Internal Family Systems in 265 words

IFS 101

In 2015, Disney released the animated movie, Inside Out. The movie’s premise is the notion your emotions (joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger) have immediate influence and can even control how you interact with the world.

The problem isn’t expressing these emotions; rather, any one of these over-expressing to the point they hinder the ability of Self to think, communicate, or function. When this happens, our emotional parts are leading and Self has abdicated its throne, where we have a clear head and ability to choose anew.

Easier said than done, right? Why does this challenge us daily?

We used to say, “What makes this difficult is our beliefs, our repeated life experience which crystallizes into mental habits (beliefs) abut what is true for us and not true for us.”

However since IFS it’s much easier to not intellectualize and go abstract. It’s much easier to say, “What makes it challenging to stay seated on the Throne of Self and talk to our reactive insiders is — simply lack of practice being curious and talking with them.”

We might also clarify affirmations are more like “talking at” our insiders and/or “talking to” them, the way we talk to a child and expect them to obey. This is not yet two-way conversation. Thanks to William Glasser…