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 be highly effective at healing trauma, and it may help you to understand how the process will work once you begin treatment.
Negotiating Communication with the Parts
As you begin IFS therapy, you may find that the Parts are hesitant to communicate with your Self. Some highly-protective Parts may not trust your Self, and they may prefer to be quiet. Your therapist will help guide your negotiations with those Parts, and eventually, your Self will earn their trust.
In his book, Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model, Dr. Richard C. Schwartz uses an Anger Part as an example. He says, “…suppose that after some negotiating, the parts that guard your system have given permission to let you begin getting to know your anger. What will you want to know from it? If it’s true that it’s a good part stuck in a bad role (the “angry one”), it follows that you’d want to know what’s keeping it in that role.”
Asking genuine, curious questions will provide the answers you need. Quite often, Anger is present because your system feels it is needed to protect other, more vulnerable Parts.
Seeking Permission to Talk to Vulnerable Parts
Protective Parts like Anger need to trust your Self before they agree to allow access to the vulnerable Parts. In a way, IFS therapy is very similar to peeling away cloves of garlic. Each clove consists of protectors and vulnerable Parts.
Until the vulnerable Parts are healed, the protective Parts will continue to stand guard in front of them. They are not ready to be healed yet, and that is something all trauma victims seeking this type of therapy need to accept, though it may be difficult at first.
The IFS Therapy Cycle
There are many protective Parts that all need to be approached the same way. Each one is tasked with standing guard in front of a vulnerable Part. However, once they are no longer as vulnerable, the protectors relax and submit to their own healing.
As that healing takes place, more and more of the Self emerges and the Parts experience shifts. Some of the changes trauma victims experience in themselves are abrupt and radical, while others are more gradual.
A trauma victim undergoing IFS therapy may go through this cycle dozens of times and experience big and small victories along the way. The process is very subjective and completely based upon the Parts’ willingness to comply with the therapeutic approach. Therefore, it is impossible to indicate how long a trauma victim will need therapy, but as progress is made, they will continually see improvements.
Schedule Your IFS Therapy Appointment Today
The Internal Family Systems Model is so different from more traditional approaches to trauma therapy. However, there is no denying how effective it is.
If you would like to discuss IFS therapy and how it might work for you, please contact me to make an appointment.
The Internal Family Systems Model is so different from more traditional approaches to trauma therapy. However, there is no denying how effective it is.
If you would like to discuss IFS therapy and how it might work for you, please contact me to make an appointment.
