Sign in Subscribe

10. The Principles Underlying IFS Therapy: The Foundation of the Approach

Last updated on 
10. The Principles Underlying IFS Therapy: The Foundation of the Approach

This article explores the fundamental principles that underlie Internal Family Systems therapy—the pillars upon which the entire therapeutic process rests.

What Is a Principle?

Before diving into the specific principles, it's important to understand what we mean by "principle." A principle is a fundamental truth or perspective that underlies a certain system of behavior or reasoning—in this case, clinical reasoning.

One way to look at principles is that a principle is something that informs our actions and our thinking. Whatever might be happening in a session—with ourselves, a client, a patient—the principles are what align and inform and orient our thinking and acting toward whatever is happening.

By focusing on the principles first, it becomes much easier to then go into the step-by-step process (the Six F's, the unburdening process) and have a sense of why each step is in place.

The principles we're exploring are what underlie the process examined in the previous article about the goals of IFS therapy. They're symbolized as pillars because they are what the process rests upon.

The Principles: An Overview

The seven or eight principles that guide IFS therapy can be organized into three groups:

The major guiding principle: Lead sessions from Self

Fundamental basic principles (most important at the beginning of the therapeutic process):

  • All parts are welcome
  • Parts are intelligent and you can interact with them
  • All parts have a positive intent
  • Parts are not their burden

Principles for transformation (important as we move toward unburdening exiles and releasing protectors):

  • To change the system: more Self, less vulnerability
  • Self is the agent of healing

The principle of self-leadership:

  • Self is equipped to lead the system

These basic principles inform how we interact with whatever shows up in a session—whether it's resistance, whether it's a part that doesn't want to go along, whether a specific memory is coming up. We interact with that, we welcome it, we treat it as intelligent and as something we can interact with and learn about, we assume it has positive intent and we try to find out what that is, and we always know that parts are not their burdens—so we can negotiate with them and actually talk about whether they want to continue doing what they're doing.

Principle #1: Lead Sessions from Self

This is straightforward but reminds us—as coaches, as therapists, as people working with ourselves—that Self is the deepest resource we have. By really making sure that we are present, that we are connected, that we are in Self, we connect to that resource.

The Field Effect

If we are working with somebody, by us making sure that we are in Self, we can open a whole field of Self which actually influences and impacts the person sitting across from us, the person we're working with. The more Self is present in us, the easier it is for the other person's Self to be there.

Also, the more a coach or therapist is in Self—meaning open, curious, compassionate—the more parts will relax because they can feel that somebody's there who's genuinely present, somebody who doesn't want to change them, somebody who's open, who wants to learn. That just changes the whole dynamic in comparison to trying to fix somebody or trying to move as quickly as possible.

Principle #1: Lead sessions from Self

Principle #2: All Parts Are Welcome

This is one of the first sentences anybody will hear if they do a training, workshop, or something similar in the Internal Family Systems cosmos: All parts are welcome.

This is the very foundational basic attitude with which we approach and interact with whatever is happening. Whatever is happening, whatever part is showing up—whether it's angry or against what's happening or scared—it's welcome. Full stop.

No Bad Parts

We don't put any part away. We don't make any part wrong. The basic attitude is: there are no bad parts, there are no parts that want harm. All of these parts have a positive intent, and some of them might be scared, some of them might actually be challenging, but the best way we have of dealing with that is welcoming them.

So we welcome the parts, we acknowledge that they're there, that they are trying to do something good, and we explore why they're showing up right now, what they have to show us, what they're worried about, what they need.

Also, in this welcoming of all parts, we are already welcoming them, but we're also acknowledging them as parts—which allows us to welcome the part but then also to make sure there's a possibility to unblend, a possibility to have Self present.

Principle #2: All parts are welcome

Principle #3: Parts Are Intelligent and You Can Interact with Them

At the beginning of a session, we try to be connected to Self, in Self. All parts are welcome. And if a part shows up, we trust that they're smart, that they're intelligent, and we can actually communicate with them.

Learning from Parts

By relying on this third principle, if a part shows up we think: "Hey, it probably has a reason. I don't know the reason, but I can find out. I can ask the part questions. I can figure out why it's doing things, why it has been probably doing these things for a very long time."

We trust that parts know stuff that we don't—that the patient or client doesn't—but that this part can show us these things. Parts carry specific memories, they know about other parts that might be dangerous (very strong firefighters, etc.), and through them showing up and us welcoming and interacting with them, we can learn those things.

We can actually give better sessions, work with ourselves better, by including these parts.

Principle #3: Parts are intelligent, you can interact with them

You can ask them questions, and through that you can actually learn things you don't know yet.

