IFS (Internal Family Systems) offers a powerful way to work with the psyche by identifying its different parts. There are two main categories of parts
Protectors
Exiles
In this article, I am going to focus on protectors.
Protects are, in IFS, parts that a person has developed through life to, as their name says, protect against difficult situations. It is possible to differentiate among protectors based on what they do. IFS uses the terms “Managers” and “Firefighters” to describe the two main types of protectors. Having said that, these names are only useful to understand how protectors work and should not be used in a rigid way.
If you have done some IFS work, you might have realised that the distinction between managers and firefighter is not always clear, and what counts is that we get to know, accept, understand and love our protectors, no matters what we call them.
We all have many protector parts, which help us go through our days without worrying about survival. For example we have protectors that look after the ways we interact with people in public, how we cross the road, and make sure we are not exposed to risks, etc.
What I am going to give you here is an introduction to protectors that does not focus only on the situations in which these protectors are burdened or too rigid and dysfunctional. Let’s not forget that the aim of IFS is, as a matter of fact, harmonising all parts through inner dialogue without forcing any change and without making any part disappear.
It is key to keep in mind that parts always exist for a good reason and have a good purpose. Even the most extreme part that causes pain and suffering has been created with a “good” intention, and IFS wants to honour and respect this.
Healing is the process of remembering the goodness of all our parts, connecting peacefully and deeply with these parts, and finding a new balance in which all parts are respected.
One of the most touching experiences of IFS Psychotherapy is the process of getting to know our protectors. We usually do not know why a protector is there and what it is doing for us, and it is wonderful when we connect with them.
Managers in IFS
Managers are amazing parts of look after our daily functioning. They are concerned with making sure we are ready for what comes next. For this reason their functions are “proactive” in the sense that they prepare for difficulties and ensure our life runs smoothly.
Developing a healthy relationship with protectors is one of the ultimate goals of IFS Therapy. Healthy managers help with many aspects of daily life like
Food intake
Sleep patterns
(Video) Protector Parts in IFS Therapy | Internal Family SystemsCarrying out duties (studying, deadlines, chores, etc.)
Following societal norms
Taking actions in line with our highest values
Managers are the parts of us that allow us to interact with the world so that we can shape our life in the way that is most in line with our purposes.
From an existential point of view, healthy managers make sure our life is meaningful, joyful, satisfactory and healthy (mentally and physically).
Having worked with many protectors, I have discovered that they hold a lot of wisdom about the person. They know exactly if they are overworked, burdened or if they are protecting some exiles in the system.
I have written more about managers in a separate article (read more here). Clients usually come to therapy because some of their manager parts have become dysfunctional and hold a distorted view of reality. For example, people find themselves dreading constantly certain situations like public speaking, interviews, job applications, etc. and they do all they can to avoid these situations at the detriment of their life.
Other examples of unhealthy managers are situations of wanting to over-control what one does and thinks. Extremely burdened managers might lead to constant policing of certain thoughts and/or feelings. Should this be the case, it is best to contact a trained IFS Therapist to understand how the managers’ behaviour can become more harmonious and less extreme.
Firefighters in IFS
These protectors are more “fiery” than managers. While managers act in preparation of problems and try to avoid difficult situations as much as possible, firefighters come into action once we are in a situation of perceived danger.
Managers do all they can to avoid danger and are active when the danger is not present. Firefighters awaken when we are in danger and the strategies put in place by the managers have not managed to avoid danger.
We are, of course, talking about “perceived” danger. The situations that we live in our everyday lives are not “really” dangerous in the sense of posing an immediate threat to our life, but our firefighters can kick in as soon as there is something that we are bored by, or when we dislike, disagree with, feel threatened or scared by something.
Firefighters are extremely developed parts of ourselves. They function flawlessly and they come to our aid without having to call for them.
For example, during these long months of lockdown, some firefighters take the role of “soothers”. Have you every found yourself switching on a TV or your computer just to immerse yourself in a movie, a series or anything that makes time pass?
Other types of firefighter come up when we are looking for a distraction, of when we feel strong sense of aggression towards someone or something.
Firefighters are “reactive” in nature and offer a quick fix to problems. They make us drop into our body, while managers are more in our head. Firefighters are usually pleasant, but, when dysfunctional, they lead to behaviours that are out of control. For example addictions like drinking, drugs, smoking, sex, porn, food, sweets, etc.
Do you ever have the experience of not knowing what got into you? Remember the last time you behaved in a way that does not feel like your usual self, and you will probably realise that you had a firefighter part that was triggered and had taken over you. You can read more about firefighters here.
Learning to love Ourselves and All our protectors
I am going to conclude this article with a few words on how important it is to get to know, appreciate, respect and love our protectors.
