About Internal Family Sysems (IFS) Therapy
Getting to Know Our Parts
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate and deeply respectful approach to healing that understands us as having an inner world made up of many parts—each carrying its own feelings, beliefs, memories, and ways of trying to protect us. These parts often developed in response to early experiences, stress, or trauma, and while their strategies may feel outdated or disruptive now, they are not broken or bad. Rather than pathologizing these parts, IFS invites us to turn toward them with curiosity and care, listening to what they hold through body sensations, emotional experiences, and quiet inner knowing.
At the heart of this work is connection to what IFS calls the Self—a grounded, steady presence within that brings clarity, compassion, calm, and perspective. From this place, we can build trusting relationships with our parts, helping them feel seen, understood, and less alone. As these inner relationships shift, old wounds can begin to soften, protective patterns can relax, and the nervous system can find greater ease. Over time, this process supports a deeper sense of wholeness, self-trust, and inner harmony, allowing more choice and connection in how you move through the world.
Founder Dick Swartz explains the model.
Learn more about the model at the IFS Institute.
Let’s Dive a Little Deeper
What happens in an IFS session?
In an IFS session, we slow down and gently turn attention inward to notice what’s happening in your internal world in the present moment. With guidance and support, you’ll begin to make contact with thoughts, emotions, body sensations, or ‘parts’ that want to be seen or understood. Rather than analyzing or fixing anything, we start by focus on building a compassionate relationship with these inner experiences, allowing insight, emotional release, and nervous system shifts to unfold naturally at a pace that feels safe and respectful. The therapeutic model does have a general structure, but we aim to work intuitively with the system as parts emerge.
What are the 6 F’s in IFS?
In IFS, the therapeutic process often follows a gentle framework known as the 6 F’s, which helps you build a respectful and trusting relationship with your inner parts. Rather than analyzing or fixing anything, these steps support awareness, differentiation, and compassion for the parts of you that become activated in certain situations.
Find – Noticing a part that is present and wants attention in the moment.
Focus – Gently bringing attention to that part and observing how it shows up in your body, emotions, or thoughts.
Flesh Out – Getting to know the part more fully, including how it feels, what it believes, and how it tries to help or protect you.
Feel Toward – Noticing how you feel toward this part, creating space for curiosity, openness, and compassion.
Befriend – Developing a trusting relationship with the part by listening to its intentions and needs without judgment.
Fear – Exploring what the part is afraid might happen if it didn’t do its job, often revealing the protective role it has been playing.
Together, these steps help differentiate the various parts of yourself that become activated in different contexts, making space for greater understanding, choice, and inner balance.
What is the Self in IFS therapy?
The Self is a core, steady presence within you that holds qualities like calm, compassion, clarity, and curiosity. It isn’t something you need to create—it’s already there, even if it feels distant at times. IFS therapy helps you access this Self-energy so you can relate to your parts from a place of understanding and leadership rather than reactivity.
What is IFS therapy used to treat?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) can support people navigating relationship challenges, trauma recovery (PTSD and CPTSD), anxiety and panic, as well as grief and loss. It is also well suited for those seeking personal growth, support through life transitions, for those who identify as highly sensitive, or who are living with chronic pain. This approach offers a gentle and compassionate way to work with both emotional and nervous system patterns.
How does IFS approach trauma? Is it Trauma Informed?
IFS is inherently trauma-informed and prioritizes safety, consent, and pacing. Trauma is approached indirectly by working with the parts that hold its impact, rather than revisiting memories before you’re ready. This helps reduce overwhelm and supports healing without re-traumatization. Instead of reliving traumatic events, we make contact with the parts of you that hold the impact of those experiences—often through body sensations, emotions, or protective responses—while staying anchored in the present. By moving slowly and respectfully, trauma-related parts are met with compassion rather than pressure, allowing protective patterns to relax and wounded parts to release what they’ve been carrying. This approach supports nervous system regulation, restores a sense of agency, and helps trauma be integrated rather than re-experienced.
How is IFS different from traditional talk therapy?
While traditional talk therapy often emphasizes insight, reflection, and discussion, IFS is more experiential and relational. Rather than primarily talking about your experiences, we work with them directly as they show up in your body, emotions, and inner awareness in the present moment. This allows patterns to be felt and understood from the inside out, not just intellectually. By building a compassionate relationship with these inner experiences, change can occur at a deeper level—often leading to shifts that feel more integrated and lasting than insight alone.
What if I don’t feel connected to my “parts”?
That’s very common, especially at the beginning, and it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Many people come into IFS feeling unsure, disconnected, or even skeptical about the idea of “parts,” particularly if they’re more accustomed to thinking or talking their way through experiences. Connection in IFS develops gradually and can be aided by playing with imagination, visualization, or other way of sensing things.
We work with whatever is present in the moment—thoughts, emotions, body sensations, images, or even a sense of blankness or distance. Sometimes a part shows up as a tightness, a mood, or a repeating thought rather than something clearly defined. Even the feeling of not being connected can be approached as an experience worth noticing, with curiosity rather than pressure. Over time, as safety and trust grow, awareness often deepens naturally, and a relationship with your inner world begins to form in a way that feels authentic and grounded.
How does IFS work with the body and nervous system?
IFS often includes gentle awareness of body sensations as a way of understanding how parts show up physically and how the nervous system responds to different experiences. By noticing sensations such as tension, warmth, numbness, or movement, we gain important information about safety, emotion, and readiness. This body-based awareness helps support nervous system regulation and keeps the work grounded in lived experience rather than thoughts alone. Over time, listening to the body in this way can foster greater trust, stability, and ease within your internal system.
Who is a good candidate for IFS therapy?
IFS can be a good fit if you notice repeating patterns in your emotions, relationships, or nervous system responses and want to understand them with compassion rather than judgment. It’s especially helpful for people who feel internally conflicted, overwhelmed, or curious about their inner world and open to a gentle, reflective process.
Can IFS be combined with other modalities like EMDR or Somatic Experiencing?
Yes. IFS integrates very well with other experiential and trauma-informed approaches such as EMDR and Somatic Experiencing. These modalities can complement one another by supporting emotional processing, nervous system regulation, and integration from multiple angles. When used together, they allow the work to be tailored to what your system needs in the moment—offering both depth and flexibility while keeping safety and pacing at the center of the process.
Is IFS evidence-based?
IFS is supported by a growing body of research and is recognized as an evidence-based approach for trauma and other mental health concerns. Beyond research, many people find it meaningful because it feels respectful, empowering, and aligned with their lived experience. IFS Institute Research Page
What does healing look like in IFS therapy?
Healing in IFS often shows up as a growing sense of inner ease, self-trust, and compassion. Parts that once felt loud, reactive, or overwhelming may begin to soften as they feel understood and less alone. Over time, you may notice more choice in how you respond to yourself, your emotions, and your relationships—rather than feeling driven by old patterns. This kind of healing isn’t about eliminating parts of you, but about restoring balance and connection within your internal system, allowing a deeper sense of wholeness, steadiness, and presence to emerge in daily life.