Mastering The Parts: Dr. Richard Schwartz Reveals The Magic Behind IFS Training For Therapists
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby is a licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified coach, AAMFT clinical supervisor, host of the Love, Happiness, and Success Podcast and founder of Growing Self.
Hey, Therapists! Ever felt like you’re missing that one tool in your therapy toolkit that could help your clients truly heal and reconnect with their best selves? If this sounds familiar and you haven’t yet explored Internal Family Systems (IFS) training, now is the time to get curious! IFS training offers a whole new way of thinking about how to help your clients heal.
In my latest episode of Love, Happiness & Success for Therapists, I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, and we dove deep into what makes this therapy approach unique and why it works.
Spoiler alert: it’s not just another “technique”—it’s a transformative framework that can really make a difference in your practice. So, what makes IFS so special? Let’s explore.
IFS: A Different Way of Viewing the Mind
At its core, IFS sees people as having multiple “parts”—like different voices or personalities inside them. Some parts are loud and active (maybe your client’s anxiety or inner critic), while others are quiet and hidden away (like past trauma or pain). The key here is that these parts aren’t “bad” or pathological. They’re simply responses to life experiences, often developed as protective mechanisms.
Unlike some therapeutic models that focus on “fixing” or eliminating negative aspects of the personality, IFS takes a more compassionate approach. It focuses on understanding and healing these parts so they can function in healthier ways.
Self-Leadership: The Heart of IFS
So, how does this work in practice? The key to IFS is its focus on Self-leadership. This is where things get exciting because it’s radically different from other therapies that position the therapist as the “healer.” In IFS, the person at the center of the therapy is the Self—a core part of the person that is calm, compassionate, curious, and confident.
Here’s the thing: your client’s Self is always there, it can’t be damaged, and it’s the part of them that is best suited to lead their healing process. So, the goal isn’t for you, as the therapist, to fix them.
We as therapists can’t do the work for our therapy clients. Instead, we can help them uncover and connect with their true Self, which can lead their parts to heal and work together in harmony.
While other models, especially depth psychotherapies, place the therapist in the role of the good attachment figure, IFS turns that on its head. The therapist’s role is important, but instead of being the central attachment figure, the therapist helps clients access their internal leader—their Self.
How IFS Works: Unblending Parts
One of the most powerful concepts in IFS is the process of unblending. Many clients come to therapy feeling overwhelmed by their parts. These parts can feel like they take over and dictate the person’s behavior, emotions, and reactions.
The goal is to help clients unblend. This means that they’re able to step back, observe these parts from a distance, and recognize that these feelings and behaviors don’t define them. Instead, they’re just parts of their internal system that have been activated by past experiences.
By doing so, clients can begin to heal these parts, allowing them to move from a place of defensiveness to a place of self-compassion and integration. That’s where the magic happens: when clients are able to connect with their Self, they can step into leadership, healing those parts and reclaiming their full potential.
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IFS and Compassionate Healing: Moving Beyond “Fixing”
One of the most notable features of IFS is its emphasis on compassion. Many other therapies focus on analyzing the past or dissecting behaviors to understand why they’re happening, but IFS takes it a step further by encouraging clients to heal their parts with self-compassion.
Instead of shaming or blaming the parts of themselves that are causing pain, IFS encourages clients to show kindness, curiosity, and understanding. This is hugely different from traditional approaches that often focus on behavior modification or challenging negative beliefs.
The parts that might seem “maladaptive” (like addiction, anger, or anxiety) are not viewed as problems to be eliminated but as protectors that can be understood and healed.
When you, as the therapist, create a space of safety and compassion, your clients are able to explore these parts, offering them empathy and understanding. Once these parts feel heard and understood, they can relax and start to play a new role in the person’s system.
Why IFS Is So Effective
IFS isn’t just a feel-good approach—it’s effective. Over the years, research has supported its success in treating a wide variety of issues, including:
- Trauma: Implementing IFS with trauma survivors allows clients to approach painful memories and experiences in a safe, controlled manner so they can integrate them into their current self, without feeling overwhelmed or retraumatized.
- Addiction: By understanding the “parts” of themselves that engage in addictive behaviors (often to protect other wounded parts), clients with addictions can use IFS Parts Work to find healthier coping mechanisms.
- Anxiety & Depression: IFS helps clients manage their emotions and behaviors by focusing on healing the parts that are stuck in outdated, unhealthy roles.
- Chronic Pain: IFS has been shown to be effective in managing chronic pain, as it addresses the emotional and psychological aspects that contribute to physical symptoms.
The reason IFS works so well is that it doesn’t try to fix or change the client. Instead, it empowers the client to reconnect with their most authentic, compassionate self and integrate their parts into a harmonious whole.
Take the Next Step
If this all sounds fascinating and you’re ready to take the leap, IFS training at the IFS Institute might be the next step in your personal and professional growth. It’s not just about learning a new technique—it’s about transforming how you view your clients and yourself as a therapist.
Whether you’re a seasoned therapist or just starting out, IFS training can offer you a fresh perspective on how to work with your clients in a deeply compassionate and transformative way.
Ready For More?
I learned so much from this episode, and I hope you did, too. My mission is to empower, inspire, and care for therapists like you by sharing meaningful conversations, evidence-based insights, and practical tools to help you thrive personally and professionally.
Let’s stay connected so I can keep you in the loop about new episodes, resources, and ideas that make a difference in your life. Sign up for my newsletter right here and join a community that’s all about lifting each other up. You give so much to others—it’s time someone’s here to support you.
I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn as well! Reach out to me at Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Xoxo
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby
PS: If you know a colleague who could benefit from this article, don’t keep it to yourself—share it with them! Let’s continue building a community of empowered therapists.
Resources:
Hodgdon, H. B., Anderson, F. G., Southwell, E., Hrubec, W., & Schwartz, R. (2022). Internal family systems (IFS) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: A pilot effectiveness study. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 31(1), 22-43. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10926771.2021.2013375
Sykes, C. (2016). An IFS lens on addiction: Compassion for extreme parts. In Innovations and elaborations in Internal Family Systems therapy (pp. 29-48). Routledge .https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315775784-3/ifs-lens-addiction-cece-sykes
Shadick, N. A., Sowell, N. F., Frits, M. L., Hoffman, S. M., Hartz, S. A., Booth, F. D., … & Schwartz, R. C. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study. The Journal of rheumatology, 40(11), 1831-1841. https://www.jrheum.org/content/40/11/1831.short
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