This is not easily done because we are used to judging ourselves harshly for having certain behaviours or for being in certain ways. Too often we are our worst judge and our worst persecutor. IFS Therapy offers a safe and proven method to change our inner world. We have come to the point in which we have forgotten how to be compassionate and understanding of ourselves.
There is a collective belief that we need to judge ourselves harshly, otherwise our behaviour will go out of control and we will be bad people. We are all happy and willing to be compassionate towards others; we like people when they show their vulnerabilities, yet we attack ourselves when we get in touch with our own vulnerabilities.
IFS Therapy offers a way to change the distorted views about ourselves and society that we have learnt without questioning them and, by changing our inner world, we can change the external world too.
One final note…
I hope this article has given you some insight into the IFS method. I personally write these articles and they are freely available on my website. I kindly ask that you reference them by quoting this webpage if you use them for personal, professional or educational purposes.
If there are topics you would like to know more about, please let me know.
FAQs
What are the parts in IFS therapy? ›
According to Internal Family Systems Therapy (Schwartz), there are three primary categories of our “parts”. Exiles, Managers and Firefighters.
What are IFS firefighters? ›IFS Therapy Firefighters | Internal Family Systems - YouTube
What is IFS manager? ›Managers are parts with preemptive protective roles. They handle the way a person interacts with the external world to protect them from being hurt by others and try to prevent painful or traumatic feelings and experiences from flooding a person's awareness.
What is IFS therapy for trauma? ›IFS therapy focuses on enhancing ability to attend to difficult and distressing internal experiences (i.e. “vulnerable parts”) mindfully and with self-compassion (i.e. from the Self), in order to increase capacity to successfully “be with” or tolerate and process traumatic material.
What does IFS therapy look like? ›IFS therapy does not make any effort to change a client's thoughts or teach skills to do so. Instead, IFS focuses on understanding where the thought is coming from in order to access the wounded parts that have distressing thoughts. In healing those parts, those thoughts naturally change.
How long does IFS therapy take to work? ›Some people can click with IFS right away and will experience noticeable, measurable changes in how they relate to the issue of their concern during our first session. On average, it may take 3-4 sessions, sometimes longer, to start to understand the flow of the work.
How do you use IFS in therapy? ›A key aspect of IFS Therapy is to “find, focus on and flesh out” the client's protective parts and help them “unblend and notice the client's Self” (Anderson et al., 2017, p. 93). Next, the client can recognize their feelings toward and befriend the target part, explore its fears, and invite it to do something new.
How do you explain IFS? ›Dr. Richard Schwartz explains Internal Family Systems (IFS) - YouTube
Can you do IFS therapy on yourself? ›IFS is based on the Self, so it can be used without a therapist.
Is IFS therapy effective? ›It has been shown to be effective for the improvement of general emotional and mental well-being and has been rated as promising to improve symptoms of phobia, panic, generalized anxiety, depression, and certain physical ailments. Issues treated with IFS therapy include: Trauma. Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.
What are the 5 P's of IFS? ›
The 5 “P's”included: (a) patience, (b) perspective, (c) persistence, (d) perseverance, and (e) playfulness.
What does somatic experiencing look like? ›Somatic Experiencing sessions involve the introduction of small amounts of traumatic material and the observation of a client's physical responses to that material, such as shallow breathing or a shift in posture.
Who needs cognitive behavioral therapy? ›- Depression.
- Anxiety disorders.
- Phobias.
- PTSD.
- Sleep disorders.
- Eating disorders.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Substance use disorders.
Exiles carry the original pain of feelings and beliefs whereas Protectors acquire maladaptive strategies to that pain. The final step in the process of unburdening in IFS therapy is a symbolic internal ritual of letting go off pain and negative beliefs. Always ask the Exile if it is ready to let go.
Does IFS work for everyone? ›IFS therapy works for everyone, regardless of what you're going through. While it can be most beneficial for trauma therapy clients, anyone can benefit from the IFS model. As our founder, Kimberly Keiser, says, “IFS helps you be a better human.”
How do you access self energy IFS? ›In IFS, we want to welcome all our parts, but we don't want to be overwhelmed by them. A good way to handle this is to slow down, take a deep breath, and feel your belly and legs. This will help to ground you. Then take your time and pay attention to one emotion (and therefore one part) at a time.
What is somatic based therapy? ›Updated on 3/24/2022. Somatic counseling, also known as somatic experiencing therapy, is a type of therapy that helps treat post-traumatic stress and effects from other mental health conditions. This type of therapy connects a person's mind and body to apply psychotherapy and physical therapies during treatment.
What are the 6 F's in IFS? ›We do this by walking our client's through the 6Fs: Find, Focus, Flesh it out, Feel, beFriend and Fear. The process is simple, and you can use the following steps as a guide to help you unblend parts with your clients...
