Therapy?

[writerkit]

Does anyone here know anything about Internal Family Systems therapy? The thumbnail description I was given makes it sound like it has some things in common with the way DID was viewed back when it was still called Multiple Personality Disorder where all the personalities conform to a standard set of Purposes, so you have The Innocent One and The Organized One and The Aggressive One, except that instead of full-on headmates you have the internal parts of your personality and I have... issues... with that framing.

On the other hand, it was a fairly quick thumbnail description, so it's entirely possible there were some words crossed here.

Anyone know enough about it to explain what I'm seeing?

Comments

[siderea]

Your impression is mostly correct. IFS (which a lot of folks adore) has a typology of inner parts ("Parts"). There's not necessarily one of each, but it is the case that Parts are understood by how they function as one of these (3? 4?) roles specific to the IFS paradigm.

I'm working on a case jointly with an IFS therapist. It's the new hotness, and it really seems to work for a lot of people.

[writerkit]

"Really seems to work for a lot of people" is more than I was expecting once I heard the description, so this tells me it's worth doing some actual research into.

[staranise]

Yeah, it's partly about marshalling inner resources--people who have a very narrow and static sense of self might not feel able to use aspects of their personality like organization or gentleness or firmness or spontaneity, so this is a way of getting them in touch with those internal functions that feels less ego-dystonic. I know about it because it gets a chapter in The Body Keeps the Score.

But then, I was immensely helped by the period where I was super in touch with my characters, to the point that they were "different people inside my head." So long as it doesn't get to batshit proportions ("You're not allowed to eat apples in the universe because my headmate is triggered by apples!") it can get some really useful stuff done.