IFS Parts Work Therapy is a Gentle Evidence-Based Trauma Therapy

Some types of trauma therapy rely on exposure to traumatic events as their way of working with trauma, which can retraumatizing to certain clients.

IFS Therapy is a Gentle Evidenced-Based Trauma Therapy

IFS Parts Work Therapy, which is a gentle, effective, evidence-based* therapy, doesn't use exposure like many types of exposure therapies.

    *In 2015, SAMHSA (US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) designated IFS as an evidence-based therapy.

Key Framework of Gentleness in IFS Parts Work Therapy

IFS, which stands for Internal Family Systems Therapy, is a parts work therapy that prioritizes pacing that works for the client, internal consent and a non-pathologizing framework:

• No Forced Reliving of the Trauma: IFS focuses on how trauma lives in the body and mind in the here-and-now.  This means that clients can use current emotions, thoughts and body sensations or images.  

• Permission Based Pacing: IFS is designed in such a way that therapists don't bypass defense mechanisms. Healing only progresses as "protector parts" (i.e., defense mechanisms) give permission and soften naturally.

IFS Therapy is a Gentle Evidence-Based Trauma Therapy

• Welcoming All Emotions: Anger, anxiety, shame and all emotions are met with curiosity and not judgment (see my article: Welcoming All Emotions).

• Reframing Symptoms as Protectors: IFS is non-pathologizing, as mentioned above, so that symptoms aren't viewed as "destructive" or "bad". In IFS therapy there are no bad parts. Symptoms are viewed as protectors who are doing their best to protect the client. This reframing helps to reduce shame.

• Preventing Emotional Flooding: IFS relies on a gentle process called "unblending" When a client experiences emotional pain, fear or shame, the therapist asks the part to step back so that the client can witness the pain without feeling overwhelmed by it.

• Building Self Trust: Healing happens through your own inner wisdom rather than through an external source.

• Self-Lead Healing: The source of healing doesn't come from the authority of the therapist. Instead, it comes from the client's own Core Self which is an undamaged core that is characterized by calmness, compassion, curiosity and clarity. So, you set the pace.

• Gentle Unburdening: Parts of the client which hold the trauma are allowed to safely release their historical pain, shame and fear in an environment of internal containment and at their own pace.

Get Help in IFS Parts Work Therapy

If you have been struggling on your own with unresolved trauma, you could benefit from working with a licensed mental health professional who is a IFS therapist.

Get Help in IFS Parts Work Therapy

Unburdening yourself of trauma can help you to lead a meaningful life free of your traumatic history.

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Parts Work (IFS and Ego States Therapy), Somatic Experiencing and Certified Sex Therapist.

I have helped many individual adults and couples in over more than 25 years.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Also See My Other Articles About IFS:

Giving Voice to Unconscious Parts of Yourself 

How Can IFS Parts Work Therapy Be Empowering? 

How Can IFS Parts Work Therapy Help With Anxiety?