Internal Family Systems Therapy (The Guilford Family Therapy Series) First Edition

I'm a therapy client whose therapist had been using IFS-based techniques with me for some time, though I hadn't known what the name for it was. While I could appreciate some of what she was doing, I was also pretty resistant to the whole premise that I should be compassionate and curious about "parts" of me that frankly I just wished would go away. In my previous experiences with therapy, I had been taught to distinguish between my rational, adult inner voice, and a vulnerable, emotional child voice, which seemed to make logical sense to me, but with this approach to therapy I was being asked to develop caring relationships with internal parts of myself that were angry or destructive or otherwise unlikeable on the surface, and frankly that seemed completely absurd.Despite my doubts, I stuck with it, and slowly things started to happen for me, and then when my therapist mentioned IFS by name, I found this book and all these pieces started to come together. Although the book is really a textbook for therapists, I found it quite readable as a client, and so many things began to make sense about what was happening to me in therapy, and what role I needed to play in the process for the technique to be really effective. Having a big picture sense of the IFS methodology was incredibly enlightening and helpful, and I've made all sorts of progress that I think would have been much slower had I not read the book.I think that the book would also be readable for someone who wasn't either a therapist or a client in an IFS setting, but there are limited examples and case studies in the book, so some things might be a bit vague and theoretical. Although Jay Norick's book on Parts Psychology is not as rich or intellectual as this book (and is not on IFS per se), it is a nice companion book in the sense that the Noricks book is strictly made up of case studies, and I found that it increased my comfort level with having all these named characters running around my head.

I've read all of Milton Erickson's books (well, except 2!), all of the NLP books, and some other things, and while I can say nothing but good about them in general, I think Dr. Schwartz's work is absolutely vital to understanding what successful therapy is all about.I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, though, and some of the techniques he uses are counterproductive. In particular, part of the IFS theory is that if you unburden a part and then bring it out of the past and into the present, then the part will be able to "grow up". However, in one Jay Early's books one of his clients goes through that process and then still shows the same trouble with the same part. My conclusion was that that part of the theory is wrong and that there must be something else that needs to be done to achieve the desired result. (later I found out what it was, too)Another thing that irks me about IFS is the insistence that the "True Self" is merely another kind of 'part'. His clients consistently describe it as being "different from other parts" or "just me", which should indicate clearly that it is distinct. As a result of this limiting assumption, none of the authors in the IFS crowd have bothered to explore or detail the aspects of the true self beyond a few words, which is far less than what it deserves IMHO.I highly recommend reading AH Almaas's works as an adjunct to IFS. Mr. Almaas's "Diamond Approach" strongly resembles IFS, except the emphasis is primarily on the 'true self' and not on the parts. The two complement each other in theory and technique like two sides of the same coin, and Mr. Almaas's work will answer most any questions you might have after reading this. I have yet to see anyone else who is aware of both, and I think it's a mighty shame that the two are unaware of each other, given how much each has to offer the other.

I am not a psychologist or an LCSW, but even to a lay person this book makes perfect sense. Schwartz gives a compelling view of the reasons behind his clients'-and everybody's- polarized behaviours. He explains the multiplicity of the mind in a very logical manner and proceeds to show the techniques for entering and working with the internal family systems. Most importantly though, he speaks of his clients not as objects in a cold "doctor" like manner. Instead, he writes about his clients with a mix of compassion and professionalism. Client and therapist are of equal standing and competence. I often felt as though I were present in his practice watching him implement his techniques. This is far from a "theory" book reserved for the academics. Rather, it is a book filled with practical explanations which any reader curious about the topic of IFS could relate to.

This is a helpful method for unlocking information and creating more peace and harmony in the mind.

I have learned by others who have used this IFS model or a similar one for years. Reading this book helped me not only better understand the big picture as well as the evolution of the model, it answered questions in the areas where I was having problems in helping people. I am recommending it to those I help because they will be able to understand that other people have similar experiences while going through this kind of therapy.The book was very clearly written and progressed in an orderly fashion. What a feat for a book about the way we interact with ourselves on the inside!