Internal Family Systems Therapy Research Articles

An examination of internal family systems interventions for trauma with implications for ethical psychedelic-assisted treatment

AbstractThough several treatments effectively address the pervasive impact of trauma, they do not achieve complete symptom resolution for all clients, inspiring the search for alternatives. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has grown popular, especially in informal psychedelic-assisted treatments (PAT). Compared to stereotypes of empirically validated, exposure-based treatments, IFS has novel facets with widespread appeal. The model encourages improved quality of interactions among multiple, naturally arising “parts” or subpersonalities potentially generated by traumatic experience. The body of IFS literature is extensive, enthusiastic, and thought-provoking. Outcome data for applying the model to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are limited. Attempts to operationalize and falsify the theory's assumptions and proposed mechanisms will likely prove challenging. Nevertheless, the model's popularity underscores a problem with perceptions of the empirically-supported treatments. Contemplating ethical ways to present the IFS approach given the state of relevant research, we note strategies that would apply to recommendations for PAT of any type. These strategies include detailed psychoeducation about empirically-supported treatments, candid description of the experimental nature of alternatives, frequent assessments of improvement, and detailed monitoring of potential iatrogenic effects. Drawing on facets of IFS to improve perceptions of the empirically validated treatments might provide an efficient way to appeal to more clients, decrease drop out, and increase gains as we await results of empirical investigations of IFS-influenced PAT. These steps can allow clients to choose an approach consistent with their own impressions of a credible intervention, potentially leading to better outcomes.

A Path Toward Healing: Integrating Internal Family Systems and Art Therapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS) and art therapy each provide distinctive processes for working within the psychological realm of individuals. Many of their respective goals and techniques are consistent with the underpinnings research finds essential to inform effective trauma care. This article provides an overview of IFS theory and then, through case vignettes, demonstrates an integrative IFS and art therapy approach. Through a review of the literature and analysis of the cases, six salient areas of alignment are identified: externalization, creativity, visualization, somatic awareness, relationship, and witnessing. These areas underscore the benefit of integrating IFS and art therapy in trauma work as, when combined, these complementary therapeutic approaches offer a unique process, opening pathways for profound and effective healing.

Helping Formators Shine a Light on the Internal Life of Seminarians

Spiritual directors and formation advisors are charged with the responsibility of getting to know the men and women they work with who are in formation for religious life and the priesthood. This includes understanding the experiences of the people they work with, especially their inner lives. But the inner life of another person is a dark, vast, and mysterious world. This article draws on features of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to help shine a light on the interior lives of those in formation for religious life and diocesan priesthood. IFS can help a formator make sense of the complex internal relationships every person experiences by identifying the different kinds of internal reactions a person experiences while proceeding through formation. The article explains key IFS terms such as protectors, managers, firefighters, exiles, and the Self that help formators understand those reactions and what a person in formation is experiencing. After considering some of the implications that this IFS approach to the interior life holds for formation advising and spiritual direction, the author offers three formational practices based on IFS that can promote self-knowledge for those in formation. The author concludes with a discussion of the transformation of one's identity and leadership. This article lays the groundwork for further research on the status of the Self in IFS and Christian theology.

The Effect of Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy on Males and Females with Internalizing Behaviours in Pakistan Experiencing Family Conflicts: A Comparative Study

The Effect of Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy on Males and Females with Internalizing Behaviours in Pakistan Experiencing Family Conflicts: A Comparative Study

Altered states of consciousness within therapeutic modalities - exploring commonalities of experience

Altered states of consciousness (ASC) occur when there is a deviation from normal levels of psychological functioning. They can be self-induced through meditative practices or taking psychoactive substances and therapeutically induced through processes like hypnotic induction. They are determined physiologically when brain rhythms drop from the usual rhythm of waking consciousness to the slower rhythms of meditation and dreaming sleep. ASC offers a window into the workings of the psyche. This qualitative Grounded Theory pilot study explored commonalities of ASC experience through the lens of four therapeutic modalities - Hypnotherapy, Past-life Regression, Internal Family Systems Therapy and Soul-Centred Healing. The research findings were based on twelve interviews with a trainer, practitioner, and client from these four therapeutic systems. In exploring their inner worlds through ASC, the common themes of this limited research suggested the participants’ conviction in a transpersonal element of human consciousness that transcends the physicality of their current life. These experiences were seen as part of a journey of individuation to higher states of consciousness. The multiplicity of the different inner world elements was also recognised, containing various characters sometimes known as sub-personalities, ego-states or simply “parts”.

