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18. IFS Glossary

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18. IFS Glossary

Part

A Part is a subpersonality.
We all have many parts, each with its own perception, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
Depending on which part is active, our feelings, thinking, and actions change accordingly.

Role of a Part

Every part has a role — a specific ability, function, or quality it contributes to our internal or external life.
At the core of each role lies a positive intent: the wish to avoid pain or promote wellbeing.

Positive Intent

Every part acts from a positive intent — it wants to protect us from pain or help us feel better.
In psychological terms, it aims to preserve our psycho-biological wellbeing.
Some parts, however, express this intent through extreme roles rooted in past experiences.

Extreme Parts

Extreme parts act from old experiences or trauma.
They believe they must take on exaggerated or protective behaviors to keep the system safe — even if those strategies are no longer appropriate today.

Protector (Manager & Firefighter)

Protectors are parts in extreme roles that try to keep the system safe from pain or overwhelm.
They guard exiles or prevent the reactivation of old emotional wounds.

Manager

Managers are proactive protectors.
They organize life strategically, avoid risks, and prevent painful emotions from surfacing.

Firefighter

Firefighters are reactive protectors.
They step in when painful feelings or memories emerge — often through distraction, addiction, or impulsive behavior.

Exile

Exiles are often younger parts that carry pain, fear, or beliefs from the past.
They are “frozen in time” and kept out of awareness by protectors to prevent overwhelm.

Burden

A Burden is the pain, belief, or behavioral pattern a part took on in response to past experiences.
It prevents the part from fulfilling its natural, healthy role.

For Exiles, the burden is the pain or fear they carry.
For Protectors, it is the extreme role they have assumed.

Legacy Burdens

Legacy Burdens are inherited patterns — emotional, cultural, or ancestral — that were never personally experienced but absorbed from others (family, culture, or collective trauma).

Self

The Self is our essential nature — calm, clear, compassionate, and present.
In IFS, the Self represents the source of awareness, guidance, and inner wisdom.

When the Self leads, we experience trust, inner balance, and connection with our parts.

The “I”

The “I” is the totality of the current experience of “I” — the perception of who I am.
It includes conscious thoughts, identifications, and the way we structure our experience — including unconscious patterns and beliefs.

The “I” contains the experience of the Self, parts, and patterns.
It is what we believe ourselves to be in every moment — expressed through feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and actions.

Technically:
The “I” is the self-experience originating from the Seat of Consciousness.

The 8 C’s of Self

The qualities that emerge when the Self is in the lead:
Curiosity, Compassion, Calmness, Confidence, Creativity, Courage, Connectedness, and Clarity.

Self-Leadership

Self-Leadership describes the state in which the Self takes the lead and the parts trust it.
In this state, Self and parts cooperate harmoniously — without inner conflict or overwhelm.

Blending (Taking Over)

Blending occurs when a part merges with the Self and takes over the system.
The person then feels, thinks, and acts from the part’s perspective — as if they were that part.

Unblending

Unblending is the moment when a part separates from the Self.
Awareness returns to: “A part of me feels this — but I am not that part.”
This differentiation enables healing and Self-Leadership.

The 6 F’s of Working with Protectors

IFS describes six steps for building trust and connection with protectors:

  1. Find – Locate the part in the body or awareness.
  2. Focus – Bring attention to it.
  3. Flesh Out – Learn more about it without analyzing.
  4. Feel Toward – Check the Self’s presence and unblend if necessary.
  5. BeFriend – Build a relationship from Self to the part.
  6. Fears – Understand the part’s deepest fears.

Unburdening

Unburdening means that a part releases the pain or role it has carried from the past.
Afterward, it can return to its natural, healthy function.

Unburdening Process with Exiles

The unburdening process includes several stages:

  1. Contact – Connect with the Exile.
  2. Witness – Be present to its experience and pain.
  3. New Experience (Do-Over) – Support the Exile in having a healing experience.
  4. Retrieve – Bring the Exile out of the past situation.
  5. Unburden – Help it symbolically or energetically release its burden.
  6. Integrate – Welcome the unburdened part back into the system.

External Sources

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