Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Befriend your inner parts!
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
My journey with Internal Family Systems began with my own therapy.
I first heard about IFS when the founder, Richard Schwartz, was interviewed on a podcast I followed. It took me a few years before I actually decided to initiate the therapy but I became more and more curious as I started to hear more about it. Well, thank goodness I finally followed up on my instinct because it was and continues to be completely life-changing for me, and I now experience life in a very different way, full of love and a deep sense of peace.
I was so inspired by the changes to my own life that I next underwent official training so that I could use IFS with my own clients, as well as undertaking a Master in Counselling. I now also work in weekly consultation with an IFS level 3 certified psychotherapist.
I have found that using IFS in my coaching practice has been extremely helpful for my clients to really understand what is driving their behaviours, and to be able to move through the world more lightly and joyfully. It is very effective in managing all types of anxiety, including social anxiety and health anxiety, as well as helping to understand why we have behaviours such as putting others before ourselves, having low self esteem, and feeling 'stuck' in a way of life that may not be serving us.
IFS coaching
In Lisbon (Portugal) and Online anywhere in the world
So what makes Internal Family Systems so effective?
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) offers a refreshingly non-pathologising perspective on healing. Rather than viewing your struggles as issues to be fixed or eliminated, it sees them as parts of you doing their best to help, even if their methods are imperfect. Instead of battling against the protective patterns you developed in the past, IFS encourages you to connect with these parts. Through curiosity, understanding, and self-compassion—not force—you can foster healing and transformation.
Also at the heart of Internal Family Systems is the belief that there is a core ‘Self’ within each of us, which has been untouched by any trauma we may have experienced. Self energy is characterised by a relationship we have with ourselves, others and the world that has curiosity, calm, compassion, connectedness, creativity, courage, clarity and confidence.
The aim of IFS is to connect to this part of us, and then to help build a relationship between this self quality and all of our parts. In this way, we get to know, understand and appreciate their positive intentions for us. The Self can then connect with each part and heal it. This allows the parts to let go of their extreme or destructive roles and enter into a more harmonious collaboration.
Online or in person, these sessions will offer you a supportive environment to examine, unravel, and transform the core patterns that influence your life.
My fees for IFS work
My fee is 80 euro for an initial 1.5 hour session.
After that, my fee is 65 euro per one hour session.
If you are in hardship, I may be able to offer you a sliding scale fee.
Parts in conflict
Very often, parts of us are in conflict with each other, which is one of the main reasons why people find it so hard to attain and maintain their health goals. (Many of my clients come to me with the belief that they have an 'angel' and a 'devil', but this is not a helpful way to think about our parts.)
For example, if there is a part of you that it is comfort eating for emotional reasons then, as you know, it can be very difficult to change our eating habits, even if another part wants that for you. Or if you have a caretaking part, this can mean that you put everybody else first, but there may also be other parts that want you to take better care of yourself, and are feeling frustrated. All these parts of you have a very good reason for doing what they are doing, but unfortunately they don't always agree!
It therefore becomes very important that you first get curious about, befriend and sit with that part and find out what its intentions for you are. This creates a strong Self to part relationship which enables healing.
Overall, once we get to know and understand our parts, it becomes much easier to make daily choices from a place of balance. :)
*Please note I work online with women and men of all ages who need help with managing any of the issues listed here. However, if you have a background of known trauma, especially complex trauma, you should contact an IFS psychotherapist for help. I am not a licensed medical or mental health professional, and sessions with me are not medical, psychiatric, or psychotherapeutic treatment. It is your responsibility to identify if you need such treatment, and to seek it.
You can find a directory of IFS practicioners here: https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners
Diploma of Health Coaching
- IFS Online Circle
- Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
Master of Counselling (current)
Get In Touch
To find out more about IFS, please get in touch and I'll be happy to discuss.
I offer a free 30-minute call so that you can get a sense of who I am and how I work.
