INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS) THERAPY • WASHINGTON
There is room for all of you.
You may want closeness and find yourself pulling away.
You may desperately need rest while another voice insists you haven’t done enough.
Even changes you want can feel threatening.
IFS starts with the idea that even frustrating reactions may have developed for a reason.
WE ARE ALL MADE OF PARTS
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy?
IFS is a therapeutic approach based on the understanding that we all have different facets of ourselves.
Some parts watch for danger. Others work hard, keep everyone happy, shut down feelings, or try to stay in control. Other parts may carry feelings or experiences that have been difficult to hold alone.
A reaction that causes problems now may once have helped you get through something difficult.
In IFS therapy, we slow down enough to listen. As you learn to notice a protective part without being completely taken over by it, you may feel calmer and more curious about what it needs.
INSTEAD OF ASKING
“What’s wrong with me?”
WE BEGIN ASKING
“What is this part trying to do for me?”
YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE PARTS THAT…
…agree to things you don’t want to do because disappointing someone feels dangerous.
…rewrite a text five times because getting the tone wrong feels risky.
…push you to do more, more, more.
…want to disappear when things get difficult.
…point out everything you did wrong before anyone else gets the chance.
…long deeply for connection but fear being hurt or left.
Every one of these parts has a story.
Instead of fighting these reactions, we get curious about what they are protecting and whether they still need to work this hard.
YOUR PARTS HAVE BODIES, TOO
IFS + Somatic Therapy
Parts can show up as thoughts, but also as a tight chest, a sudden urge to scream, numbness, losing your focus, or a familiar relationship pattern.
By integrating IFS with somatic therapy, we can listen to both the stories your parts carry and the ways those stories live in your body. You may begin to notice a reaction earlier, understand what set it off, and have more room to decide what to do next.
Some days we talk. Other days we spend more time noticing sensations, images, or what happens in the quiet.
We might get to know a part that is anxious and discover what it fears would happen if it stopped worrying. Or we might meet a part that is deeply self-critical and find that criticism has been its way of trying to protect you.
If something in you wants to stop, pull away, or change the subject, we pay attention to that too.
Over time, this work can create more space between you and the reactions that once seemed to take over automatically. You may find yourself able to pause before apologizing, shutting down, overexplaining, or leaving the conversation.
WHAT DOES AN IFS SESSION FEEL LIKE?
You don’t have to become
someone else to heal.
You can develop a different relationship with the person you already are.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE OFTEN ASK
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IFS is a compassionate therapeutic approach that helps you understand and relate differently to the parts of you that protect, carry pain, or feel stuck.
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No. IFS can support anxiety, relationships, perfectionism, self-criticism, identity, neurodivergence, and many other concerns.
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IFS is a specific form of parts work. It understands inner multiplicity as natural and centers the relationship between your parts and Self.
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Yes. Somatic attention helps us notice how parts communicate through sensations, posture, movement, impulses, and nervous-system responses.
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Yes. Virtual IFS therapy is available to cliients located throughout Washington State.