Internal Family Systems is built on a radical and clinically powerful idea: the mind is not a single unified thing. It is a system of parts — each with its own perspective, history, and protective role. IFS helps you build a compassionate relationship with all of them.
What Is Internal Family Systems?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based, non-pathologising psychotherapy developed by Dr Richard Schwartz in the 1980s. It begins with an observation most people recognise as soon as they hear it: "a part of me wants this, but another part of me wants something different." IFS takes that ordinary experience seriously and builds an entire therapeutic framework around it.
In the IFS model, the mind contains parts — sub-personalities, each with its own feelings, beliefs, and roles — and a Core Self, which is the part of you that is calm, curious, compassionate, courageous, clear, confident, creative, and connected. The Core Self is not damaged by trauma; it has been there all along. The work of IFS is to help the parts trust the Self enough to let it lead.
At Newmarket Therapy Centre, IFS is used as a standalone approach and in integration with other modalities — particularly EMDR, somatic therapy, and EFT — depending on what your work calls for.
The Three Types of Parts & the Self
IFS understands the internal system as containing three main types of parts, organised around a Core Self. Each part has a role; none is bad; all of them developed for good reasons.
Exiles
The wounded parts — often young, often carrying pain, fear, shame, or grief from earlier experiences. They were exiled because their feelings became too overwhelming for the system to hold. They are not damaged; they are waiting.
Managers
The proactive protectors — the parts that try to keep life functional and exiles contained. They organise, plan, criticise, perfect, please, and control. Their job is to prevent the exiles' pain from breaking through.
Firefighters
The reactive protectors — the parts that emerge when exile pain breaks through despite manager efforts. They use whatever it takes to dampen the pain quickly: numbing, distraction, addiction, dissociation, rage.
The Self
The core of who you are — calm, curious, compassionate, courageous, clear, confident, creative, connected. The Self is not damaged by trauma. It has been there all along, behind the parts that have been working so hard to protect it.
Burden
Many parts carry burdens — extreme beliefs, emotions, or roles taken on at the time of difficult experience. These burdens are not the parts themselves; they can be unburdened, returning the parts to their natural healthy roles.
Healing as Internal Reconfiguration
IFS healing is not about getting rid of parts. It is about helping the Self lead, the protectors trust, and the exiles unburden — so the whole internal system can reorganise into greater harmony.
There are no bad parts. Every part of you developed for a reason. The healing is not in eliminating any of them — it is in understanding what they have been carrying, and helping them trust that they no longer have to carry it alone.
Newmarket Therapy CentreHow IFS Works at Newmarket Therapy Centre
IFS at Newmarket Therapy Centre is paced carefully, with deep respect for the protective parts that have been keeping the system functional. The work moves only as fast as the protectors allow.
- 01
A free intake call with Susan
Our Client Care Manager Susan will listen to what is bringing you in and match you with an IFS-trained therapist whose style and approach fit your work.
- 02
Mapping your internal system
Together you begin to notice and name the parts active in your life — the protectors who run the show, the parts that show up in difficult moments, the patterns that have been quietly organising things.
- 03
Building relationship with protectors
IFS does not bypass the protectors. They are approached with respect and curiosity, allowed to share what they are protecting and what they are afraid of. They lead the pace of the work.
- 04
Healing the exiles and unburdening
When the protectors are ready, the exiled parts can be approached, witnessed, and unburdened. Once the burdens are released, the parts return to their natural healthy roles — and the whole system reorganises.
The Benefits of IFS
IFS has growing evidence across a range of presentations and is particularly powerful for trauma, complex relational difficulties, and the deeper layers of self-relationship.
- A non-pathologising, deeply compassionate framework
- Healing of long-standing wounds without re-traumatisation
- Genuine change in inner critic and self-attack patterns
- Resolution of internal conflict and ambivalence
- Greater access to your own calm, curious Core Self
- Suitable for trauma work without requiring detailed narration
- Powerful results for complex and developmental trauma
- Skills you can continue using independently
- Beautifully integrative with EMDR, somatic, and EFT approaches
- Available for individuals across a wide range of presentations
What IFS Is Used For
IFS is used for a wide range of presentations and is particularly valuable when the difficulty involves internal conflict, harsh self-criticism, or wounds that have not been reachable through other approaches.
IFS at Newmarket Therapy Centre
Our IFS-trained Registered Psychotherapists and Social Workers at Newmarket Therapy Centre have completed formal IFS training (Level 1 or beyond, with IFS Institute training where applicable). IFS is available for individuals.
Sessions are available in person at Newmarket Therapy Centre or online for clients anywhere in Ontario. If you are specifically seeking IFS, please mention this when you contact us so Susan can match you with an IFS-trained therapist on our team.
Ready to Get Started?
Our intake team is here to answer your questions and match you with the right IFS-trained therapist at Newmarket Therapy Centre. No commitment required.