Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Woman embracing a moment of introspection on a symbolic rock in IFS therapy, surrounded by a tranquil forest landscape. If you've ever sat with a client whose part simply won't respond - won't soften, won't speak, won't give you anything to work with through dialogue - you're not doing IFS wrong. You may just be meeting a part that doesn't speak that language. One of the most important things I've come to believe about IFS therapy is this: all parts are relational. Every sing

I want to say upfront that I love Internal Family Systems. I'm IFS Level 2 certified, I use it as the primary lens in my clinical work, and I believe deeply in the model's capacity to facilitate real, lasting healing. What follows isn't a critique of IFS - it's a question I've been sitting with as I train in Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), a neurobiologically-informed trauma approach developed by psychiatrist Frank Corrigan. The question is this: is there a layer of physiologic

A vast field under an expansive sky symbolizes the openness and freedom found in self-exploration and connection to one's inner self. In Internal Family Systems therapy, one of the foundational premises is this: everyone has Self. Richard Schwartz describes Self as the seat of qualities like calm, curiosity, clarity, compassion, and connectedness - an undamaged core that exists in every person regardless of their history (Schwartz, 2021). For many people, hearing this is ge

Lost in thought, she gazes out the window, exploring the depths of her inner world. "How do you feel toward this part?" You're sitting in therapy. Your therapist just asked you to focus on a part of yourself - maybe the one that gets anxious, or the one that shuts down, or the one that needs everything to be just right. "How do you feel toward it?" they ask. You pause. You search inside. And what comes up isn't a feeling. It's... understanding. Logic. A clear sense of why th

A whimsical doodle of a child blowing colorful candy bubbles, creatively blending illustration and real objects to engage the viewer. How to Interpret Your Own Creative Work Without Destroying Its Magic You've just finished painting, drawing, or doodling something that came from a deep place inside you. Maybe it emerged during a hard conversation, a therapy session, or a moment when your mind wandered. You step back, look at what you've created, and immediately the questions

Understanding the Hidden Language of Color in Your Art and Emotions Have you ever noticed that when you're furious, you reach for red markers or paint? Or maybe you're the person who grabs blue when everyone else would choose something fiery? The colors we choose when creating art - whether we're painting, doodling, or working through emotions in therapy - aren't random. They're a language, speaking directly from parts of ourselves we might not even know are trying to communi

In a typical fifty-minute therapy session, you might expect to cover a lot of ground. You could discuss a fight with your partner, process anxiety about a work deadline, or explore something your mother said. More topics often mean more progress, right? Not necessarily. Sometimes, we spend nearly the entire hour on a single sentence. Or we might sit in silence while someone notices what’s happening in their chest. We could explore one moment, one feeling, or one body sensatio