The importance of our parts

Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is based on the premise that we all have an inner family of parts and that at our core we have a calm and loving self that, unlike our parts, has been untouched by the trauma experienced over the course of our lives.

Richard Schwarz, founder of IFS therapy, refers to our parts as much more than an emotional state. We might say, ‘part of me wants to go out tonight and another part of me wants to stay in’. These sound like statements based of different emotional states with conflicting feelings but they are also expressions of two of our sub personalities, each with more to say, each with their own, in the words of Richard Schwartz, ‘range of emotion, style of expression, set of abilities, desires, and view of the world.’

Introducing ourselves to our parts and getting to know them is a an enlightening, fascinating and ultimately transformative experience. It provides a framework to help us heal from emotional pain and to feel a sense of calm and wholeness that has profound effects on not only our emotional landscape but our whole lives.