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.
- Anxiety & Depression: IFS helps clients manage their emotions and behaviors by focusing on healing the parts that are stuck in outdated, unhealthy roles.
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.
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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
