What Is IFS?
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
The Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy model was first developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, with the key principle being that you and I have “parts” within ourselves – sub-personalities like little people who have different goals and motivations. Just as the award-winning Inside Out movies so rightly portray, these “parts” we have on the inside have different levels of maturity, excitability, wisdom and pain; and on some occasions, one or more of these pesky little parts will tend to take over, “driving the bus”, so to speak, causing potential damage to both ourselves and others.
Watch this 8-minute video (above) of Dr. Richard Schwartz talking about the basics of IFS Therapy.
The beauty of IFS work, is that we can learn to step back from those “out of control” circumstances when one part “takes over” and learn to work with our parts for the greater good of our lives. In truth, IFS therapy has helped countless individuals move away from self-condemnation, self-hatred, and despair, and work toward a healthy integration of our “parts” where the “whole family” can pull together for the common good of our lives. While, today, most major schools of psychology recognize that people have different sub-personalities, it’s only recently that Christ-centered, spiritual directors have realized the great value in bringing IFS awareness and tools into our work with others.
So, is TCA-SSD training spiritual directors to become IFS therapists?
Absolutely not. That job goes to the IFS Institute. Our goal here with TCA-SSD is to encourage, equip and support a network of Christ-centered, Compassion-based spiritual directors who 1) use IFS as a tool of self-awareness for ourselves, and 2) bring the insights and tools of IFS into our work as spiritual directors.
Just as some directors are trained to use the Enneagram or the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius as tools in their practice, so we believe there is great potential for those of us who bring the tools of IFS into our work as well.
It’s our belief – here at TCA – that while Christ-centered spiritual directors should never pretend to be therapists, it is important for us to pay closer attention to how God desires to interact, not only with our thoughts, but also with our emotions and our bodies as well. In truth, it’s these often ignored parts of us that are so often excluded when we pursue a greater inner freedom in Christ.
Interestingly, cutting-edge brain science (see diagram on left) shows us that there is healing potential in all three parts of our brain, but sadly, most therapies (and, might we add – in most Christian counseling and spiritual direction training) we tend to only interact with the Top Zone of our brain. But notice how therapies that utilize IFS, Somatics and Breath Work reach the deeper parts of the brain and, as a result, allow a deeper healing into our broken lives. This is one of the many reasons, here at TCA, we bring tools such as IFS, etc. into our Christ-centered approach to spiritual direction training.
Take a look (above) at ‘Radical Compassion’ by Dr. Frank Rogers, Jr.. Here at TCA-SSD, we encourage & equip Christ-centered spiritual directors in Jesus of Nazareth’s Way of Compassion, using Dr. Frank Rogers, Jr.’s resources for the core of our teaching curriculum. Read more here.
We have two options for you to explore…
Our TCA-School of Spiritual Direction (TCA-SSD) cohort: A Two-Year Training Intensive in Christ-Centered, Compassion-Based Spiritual Direction with an IFS Twist. Read more here.
Our TCA-School of Spiritual Direction (TCA-SSD) cohort: A One-Year IFS Training Intensive for Christ-Centered, Compassion-Based Spiritual Directors. Read more here.
