, when negative or traumatic experience happen, a person may not be able to process or tolerate the negative emotions associated with it. These emotions are referred to as exiles. Managers will work very hard to keep these exiles out of awareness so the traumatized person does not have to feel them.
The third group of parts is known as firefighters. Firefighters emerge when managers are not able to contain the feelings of exiles. If exiles whose emotional and psychological content is outside the window of tolerance for the person and appear suddenly, firefighters will take over to either numb or override the experience of the exile.

Who Can Benefit from IFS Therapy?

Anyone!

IFS is a comprehensive psychotherapy model that can be used to help any person with any mental health or personal development goal. While the model can be used for treating a variety of mental health concerns — most specifically, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — it can also be used as a means for simply understanding one’s self and living a more fulfilled and centered life.

We have found the IFS approach to be especially beneficial for those dealing with issues of trauma or addiction, as it helps them organize their internal systems and find healing from their past.

However, everyone can benefit from the IFS framework. By learning how to identify, honor, and control your “internal families,” you will be better equipped to handle anything life puts in your path.

We recommend IFS therapy to all clients seeking healing, wholeness, and personal development in general.

“

This is the best therapy I've ever learned and practiced.

Kimberly Keiser

“

What Do I Do in IFS Therapy?

There’s nothing “weird” about IFS therapy. In fact, how the therapy is conducted is largely up to you.

In an IFS counseling session, your therapist may ask you some questions related to your internal environment and how you may feel about a particular part or aspect of your life.

Using the IFS framework, your therapist may encourage you to identify which of your inner parts are functioning in healthy roles and which are functioning in extreme roles. By acknowledging that there are no “bad” parts — just parts that may become frozen or dysfunctional — you and your therapist can work to achieve an inner balance, in which all parts communicate clearly.

In addition to talk therapy, your therapist may recommend a variety of coping mechanisms as part of your IFS treatment, including:

Practicing breathing and visualization exercises
Keeping a journal
Using diagrams to illustrate the relationships between parts
And many more

Ultimately, IFS is a permission-based and client-led treatment. You can decide which practices you’re ready for and when.

By taking ownership of your therapy in this way, you not only create a safer and more controlled environment for therapy, you also ensure your therapy is more productive and creates lasting change.

Does IFS Therapy Actually Work?

Yes! IFS transforms lives. We know because we’ve actually seen it happen.

Our counselors in Sioux Falls have been learning and practicing IFS therapy for months, and many of our clients have already experienced incredible change.

IFS therapy works for everyone, regardless of what you’re going through. While it can be most beneficial for trauma therapy clients, anyone can benefit from the IFS model.

As our founder, Kimberly Keiser, says, “IFS helps you be a better human.”

We all want to be better humans, don’t we?

Learn How IFS Can Benefit You!

If you’re interested in learning how IFS could help you, contact our team for more information.

We can incorporate IFS into any of our Sioux Falls therapy services, and we would love to see how IFS (or any of our other counseling methods) could help change your life for the better.

Contact Our Team

For further information, please visit the IFS Institute website.