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS): A Compassionate Approach to Therapy

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) has gained recognition globally as an effective psychotherapy and an evidence-based practice. It has seen widespread acceptance and application not only in individual, couple, and family therapy but also in diverse fields such as education, coaching and more. The IFS model was developed by Dr Richard Schwartz based on the concepts of systems therapy and multiplicity of the mind. The non-pathologising approach of IFS views the psychiatric symptoms that a client comes into counselling with, as protectors or parts forced into extreme roles caused by circumstances and experiences for the positive intention of maintaining functioning, despite negative consequences. The approach of IFS reflects compassion and its goal is to restore balance to the client’s inner system by unburdening the parts of their extreme roles, beliefs or feelings, and to restore the client’s Self to leadership. IFS offers an alternative neuroscience-informed intervention model to the stage model of treatment for trauma. The contribution of IFS is not only in the interventions itself but also in advancing therapeutic relationship and for self-therapy. This paper describes the application of IFS therapy to individuals by providing vignettes to highlight the impact of its non-pathologising approach on the client as well as the therapist in the counselling process by viewing parts from a lens of self-compassion.

The Mediating Role of Self-Leadership in the link between Racial Identity Attitudes, Mental Health Outcomes, and Race Related Stress

ABSTRACT Introduction: Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy has grown in popularity over the last several decades, demonstrating promising utility, especially in the treatment of mood disorders. However, IFS researchers have yet to explore its relevance specifically for Black populations in the United States. Objective: The present study investigated relationships between self-leadership, racial identity attitudes, race related stress, and mental health outcomes. Specifically, this study examined self-leadership as a potential mediator in the relationship between Black racial identity attitudes and the experience of race-related stress and mental health outcomes Methods: Participants (N = 79) were Black-identifying undergraduate students who completed self-report inventories. Mediation analyses were conducted using SPSS. Results: Self-leadership significantly predicted less severe negative mental health outcomes. Additionally, self-leadership fully mediated the relationship between the pre-encounter attitude of self-hatred and mental health outcomes, and self-leadership partially mediated the relationship between multiculturalist inclusive attitudes and stress due to institutional racism. Conclusion: Findings point to the potential utility of a major component of IFS, self-leadership, for future Black clinical populations.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Survivors of Multiple Childhood Trauma: A Pilot Effectiveness Study

ABSTRACT Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition and exposure to multiple types of childhood trauma contributes to higher co-occurring symptoms. This pilot research explores effectiveness of a novel intervention, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, for treatment of PTSD and associated symptoms and problems, including depression, dissociation, somatization, affect dysregulation, and disrupted self-perception (i.e. shame/guilt) among adults exposed to multiple childhood trauma. Seventeen adults with PTSD and history of multiple childhood traumas participated in an uncontrolled trial of IFS, receiving 16, 90-min IFS sessions and completing four evaluations (pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up) assessing PTSD symptoms and diagnosis, as well as multiple secondary outcomes (e.g., symptoms of depression, dissociation, and somatization, affect dysregulation, disrupted self-perception, interoceptive awareness, and self-compassion). Intent-to-treat analyses using multilevel growth curve modeling and examination of effect sizes demonstrated significant decreases in symptoms of PTSD (d = −4.46 and −3.05 as measured by the CAPS and DTS respectively), associated features of PTSD (e.g., total score on a measure of dissociation, somatization, affect dysregulation, self-perception; d = −1.27), and depression (d = −1.51) across the study period. A medium effect size in the expected direction was observed for self-compassion (d = .72). Small to large effect sizes in the expected direction were observed for multiple indicators of interoceptive awareness (range d = .27–1.21). Results provide preliminary support for IFS as a promising practice for the treatment of PTSD among adults with a history of childhood trauma.

