Internal Family Systems (IFS) can appear complicated at first, but it can be a very helpful approach within counselling. Internal Family Systems therapy, also known as IFS, is a form of psychotherapy developed in the 1980s. It is based on the idea that the mind is naturally made up of many different parts, rather than one single, unified personality.
IFS recognises that these parts often compete with one another, each trying to act in what they believe is your best interest. Rather than attempting to suppress or eliminate parts, IFS works to understand them and their roles.
At the centre of this model is your essential core, known as the Self. When supported and healed, the Self is able to relate to all parts with compassion, curiosity, and calm leadership. The “family” aspect of Internal Family Systems refers to these different parts or sub-personalities, each with their own intentions and ways of coping.
Within IFS theory, parts that hold unresolved pain are often referred to as exiles. These parts may represent younger versions of ourselves from different stages of development. To protect these vulnerable exiles, the psyche develops protective behaviours. These can include perfectionism, people-pleasing, rigid self-control, or more impulsive behaviours such as binge eating, addiction, or self-harm.
Although these behaviours can be harmful, they are understood in IFS as attempts to manage or suppress pain — through numbing, distraction, withdrawal, or control.
Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, introduced the idea of “No Bad Parts”, meaning that no part of us is inherently bad — each part is trying to protect us in the only way it knows how. While I am not an IFS therapist, I often draw on elements of this approach within my counselling work, particularly when supporting clients with trauma, self-criticism, or emotional overwhelm.
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