Understanding Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy | How Brainspotting Enhances Healing
Internal Family Systems therapy is a unique psychotherapeutic approach developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz that views the mind as a collection of subpersonalities or “parts,” each with its own emotions, roles, and motivations. These parts function as a team, but when they are wounded or imbalanced, they can cause inner conflict and distress.
At the core of IFS therapy is the Self, a state of being that embodies calmness, curiosity, compassion, and confidence. The Self serves as the leader, guiding the internal system toward harmony and healing. IFS therapy helps individuals access their Self, identify their parts, and foster healing relationships with them.
Key Elements of IFS Therapy:
Exiles
These parts carry deep emotional pain, often rooted in trauma or adverse life experiences. They feel vulnerable and are often pushed away to avoid discomfort.
Managers
These parts strive to maintain control and prevent exiles from surfacing by organizing behavior around perfectionism, control, or avoidance.
Firefighters
These parts react impulsively when exiles are triggered, often through behaviors like overeating, substance use, or self-sabotage to numb or distract.
Through IFS, these parts are not seen as problems but as protectors trying their best to help. The goal is to create understanding and integration, with the Self leading the process.
How Does IFS Therapy Work?
IFS therapy is a structured yet flexible process designed to meet the client where they are. Here’s how a typical session might unfold:
Identifying Parts: The therapist helps the client explore their internal world to identify parts that are active. This might involve noticing emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations.
Building a Relationship: The client is guided to approach each part with curiosity and compassion, learning about its role, concerns, and history.
Accessing the Self: The therapist helps the client connect with their Self, the compassionate core that can provide leadership to the parts.
Healing Exiles: Once trust is established, the Self works with the parts to unburden exiles and release the pain they carry, fostering integration and harmony.
The Benefits of IFS Therapy
Trauma Healing
IFS helps people safely explore and heal from traumatic experiences by addressing the exiled parts that carry emotional wounds.
Conflict Resolution
IFS encourages harmony within yourself, reducing inner turmoil and promoting emotional balance.
Self-Awareness
By identifying and understanding your internal parts, you develop deeper insight into your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Somatic Integration
IFS can work synergistically with therapies like brainspotting, which targets stored trauma in the body. Together, they provide a powerful approach to emotional and physical healing.
Brainspotting: A Somatic Complement to IFS Therapy
Trauma impacts both the mind and body, and true healing often requires addressing both. While Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy focuses on the mind’s internal system, brainspotting provides a complementary somatic approach, targeting trauma stored in the body.
Developed by Dr. David Grand, brainspotting is a neurobiological therapy that uses eye positioning to access and release unprocessed trauma.
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting operates on the principle that where you look affects how you feel. By identifying specific eye positions, or “brainspots,” connected to stored emotional or physical tension, this technique activates the body’s natural ability to process and release trauma.
Focused attention on these brainspots enables a deeper level of healing, bypassing the brain’s defenses and allowing unprocessed memories to surface and resolve.
Why IFS and Brainspotting Work So Well Together
The integration of IFS and brainspotting offers a holistic approach, addressing the psychological, emotional, and physiological layers of trauma. Together, these therapies enhance each other in profound ways:
Identifying the Source
IFS: Identifies parts carrying trauma, like exiles holding painful memories or firefighters engaging in protective distractions.
Brainspotting: Pinpoints the physical location of trauma stored in the body.
Calming Protective Parts
IFS: Builds trust with managers and firefighters, easing their defensive roles.
Brainspotting: Works in this safe environment, allowing deeper emotional processing.
Releasing Stored Trauma
Brainspotting: Facilitates the physical release of trauma stored in muscles, tissues, or neural pathways.
IFS: Helps integrate the emotional impact into the larger internal system.
Integrating Healing
IFS: Aligns parts with the Self, creating lasting emotional balance.
Brainspotting: Complements this integration by releasing the body’s trauma residue.
How Brainspotting Works in Practice
Brainspotting sessions are simple yet deeply effective. Here’s what a session might look like, especially when integrated with IFS therapy:
Identifying a Focus
The therapist collaborates with the client to identify an issue or part they want to work on, such as a memory carried by an exiled part.
Finding the Brainspot
Using a pointer or the client’s gaze, the therapist helps locate a brainspot, an eye position that correlates with the emotional or physical tension connected to the issue.
Maintaining Focus
The client holds their gaze on the brainspot while paying attention to thoughts, sensations, or feelings that arise.
Processing and Release
The body naturally processes the stored trauma or emotion, often leading to a sense of relief and calm.
Benefits of Integrating IFS and Brainspotting
When used together, IFS and brainspotting amplify each other’s strengths, offering comprehensive benefits:
Deep Trauma Healing: By addressing both the mind and body, these therapies resolve trauma at its root.
Improved Self-Awareness: IFS fosters insight into emotional patterns, while brainspotting releases physical manifestations of those patterns.
Faster Emotional Regulation: The somatic focus of brainspotting helps calm the nervous system, complementing the internal balance achieved through IFS.
Versatility Across Ages: These therapies are effective for kids, teens, and adults, offering tailored approaches to each age group’s needs.
IFS and Brainspotting in action
For Kids
A child experiencing frequent outbursts might work with IFS to identify a scared exile and then use brainspotting to release the physical tension linked to those feelings.
For Teens
A teen struggling with anxiety might uncover a controlling manager part through IFS and then use brainspotting to release the tightness they feel in their chest.
For Adults
An adult processing trauma might use IFS to explore painful memories and brainspotting to alleviate chronic tension in their shoulders.
Scientific Evidence for IFS Therapy and Brainspotting
Research underscores the effectiveness of both IFS and brainspotting. A study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms using IFS therapy.
Similarly, brainspotting has been supported by neurobiological research demonstrating its ability to access deep, unprocessed trauma.
Experts like Dr. Bessel van der Kolk emphasize the importance of somatic therapies in trauma recovery. By integrating IFS and brainspotting, therapists can offer a holistic approach that aligns with the latest findings in trauma therapy.
Healing Power of IFS and Brainspotting Therapy
Internal Family Systems and brainspotting therapy are powerful tools for emotional healing and personal growth. Whether you’re seeking support for trauma, anxiety, or self-discovery, these approaches can help you unlock new levels of understanding and resilience.
If you’re interested in exploring IFS therapy or brainspotting, Space Between Counseling Services offers compassionate therapists trained in these methods. Therapists Rae and Rylee specialize in these approaches and are dedicated to guiding you through your healing journey. Whether you’re processing past pain or striving for personal growth, Rae and Rylee are here to help you discover the harmony within yourself.
We’re here to support you every step of the way.
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At Space Between Counseling Services (SBCS), we're a team of diverse therapists passionate about enriching your mental health through insightful articles. Licensed across MD, VA, NM, DE, DC (District of Columbia), and FL, we blend expertise in anxiety, depression, trauma, and more, striving for inclusivity in every piece we write.
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