Religious Studies and Internal Family Systems Therapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a psychotherapy modality that combines elements of systems theory with an experiential approach that rests on distinctions between Self and parts of self. Unlike more cognitive approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic ‘talk’ therapies, IFS challenges traditional divisions between mind and body that have endured in both the treatment of psychological trauma and in the study of religion. This essay provides a summary of IFS as it is conceptualized by Richard Schwartz, Martha Sweezy, and Frank Anderson, and then critically identifies several significant religious resonances in its approach to mediating between a stable ‘Self ’ and parts of self that are partitioned by traumatic or overwhelming experiences. I conclude with the suggestion that the IFS approach to therapy and the discipline of Religious Studies mutually illuminate and challenge each other in their overlapping approaches to the problems of value-neutrality and normativity.

Integrating Internal Family Systems and Solutions Focused Brief Therapy to Treat Survivors of Sexual Trauma

In a recent study 56% of women and 37% of men were survivors of childhood sexual abuse. These individuals who experience sexual trauma may experience depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or substance use disorders (Devlin et al., in Fam J 27(4):359–365, 2019). While there are several treatment approaches specifically developed to target trauma and its effects, (e.g., trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) we propose that integrating internal family systems therapy (IFS) and solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) offers a brief, systemic way to improve family relationship patterns in families where one member has experienced sexual trauma. A case vignette is used to show the integration of these two approaches.

“Your Exile is Showing”: Integrating Sandtray with Internal Family Systems Therapy

Internal family systems (IFS) therapy is an experiential model of therapy and views individuals as having numerous “parts” inside of them. These parts maintain a specific role in a client’s life and fall under one of the three categories – managers, exiles, and firefighters. Due to the experiential aspect of IFS and the concept of blending, visualizing the parts inside of a client can become challenging at best and impossible, at worst. This article provides a framework for integrating sandtray therapy with IFS to help clients name, visualize, and see the progress of their parts.

An Integrative Approach to Relational Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT Recent research in cognitive neuroscience, as well as in therapeutic approaches such as Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, offer ways of empowering psychoanalytic therapy within the framework of contemporary psychoanalysis’s basic principles. A clinical vignette illustrating an effective application of psychotherapy integration is presented. In order to benefit from importing these outside insights and methods, some analysts will need to overcome singlemindedness and relax elitist notions of the superiority of their staunch approach. As the hegemony of psychoanalysis continues to decline, an integrative strategy of this sort can vitalize psychoanalysis and ensure its legacy while also helping nonanalytic therapists realize the ways their approaches intersect with and can benefit from ours.

Systemic Integration of IFS Therapy and 12-Step Facilitation for Substance Use: A Theoretical Discussion

ABSTRACTSubstance use disorders (SUDs) are a major problem in the United States that have reverberating effects within families, communities, and society. Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are uniquely positioned to be leaders in addressing SUDs through a systemic relational context. Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) is an evidence-based practice that has the potential to be an excellent fit for individuals, couples, and families struggling with SUDs. In addition, 12-Step facilitation provides a supportive network for individuals dealing with substance use issues. This article uses a systemic approach to integrating IFS and 12-Step facilitation for use with the emerging adult population. A case study example is provided to illustrate the integrated model.

Self-governance, psychotherapy, and the subject of managed care: Internal Family Systems therapy and the multiple self in a US eating-disorders treatment center

“The self” has seen a surprising resurgence in recent anthropological theorizing, revitalizing interest in whether and how it can be studied ethnographically. These issues are brought to the fore by a newly popular psychotherapy technique, Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS), as practiced in a US eating-disorders clinic. There, clinicians and clients negotiate tensions between this model's understanding of a multiple, refracted self and managed-care companies’ insistence on personal responsibility. In considering the moral and pragmatic work of IFS in the clinic, a new critical anthropology of selfhood illuminates the vectors through which economic and political commitments become imbricated in the self. They do so in ways that resist both psychologism and subjectivism while holding them in productive—albeit sometimes troubling—tension.

