Thread by @nowtheo

Internal Family Systems [Intro Thread🧵]

What is IFS and Why it is one of the coolest psychotechnologies out there ✨

Imagination is a powerful and underrated tool for self-discovery, healing, and growth.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic framework that leverages the power of imagination to help you narratively explore your mind and do a lot of untangling + unburdening.

The main idea behind IFS is the Multiplicity of the Mind — that we are not really a single cohesive self, but more like a dynamic amalgam of many parts. We speak for our many parts all the time. ("A part of me would really like to..." etc)

IFS sees our family of parts being organized around one objective — avoiding pain. And there's no such thing as a "bad" part. Even the "worst" of your parts (that make you self-loathe, anxious, depressed, addicted, violent, judgmental) are just trying to protect you from pain.

You, as the "Self", hold the power to unburden the pain of your parts, resolve conflicts and bring harmony to your inner family. The more we unconditionally show up for our parts, the more they start letting go and trusting the Self

Some people are put off by the parts framework and imaginal stuff because it seems fake and made up. Are parts real? Probably not. Doesn't matter.

Your unconscious is "real" though. See IFS as a "way of looking" that animates the unconscious and allows you to interact with it.

Also, the thing is, IFS will all feel very abstract and made up. Until you meet an exiled part. And then that part shows you memories from your childhood, brings up all kind of repressed feelings. That's when it gets very much concrete and you see the transformative power of IFS.

Once you know your parts and have the ability to interact with any part (emotion) that comes up, you'll develop rich emotional awareness in your day-to-day life. Over time, IFS will help you fall in love with all your emotions and bring a beautiful fluidity to your inner life.

Self-love is so important, but "just love yourself" is not a useful prescription.

IFS makes self-love feasible. It gives us a practical affordance to understand and love all aspects of ourselves, especially the disturbing bits that are difficult to accept. 🥰

IFS can help you experientially realize that you (and others) are inherently good. And that's a big deal. Being out of touch with our inherent goodness holds us back in every area of our life. We carry a lot of shame and overcompensate so much to feel good about ourselves.

IFS is also such a powerful exploration and communication tool for relationships. By getting familiar with each other's parts, you can understand and relate to each other on a very deep level. And you can non-antagonistically navigate conflicts by dialoguing from Self.

IFS seamlessly integrates the somatic dimension (super important) and is synergistic with many other healing modalities (Focusing, IPF, MDMA etc).

All in all, IFS is mind-blowing and makes therapy feel like a video game.

This Tim Ferriss podcast with Richard Schwartz is my go-to IFS primer recommendation. They give an overview of IFS, and then do a brilliant live demo on the show where Tim Ferriss explores his childhood abuse. Very emotionally moving.

tim.blog/2021/01/14/ric…

More practical, tactical, how-to stuff about getting the most out of IFS in the next thread.