So many trauma victims have vulnerable Parts that feel impossible to reach because the protective Parts are doing their jobs and protecting them. Working through trauma and experiencing healing is possible, but it takes time and patience from an IFS therapist who can guide you through the process. The IFS model has been shown to [...]

As babies, we have attachment experiences from the moment we are born. While this is not the case for everyone, most of us immediately experience being laid across our mothers’ chests right after birth. That heart-to-heart first meeting paves the way for other attachment experiences: • Being held • Being fed • Eye contact • [...]

Thanks to the social stigmas and complex nature of sexual addiction, it’s something that sufferers and their loved ones often struggle to understand. There are a lot of unhelpful misconceptions about the condition which often stops people from coming forward and seeking help. Below we explain exactly what sexual addiction is, what causes sex addiction and [...]

Many trauma victims can only imagine what it must be like to operate from the Self. They often spend years experiencing their Parts (without realizing it, of course), and the Self remains mostly silent. Working with the right Internal Family Systems therapist for trauma therapy can make a big difference and allow you to change [...]

It may seem hard to believe, but the different types of Parts – managers, exiles, and firefighters – can be transformed into something completely different and inherently beautiful for all trauma victims. Though each one has its own extreme role to play, none of them have to remain in those roles. They can be transformed, [...]

The manager parts work hard to protect trauma victims from harm. This protection is often manifested as control over everything they do. It affects their relationships with others, their professional lives, and even their interactions with complete strangers. But sometimes managers are not as efficient as they want to be, and no matter how hard [...]

Coping mechanisms are compulsions or habits formed over time which serve to help a person manage particular feelings or situations. While some are perfectly healthy, such as a shy person establishing a set routine before speaking in public to alleviate their nerves, others are dangerous and destructive. Sometimes, coping mechanisms are used to deal with [...]

A trauma victim’s symptoms represent memories that their “parts” use to express survival responses. The victim continues to feel like they are not safe; as if something is happening to threaten their wellbeing immediately. This causes them to react in defense. This is a misinterpretation of the traumatic response and it only causes the fragmented [...]

If you’re currently in recovery for sex addiction, congratulations! Getting help is the first, and often the hardest step. Whether it has been days, weeks, months or even years, preventing relapse is a continual journey. One of the most effective ways to do this is to have a sexual addiction recovery plan. From enlisting the [...]

We’ve been discussing the internal family systems model of treating trauma. We’ve discussed the “self” and the various internal parts of ourselves and how they relate to each other. There is a fragmentation that occurs within trauma victims, and that fragmentation drives the way they relate to other people, the world and themselves. Therapy involves [...]