My journey with Internal Family Systems began with my own therapy.

I first heard about IFS when the founder, Richard Schwartz, was interviewed on a podcast I followed. It took me a few years before I actually decided to initiate the therapy but I became more and more curious as I started to hear more about it. Well, thank goodness I finally followed up on my instinct because it was and continues to be completely life-changing for me.

I soon began using it informally in my health coaching practice, because once you understand the world and people from an IFS perspective, it is very difficult to go back to viewing things the way you used to!

I then became inspired to undertake some study myself and so I undertook the IFS Online Circle, which means that my coaching is now IFS-informed. I also decided to undertake a Master of Counselling so that I could eventually do the full IFS level 1 training, which is something I am looking forward to in the future.

I have found that using IFS in my coaching practice has been extremely helpful for my clients to really understand what is driving their behaviours, and to be able to move through the world more lightly and joyfully.

So, what is IFS, and what makes it so effective?

In the IFS model, we are helped to recognize and meet the distinct subpersonalities (parts) that make up our little internal family. Everyone has parts, and they can impact our mental health, our ability to function in the world, our capacity for emotional intelligence, and the quality of our relationships with others. Many of our parts are young, and hold ideas about who we need to be and who we are afraid we might be, and sometimes, we think, feel, and behave unconsciously under their influence.

Also at the heart of Internal Family Systems is the belief that there is a core ‘Self’ within each of us, which has been untouched by any trauma we may have experienced. Self energy is characterised by a relationship we have with ourselves, others and the world that has curiosity, calm, compassion, connectedness, creativity, courage, clarity and confidence.

The aim of IFS is to connect and amplify our experience of Self, and then to help build a relationship between this self quality and all of our parts. In this way, we get to know, understand and appreciate their positive intentions for us. The Self can then connect with each part and heal it. This allows the parts to let go of their extreme or destructive roles and enter into a more harmonious collaboration led by the Self.

As I began incorporating IFS into my coaching practice, I began to drop some of the traditional coaching methods I had learned because IFS was so much more effective at helping people resolve some of the issues that had plagued them for so long.

However, as a health coach, it is still my aim for you to reach your health goals in the best way possible, so I use a hybrid approach, and tailor each session to the client's needs and desires each week.