The Efficacy of Internal Family Systems Therapy in the Treatment of Depression Among Female College Students: A Pilot Study

College women are vulnerable to depression due to developmental and transitional life changes. Early diagnosis and effective treatment is critically important. Empirical support exists for the effectiveness of select treatment options (i.e., antidepressant medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy [CBT], and interpersonal psychotherapy [IPT]), yet a significant percentage of those treated do not benefit. In this pilot study, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy was tested as an alternative approach. College women (N=37) were randomly allocated to IFS treatment or treatment as usual (CBT or IPT). Results demonstrated a decline in depressive symptoms for both conditions and no significant differences in the magnitude or rate of change. The results provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of IFS in the treatment of depressive symptoms.

Internal Family Systems Therapy with Mothers of Disabled Children

Internal Family Systems Therapy with Mothers of Disabled Children

Sweezy, M., & Ziskind, E. L. (2013). Internal family systems therapy: New dimensions. New York, NY: Routledge, 199 pp., $36.95.

Journal of Marital and Family TherapyVolume 40, Issue 2 p. 262-263 Review Sweezy, M., & Ziskind, E. L. (2013). Internal family systems therapy: New dimensions. New York, NY: Routledge, 199 pp., $36.95. Ryan B. Seedall PhD, Ryan B. Seedall PhD Utah State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Ryan B. Seedall PhD, Ryan B. Seedall PhD Utah State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 23 April 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12033Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume40, Issue2April 2014Pages 262-263 RelatedInformation

Fostering Self-Awareness in Novice Therapists Using Internal Family Systems Therapy

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to understand: (a) whether and how the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model helps beginning therapists gain awareness of their internal processes and (b) whether and how such awareness influences their clinical work. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with seven beginning therapists and data were analyzed using thematic coding. Findings suggest that IFS helped therapists identify, understand, and manage their internal processes, which seemed to benefit the therapeutic relationship, identify therapists’ personal agendas, model work with the internal system, and foster a better understanding of the client's internal system. Clinical training implications are discussed.

Psychological Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Works: Now We Need to Know What Elements Are Most Effective and for Whom

In this issue of The Journal , Shadick and colleagues1 conduct a proof-of-concept study investigating the efficacy of a novel psychosocial intervention for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA): Internal Family Systems-based Psychotherapy (IFS). IFS has not previously been the subject of randomized controlled trials (RCT) and therefore its potential efficacy is unknown. Group differences favoring the IFS group over a group receiving routine care were found for pain severity and physical function at posttreatment, and for joint function (self-assessed), depression, and self-compassion at 1 year followup. Hence, this trial has established proof of concept for the potential efficacy of IFS in RA. But what is IFS and how is it related to existing evidence-based treatments? Internal family systems therapy was developed and articulated by Schwartz2, and his book indicates that much of the influence for IFS has come from work in family therapy3,4. However, IFS is not a form of family therapy per se , because patients were seen in groups without other members of their family present. Shadick, et al 1 described the processes: (a) IFS “teaches patients to attend to and interact mindfully” with their internal experiences; and (b) IFS “recruits self-compassion and conceptualizes parts of a person as subpersonalities, in which they are encouraged to engage in a dialogue with polarized thinking.” According to Shadick, et al 1, patients are encouraged to identify situations with their concomitant thoughts and emotions. Patients are then asked to identify the origin of these experiences, allowing them to change their response and identify compromise positions to allow them to behave differently. From this description, it is clear that IFS shares overlap with numerous other models of psychotherapy, many of which have been previously used in RA. It is important to determine the … Address correspondence to L. Sharpe. E-mail: louises{at}psych.usyd.edu.au

Moving From Acceptance Toward Transformation With Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)

Clients come to psychotherapy intent on changing, rather than accepting, their unwanted behaviors, emotions, or thoughts. The problem often is, however, that their lack of self-acceptance is the primary obstacle to change. This article describes how one approach, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, fosters clients' acceptance of all parts of themselves no matter how destructive, and how that acceptance can lead to the transformation of those parts and, in turn, of other people.