Introduction to Internal Family Systems

Having stumbled across Internal Family Systems in Gabor and Daniel Maté’s The Myth of Normal and Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, I was intrigued by Schwartz’ “methodology” for exploring of what John O’Donohue in Anam Cara refers to as “the landscapes of our inner world” which “never reveals itself cheaply”. A number of aspects of Schwartz’ Introduction to Internal Family Systems struck me as profoundly and refreshingly useful. Firstly, the way in which Schwartz describes the core of the human Self as having beautiful qualities such as curiosity, compassion, calmness, confidence, courage, clarity, creativity, and connectedness, the “original blessing”, which he contrasts with the post-Augustinian doctrine of “original sin”. Secondly, his acknowledgment that “on the rocky road of life, we are all, to varying degrees, rejected, humiliated, abandoned, and traumatized. We all have pools of pain and shame and protective strategies that are reinforced by our culture”, in which we “absorbed a great deal of disdain for weakness and impatience with emotional pain”. The third deeply impactful realisation was Schwartz’s assertion that, “just as our bodies know how to heal physical injuries, it seems that we all possess an innate wisdom for healing ourselves emotionally”, that resonated with Hegel’s beautiful phrase “The wounds of the spirit heal and leave no scars”. It seems that Schwartz’s monumental work provides readers with “directions” for exploring our inner worlds of which John O’Donohue describes the advantages in Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World: “If we can somehow bring the difficult things with us into the realm and the light of our souls, it is unbelievable the healing that will achieve itself in us”. I found the prospect that people “at war with themselves”, “knotted in dysfunctional inner relationships and … their outer relationships paralleled their inner ones” could change by “changing the way they regarded and interacted with their thoughts and emotions” so that “they felt less inner turmoil, liked themselves more, and got along better with the people in their lives” rather astonishing. I experienced the way in which Schwartz manages to integrate Western and Eastern philosophies (refer to Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now) useful in growing my own understanding, also of the role of psychedelics in the healing of trauma (even though Schwartz did not touch on this aspect). Lastly, I was deeply touched by Schwartz’ raw vulnerability and authenticity in honestly and openly describing his own internal and external challenges. While I understand that developing ideas of such deep dimensions may have required much time to refine, I cannot but wonder how different my life would have been had I read this book thirty years ago. I thank you for sharing your insights.

As the first IFS related book I have read, I found it a great introduction to the concept and theory of IFS and already very insightful on how my internal system works. It is very accessible and makes a lot of sense. It is short and easy to read. I look forward to reading other more in depth books from this point on.

Excellent

great

All good

Product arrived a few days late. However the product is in very good condition as new. Easy read and explains the theory very well. I would like to see the book in kindle version one day.

Amazing accessible theory

To anyone familiar with widespread therapies such as Transactional Analysis (which was popularised before the author started his work), it is hard to find any truly new thinking here. Credit is due to the author for acknowledging his own prejudices, clumsy therapy and lack of work on self before he found the approach now branded IFS; this helps frame what is presented as "new". Whether something like the 8 Cs (and many more Cs...) works for you or a less forced and more concise approach found elsewhere may be a personal matter. Similarly, you may go for a more versatile modality or like the comparatively limited / focused IFS model. The stereotypes of 'Western' society feel overdone but may help reach some readers. Hopefully, most readers will find something useful here but, if you already know what good therapy looks like, don't expect a lot.

It appears to be a no nonsense simple - but not easy - effective approach to resolve our issues which are holding us from being and acting our true selves.

Super

This is an excellent, accessible, and powerful overview of the fundamental ideas in IFS. I am a practicing psychiatrist, and have found IFS to be a terrific way of working with people. IFS addresses people as complex, social beings, and appreciates their complexity. But at the same time, it avoids the guild-language jargon of conventional psychobabble. Dynamically trained therapists will find in IFS a congenial way of using their knowledge in a much more accessible form for their patients. Also, IFS is fundamentally optimistic about the capacity for humans to live fulfilled, happy lives. Strongly recommended!

The book is easy to read, and having read No Bad Parts by the same author, I now have a better understanding of how and why he came to develop Internal Family Systems for use in family therapy. Very grateful to Richard C. Schwartz for his work in this field.

Very good overview for IFS