Internal Family Systems (IFS): Understanding Your Inner Parts
If you’ve ever found yourself saying things like “Part of me wants to do this… but another part of me is terrified,” you’re already speaking the language of Internal Family Systems (IFS). IFS is a compassionate, evidence-based therapeutic model that helps us make sense of these inner conflicts and move toward healing in a more integrated way.
IFS / Parts Work in Simple Terms
Parts work views the mind as a system made up of different parts — distinct emotional states, reactions, beliefs, or protective strategies that show up at different times. These parts formed for understandable reasons, often to help you cope or stay safe during stressful or painful experiences. IFS doesn’t label these parts as problems. Instead, it treats each part as meaningful and worth understanding.
Three Types of Parts
IFS (or parts work) organizes these inner roles into three broad categories:
Exile Parts that hold painful feelings or memories. They’re often younger, vulnerable parts that carry old hurt, shame, fear, or unmet needs.
Manager Parts focused on preventing pain. They try to keep you in control, stay prepared, avoid emotional risks, and maintain order.
Firefighter Parts that react quickly when emotional pain surfaces. They may use distraction, numbing, or intense coping strategies to bring quick relief.
These roles develop because your system is trying to protect you — even if the strategies can become exhausting or no longer helpful.
The Self: Your Internal Leader
IFS / parts work is built on the idea that everyone has a core Self — a steady, compassionate internal presence that isn’t damaged by past pain. This Self is capable of clarity, calmness, and curiosity.
Therapy helps you access more of this Self energy. When your parts feel that steady leadership, they tend to relax and open up.
What IFS Looks Like in Therapy
A typical parts work session might include:
Noticing a part that’s showing up (a feeling, reaction, thought, or physical response)
Getting curious about what it needs or fears
Understanding the role it has been playing in your life
Building a relationship with that part instead of pushing it away
Supporting the younger or wounded parts it protects Everything is paced around your safety and readiness.
The goal isn’t to remove parts — it’s to help them feel seen, understood, and more at ease.
How Parts Work Helps
People often find IFS / parts work especially helpful for:
Anxiety or inner conflict
Trauma and attachment wounds
Shame or self-criticism
Emotional overwhelm or shutdown
Feeling “stuck” in certain patterns
Difficulty understanding why they react so strongly
It helps you understand your reactions and develop more space, compassion, and choice around them.
A More Supportive Relationship With Yourself
At its core, IFS / parts work offers a structured and compassionate way to understand your internal world. Instead of battling with your thoughts or trying to suppress emotions, you learn how to listen to them and respond with more self-leadership. If you’re interested in exploring parts work in therapy and seeing how it might support your growth, I’d be glad to walk with you.
Schwartz, R. C. (1995). Internal Family Systems Therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, R. C., & Sweezy, M. (2019). Internal Family Systems Therapy: Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, R. C., & Sweezy, M. (2016). The Mosaic Mind: Empowering the Tormented Selves of Child Abuse Survivors.
Sweezy, M., & Ziskind, E. (2013). Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual. New York: Guilford Press.