Internal Family Systems Therapy

[wesleysmith]

Is anyone familiar with Internal Family Systems Therapy? Or "Parts Work" for that matter? I've been instructed to read a lot of material on it but it is VERY hokey for my taste and I cannot for the life of me find any literature to support its use other than a "study" that presents the findings of a questionnaire - which had 7 respondents... Anywho, I figured my final step to figuring out more would be to knock on SDN's door and see who answered. Thanks in advance! Any and all pertinent research, anecdotes, criticisms or even knock knock jokes are more than welcome.

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[bmedclinic]

familiar with it, I'm an EBT kinda guy so I mirror your "hokey" feel. My supervisor at the time who had me read about it and knew I was EBT in nature asked me only to consider it from a conceptual standpoint (firefighters, etc). I think for a therapist to ponder it only from a conceptual standpoint is perfectly fine, so long as we're considering that model with other models and never practicing from that model alone. Just my take though. I dont really remember all the different "players" in the model though. Sounds like we had just about the same reaction to it.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

wait...firefighters????

 

[PsyDr]

Pretty much bs. Hint: there's probably a strong correlation between how much a psychotherapy emphasizes "trauma" and the chances of it being quackery.

 

[bmedclinic]

wait...firefighters????

Wanted to check to make sure I remembered correctly, and yes, there are exiles, managers, and firefighters:
http://www.selfleadership.org/outline-of-the-Internal-family-systems-model.html

 

[deleted343839]

Visited the link bmedclinic posted. Reads like a discarded, overwrought concept sketch for "Inside Out."

 

[wesleysmith]

Visited the link bmedclinic posted. Reads like a discarded, overwrought concept sketch for "Inside Out."

This same professor actually made that same comparison after discussing the Parts Work text this past week. lol

familiar with it, I'm an EBT kinda guy so I mirror your "hokey" feel. My supervisor at the time who had me read about it and knew I was EBT in nature asked me only to consider it from a conceptual standpoint (firefighters, etc). I think for a therapist to ponder it only from a conceptual standpoint is perfectly fine, so long as we're considering that model with other models and never practicing from that model alone. Just my take though. I dont really remember all the different "players" in the model though. Sounds like we had just about the same reaction to it.

They say pretty much the same thing, considering it as a conceptual thing more than an actual intervention, but most of the material presented to us thus far has been from the perspective of the creator, Richard Schwartz, and the way he uses it and presents the "intervention" is very off putting. Especially with the population I work with, encouraging what I would say is pretty darn close to disassociative behavior just seems reckless. Not to mention just how cringe worthy it is. I don't think I could run a session this way with a straight face. "Now let me talk to the anxious you. Is the anxious you willing to step into the living room?"

Anyways, like I said in the original post, I wasn't sure if there actually was an evidence base that I was somehow missing - this doesn't seem to be the case so far though. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Peacemaker36]

Is anyone familiar with Internal Family Systems Therapy? Or "Parts Work" for that matter? I've been instructed to read a lot of material on it but it is VERY hokey for my taste and I cannot for the life of me find any literature to support its use other than a "study" that presents the findings of a questionnaire - which had 7 respondents... Anywho, I figured my final step to figuring out more would be to knock on SDN's door and see who answered. Thanks in advance! Any and all pertinent research, anecdotes, criticisms or even knock knock jokes are more than welcome.

This is just anecdotal, but I've worked with two patients who had been immersed in IFS. Both patients, in my opinion, were harmed by this treatment.

I am sure that IFS advocates would have anecdotal rebuttals.

 

[wesleysmith]

This is just anecdotal, but I've worked with two patients who had been immersed in IFS. Both patients, in my opinion, were harmed by this treatment.

I am sure that IFS advocates would have anecdotal rebuttals.

Wow, that's interesting. What did they have to say about the experience?