Can I practice IFS without certification? ›Anyone who has not completed the IFS Level 1 training, at a minimum, cannot , effectively, and in good faith practice IFS psychotherapy. Internal Family Systems is a unique and powerful way in which to learn about, trust, and love our parts and ourselves, as well as the parts and Self of others.
Who created internal family systems therapy? ›The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz in the 1980s.
What is IFS retrieval? ›
IFS Retrieval & Unburdening 1 - YouTube
What are examples of exiles in IFS? ›In the IFS map, the protected parts are called exiles because they are the vulnerable ones that we try to lock up in inner prisons or leave frozen in the past. Two kinds of parts protect exiles and also protect the system from them: managers and firefighters.
What is Gestalt therapy? ›Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that is centered on increasing a person's awareness, freedom, and self-direction. It's a form of therapy that focuses on the present moment rather than past experiences. Gestalt therapy is based on the idea that people are influenced by their present environment.
How many parts are in IFS? ›In IFS therapy, the focus is on two primary types of parts: protective parts and vulnerable parts. Vulnerable parts hold painful emotional states and/or negative beliefs about themselves from past wounding experiences.
What is IFS parts mapping? ›Internal Family Systems Parts Map - YouTube
What are preventive parts in IFS? ›Fire-fighters have the same goal as managers, but assume different roles and use different strategies. Managers are the type of part in IFS which is called "proactive protectors" (they prevent emotions from getting stirred up), whereas fire-fighters are "reactive protectors" (they activate when the damage is done).
What type of therapy is narrative therapy? ›Narrative therapy (or Narrative Practice) is a form of psychotherapy that seeks to help patients identify their values and the skills associated with them. It provides the patient with knowledge of their ability to live these values so they can effectively confront current and future problems.
How does family systems therapy work? ›Family systems therapy focuses on assessing the family unit from a cultural, communal, familial, and social standpoint. Its goal is to increase family functioning through adaptive development and positive change. This kind of approach is complex because it involves many interrelated concepts and applications.
What is schema therapy used for? ›The goals of Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy is designed to address unmet needs and to help clients break these patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, which are often tenacious, and to develop healthier alternatives to replace them.
The 5 “P's”included: (a) patience, (b) perspective, (c) persistence, (d) perseverance, and (e) playfulness.
How do I identify parts in IFS? ›
- Find the part – listen for a thought, feeling, gesture, energy, word and see if you can locate it in your body.
- Focus – Focus on that specific element, the place in your body, and see what emerges.
- Flesh it out – Notice how you feel the Part in your body.
IFS is an interdependent, interrelated and often interlocking production systems based on few crops, animals and related subsidiary enterprises in such a way that maximize the utilization of nutrients, achieve profitable and sustained agricultural production of each component and minimize the negative effect of these ...
Can you do IFS therapy on yourself? ›IFS is based on the Self, so it can be used without a therapist.
What are the 6 F's in IFS? ›We do this by walking our client's through the 6Fs: Find, Focus, Flesh it out, Feel, beFriend and Fear. The process is simple, and you can use the following steps as a guide to help you unblend parts with your clients...
How do I practice IFS? ›- Keeping a journal.
- Using diagrams to illustrate relationships between parts.
- The room technique. ...
- Mountain or path exercise. ...
- Getting to know whoever's there. ...
- Feeling one's heart.
IFS therapy works for everyone, regardless of what you're going through. While it can be most beneficial for trauma therapy clients, anyone can benefit from the IFS model. As our founder, Kimberly Keiser, says, “IFS helps you be a better human.”
What is a protector in IFS? ›Protector Parts in IFS therapy are the ones who save us from feeling hurt either by proactively avoiding any situations that might awaken old pain (Managers), or if a Part holding the pain gets triggered, by immediately jumping to the rescue no matter the cost (Firefighters). Life Architect - IFS Therapy & More.
Do IFS parts have names? ›I t can be useful to have names for your parts when doing IFS. Since your goal is to develop a relationship with each part, giving it a name enables you to keep track of it over time. The name can be a descriptive phrase, such as the Controlling Part or the Sooty Demon. It could be a person's name, such as Walter.
Who created internal family systems therapy? ›The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz in the 1980s.
What is IFS retrieval? ›IFS Retrieval & Unburdening 1 - YouTube
Is IFS therapy evidence based? ›
IFS, an Evidence-Based Practice.
What are the advantages of IFS? ›- Risk-based, non-prescriptive standards.
- Action plans to improve performance.
- A uniform system of quality assurance.
- Fewer recalls.
- Optimised processes.
- Greater competitiveness.
- Improved relations with customers and authorities, improved business opportunities.
- International recognition.
In IFS, we want to welcome all our parts, but we don't want to be overwhelmed by them. A good way to handle this is to slow down, take a deep breath, and feel your belly and legs. This will help to ground you. Then take your time and pay attention to one emotion (and therefore one part) at a time.