IFS – Internal Family System
Are you judging a part of you and wish it would simply disappear or ‘shut up'?
Neuroscience confirms that we have multiple mindsets (sometimes called sub-personalities, internal characters, archetypes, ego-states or simply: ‘parts’). The disparate characters and perspectives of all our parts explains that we are at times inconsistent, having mixed feelings, or hosting inner conflict.
Parts are not just an emotional state or a habitual thought pattern. Parts are discrete, autonomous mental systems, each with their own style of expression, abilities, and views of the world. A part gets activated or triggered depending on circumstances. The activated part then determines our feelings and behaviour at that point of time.
Any personal experience of being rejected, neglected, abandoned, shocked, scared, or abused (physically, sexually, or emotionally), can burden our more sensitive parts with fear, shame, and emotional pain. When one part is forced to adopt an extreme role, others attempt to balance it out by becoming more extreme in the other direction. That explains inner conflict and inconsistent behaviour.
And then there is the authentic self, the seat of consciousness at our core, our ground of being, our essence. The Self is not a part but the person who you really are.
During an IFS session we do not try to get rid of any part. We interact with it directly, asking questions about the desires, fears, and agenda. The aim is to “unburden” any wounded part and reorganize inner relationships in general so that parts trust and help one another. The goal is to feel whole again under the leadership of your authentic self.
“You are not an anxious person. A part of you is anxious.”
“You are not a frustrated person who is stuck. A part of you feels frustrated because another part feels stuck.”
Link to my profile page on the IFS Institute website: https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners/all/79862#
Call me (+31 6 2548 8334), send an email (matthias@embodhi.one) or book an appointment on this site.