According to IFS, the undamaged core Self is the essence of who you are. A person's parts can be healed, transformed, and better managed by the Self by achieving three goals of IFS:

1. Free the parts from their extreme roles

2. Restore trust in the Self.

3. Coordinate and harmonize the Self and the parts, so they can work together as a team with the Self in charge

There are no ‘bad parts’

According to the IFS model, parts often play three common roles:

Exiles: Exiles are parts that hold hurt, fear, or shame from early experiences, and they carry the difficult emotions and memories associated with those experiences. Managers aim to keep exiles contained and hidden from conscious awareness to avoid distress and pain.

Protectors:

In order to survive difficult feelings, emotions, and experiences, protective parts develop. There are two types of protectors- Managers and Firefighters; they always have positive intent for us, essentially to keep us safe.

1. Managers: Managers are protective parts that function to control people’s surroundings and manage emotions and tasks to navigate daily life.

2. Firefighters: Are protectors that are activated when exiles produce overwhelming, painful, or threatening emotions. Firefighters aim to inhibit those difficult emotions by any means necessary, such as substance use or binge eating, shopping, sex, porn or anything that helps to extinguish difficult emotions.

IFS also posits that everyone has a core Self, a genuine self, waiting to be accessed. The Self can identify, observe, and help these parts become less extreme, more productive, and coexist effectively.

IFS therapy can help with general life stressors like grief, relationship, and career issues, and improve resilience and self-esteem.

Though it is non-pathologizing (does not reduce a client to their diagnosis), it may treat several mental health issues and conditions.

Depression

Anxiety

Obsessive & compulsive behaviours

Eating disorder

Substance use disorders

Power through self-leadership in achieving an internal balance

Promotes self-compassion

Depression symptoms are viewed as normal reactions to stressors or trauma, rather than a diagnosis

Provides a better understanding of self

Prepares for emotional difficulty in the future

Improving phobia, panic, and generalized anxiety disorders and symptoms

Physical health conditions and symptoms

Personal resilience/self-concept

Trauma

Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse

Body image issues

Self-energy plays a vital role in IFS therapy, as it helps individuals tap into their inherent capacity for healing, growth, and self-understanding.

The 8 C’s of Self;

calmness

clarity

compassion

confidence

connectedness

courage

creativity

curiosity