Internal Family Systems Therapy, First Edition (The Guilford Family Therapy)

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I believe it is necessary, though, to say that these parts are not real. This gives the Self authority over the parts. If the Self knows it has authority, then it has strength. It knows it can afford to be flexible, compassionate, and curious. It can take leadership over its creation and not confuse the real world with the notions of the mind.

Enhanced clinical utility, with significantly more "how-to" details, case examples, and sample dialogues. The following reflective exercise is a valuable way to revisit parts in life and learn self-leadership through practice and experience. Although these findings surprised the researchers, they validated what we in the field of mental health have long intuited about trauma and the body. The findings also suggest that the reverse might be true: If a wounded psyche can injure the body a restored psyche might help to heal the body.” pg. 68

What Is Internal Family Systems Therapy?

The relationships between these characters follow the same rules and fall into the same patterns as relationships between actual people. You have some who dominate others. Some who are immature, angry, or caring. Some get really excited and over-react. Polarization is found here, just as in the US Congress; so are triangles, the love variety and otherwise. You have the same splendid complexity within as without. This gives you the same advantages that any group of people have (two heads are better than one), as well as disadvantages (sometimes all you do is go to meetings and never get anything done). We’re all familiar with self-talk, self-doubt, self-judgment—yet most of us still view ourselves as if we have one uniform mind. Dr. Richard Schwartz’s breakthrough was recognizing that we each contain an “internal family” of distinct parts—and that treating these parts with curiosity, respect, and empathy vastly expands our capacity to heal. Now look at the person through the eyes of your protector. Reassure your protector that you will not be entering that room. Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model

A key aspect of IFS Therapy is to “find, focus on and flesh out” the client’s protective parts and help them “unblend and notice the client’s Self” (Anderson et al., 2017, p. 93). Next, the client can recognize their feelings toward and befriend the target part, explore its fears, and invite it to do something new.Why not try out some of the worksheets and exercises with your clients to help the self, rather than the therapist, become the primary, caring attachment figure necessary to heal the client’s injured parts? This is the best book if you would like to work on your own. It explains the model clearly and offer step by step guidance on how to work with your own inner system using IFS. Best introductory book to Internal Family Systems Therapy