By Jamie Bennett, LMFT

If you have seen the movie Inside Out, you might already be familiar with the concept of internal family systems, or IFS, therapy. Developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s, IFS is a model of therapy that draws from the assumption that we are all a system of interconnected parts—our internal family—that

help govern our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

At the core of this system is what Dr. Schwartz calls the self, which is essentially us as human beings. In a healthy and balanced system, the self uses information from the network of parts to determine our actions, make meaning of events, and relate to the world.

However, sometimes our systems can become unbalanced, and certain parts may become burdened. This may be the result of a traumatic or adverse experience, most commonly one that takes place during childhood. The burdened parts tend to dominate the system and filter our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions through to protect us from the pain of reliving the negative experiences.

For example, a young girl has an angry outburst and is shamed by her mother, who tells her, “It’s not ladylike to be angry”. She may have a part that assumes the burden of protecting her from never experiencing that shame again by suppressing any type of anger response and replacing it with........

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