Internal Family System

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Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a type of therapy that uses Family Systems theory (the idea that individuals cannot be fully understood in isolation from the family unit) to address issues in a person by personifying their feelings and talking to them as sub-personalities, or parts.

The Internal Family System also has system roles, including:


 * Self
 * Managers
 * Firefighters
 * Exiles

IFS posits that the mind is made up of multiple parts, and underlying them is a person's core or true Self. Like members of a family, a person's inner parts can take on extreme roles or subpersonalities. Each part has its own perspective, interests, memories, and viewpoint. A core tenet of IFS is that every part has a positive intent, even if its actions are counterproductive and/or cause dysfunction. There is no need to fight with, coerce, or eliminate parts; the IFS method promotes internal connection and harmony to bring the mind back into balance.

IFS therapy aims to heal wounded parts and restore mental balance. The first step is to access the core Self and then, from there, understand the different parts in order to heal them..

The term subpersonality encompass subselves, subalters and subheadmates.