IFS & parts work

ABOUT THE EPISODE

How can IFS help us understand the parts that protect, react and hold pain?

We break down the foundations of Internal Family Systems and explore how managers, firefighters and exiles relate to the core self.

The conversation covers integrating IFS with other therapy approaches, what training involves and why therapist self-awareness matters. There is also a live demonstration with conflicting parts.

• Understanding managers, firefighters and exiles
• Exploring the qualities of the core self
• Integrating IFS with other therapeutic approaches
• Experiencing the model through a live demonstration

How can protective parts show up in therapy?

Internal Family Systems offers a way to understand different responses without reducing the person to one reaction. The episode explores managers, firefighters and exiles as parts that may organise, react or hold pain, alongside the idea of a core self.

This language can help therapist and client become curious about apparent conflict. A response that looks obstructive may make more sense when it is understood as an attempt to protect, even when its effects have become costly or difficult.

Why does therapist self-awareness matter in parts work?

Parts work is not only about identifying what is happening for the client. The conversation also considers therapist self-awareness, integration with other therapeutic approaches and the training involved in using IFS.

The live demonstration with conflicting parts makes the model more concrete. It shows why the work needs to be paced carefully and used in a way that fits the therapist’s competence, the client’s formulation and the wider therapeutic relationship.

Related listening: For another conversation about parts, listen to IFS and EMDR: Mapping the Purpose of Parts, which explores how parts language can inform EMDR work.