When it comes to working with traumatized clients, it helps for them to have a strong attachment figure, says Richard Schwartz, the originator of Internal Family Systems. And often, he adds, a good therapist fills that role by being present and attuned. But what if clients could become their own best ally in healing, and take fuller agency in their own recovery?
According to Schwartz, IFS allows exactly this. “There’s an essence within people that already has the qualities of a good attachment figure and can become a good parent to wounded inner parts,” he says.
In this clip from his Networker Symposium keynote address, “The Inner Game of Psychotherapy,” Schwartz explains how getting to know inner parts can help clients unload the wounds of trauma.
“The primary obstacle to treating ourselves more kindly is the fact that most of us are addicted to self-criticism,” Schwartz says. “Who among us hasn’t had the experience of learning to be judgmental of ourselves as a teenager, when we’re so worried about how we’re going to appear to others?” IFS, he adds, allows us to better understand our inner critics as vigilant protectors, and embrace the full range of all our parts and achieve an inner harmony.
“In my own work, I greet my inner parts fondly before sessions, especially when I suspect they’ll be triggered, and ask that they leave the office until the session is over,” Schwartz says. “Then I check with myself frequently during the session to ensure I’m present and my heart is open.”
Richard Schwartz
Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy in response to clients’ descriptions of various internal parts. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed systemic patterns across clients. When their parts felt safe and could relax, his clients would spontaneously feel confident, open, and compassionate. Dr. Schwartz dubbed this state the Self and discovered that clients knew how to heal their parts when they were in Self. Dr. Schwartz is often a featured speaker for national professional organizations. He has published over fifty articles and many books about IFS. Website: https://ifs-institute.com