Principle #4: All Parts Have Positive Intent

This principle has been mentioned extensively in past explorations, but it bears repeating as a formal principle guiding the work.

Every part, no matter how destructive its behavior may seem, is trying to do something positive for the system. This perspective transforms how we approach even the most challenging parts—we don't see them as enemies to be defeated but as well-intentioned protectors using outdated or extreme strategies.

Principle #5: Parts Are Not Their Burden

This principle is so important in how we interact with parts. If we assume that parts are their burden—meaning a protector is its role, an exile is its pain—and we don't assume that they can change, then we don't assume that they might hold qualities we don't even know about.

We might think: "This critic wants to criticize—that's what it does, that is what it is. This scared part is just scared—that is what it is."

The IFS Perspective

But the IFS perspective is: No, that's not true. Actually, parts are not their burden. Whatever they're carrying—the role they have (in the case of protectors) or the pain they carry (in the case of exiles)—is not what they originally carried. It's not the original quality that this part had, but it is what it took on through the burden.

In the case of protectors, they usually do not want to do what they're doing. This also means not just that we can help them change, but that we can negotiate with them. We can say things like: "Hey, what would it be like if you didn't have to do this anymore?" And parts are really open to that.

Transformation, Not Elimination

We can also see that they can change and release things. These parts can change. Rather than parts having to die or us having to get rid of parts or make them smaller, they can transform. They can release what they're carrying, and they can reconnect to their original qualities or to different qualities. This is actual change.

That's what's contained in this principle: parts are not their burden. Parts are much more than their burden. The burden is just something they're carrying or doing, but something they can also release.

Principle #5: Parts are not their burden

The First Batch: Foundational Principles for Working with Parts

These first five principles—lead sessions from Self, all parts are welcome, parts are intelligent and you can interact with them, all parts have positive intent, and parts are not their burden—are especially true as we learn to work with protectors, as we do the basic first steps also with exiles. These are really the main principles that guide direction, that we use to inform us.

The deeper we get into seeing how we can help the system change and realign itself, we need a few more principles.

Principle #6: To Change the System—More Self, Less Vulnerability

This principle means that there are two forces that help the whole system reorganize and realign itself.

More Self

The first force is Self. The more access we have to Self and Self-energy, the whole system can realign itself. When there are these deep resources, these states of being in which certain problems just don't exist anymore, the system can transform itself.

The more parts are aware of Self as a resource, as a quality, as someone/something that can be there and that can actually help them do the tasks they are often so overwhelmed with, the more they can trust that. The more they can relax a little bit, the more they can allow Self to be there and take on these jobs.

More access to Self, parts more aware of Self—this allows change in the system.

Less Vulnerability

The second thing that's really important for change in the system is not just the Self, not just this resource, but also a reduction of the vulnerability and the charge in the system.

The more we can help exiles let go of some of the old pain, the old burdens, that will make the system much more stable. Right now the protectors are working so hard and often using strategies that are very old and that they don't actually enjoy doing because the exiles are carrying so much charge.

If exiles are unburdened, if the charge is less, protectors don't have to do what they're doing to the same degree anymore. Reducing vulnerability will allow the protectors to let go of some of their roles and to relax more.

Less Charge Around Exiles

Another way this can happen is that there is less charge around exiles. With some clients, this transformation could happen before exiles were even transformed or unburdened—just by the system realizing that yes, this exile was once incredibly overwhelming, but it isn't anymore. "I can actually hold it now from Self. I can be with this exile."

Thus the exile becomes more included into the system. It may still not be the most pleasant part to be connected to, but it doesn't have to be kept out of awareness as drastically. That less charge around the exile can really change a lot about the system as well.

Principle #6: To change the system—more Self, less vulnerability

Principle #7: Self Is the Agent of Healing

This is a very general principle—it's kind of a mission statement but also a fact: In every human, the agent of healing, or the agent that is most capable of helping and healing the parts, is the Self.

Self Is Always Whole

This principle says that's the case in everyone, no matter how dysregulated the system may be right now. The assumption is that no matter what happened, no matter how intense a system is, Self is always whole. We might not have much access to it, but Self is there. In Self itself is not broken or hurt or damaged. The Self is there, and the Self, if it can be present, can be the agent of healing.

Supporting Self-Healing

This means it is the Self as the agent of healing in every single client. We try to support people in doing as much of their own work and as much of their own healing as possible because that is the most powerful way, and it's actually the most transformative way for the system as a whole.

The more the Self in each person heals the system, transforms the system, the more it can last and the deeper the trust of the system into the Self can get.

Connection to Self Is Healing

Self is whole. Self is the agent of healing in each person. And actually, the connection to Self is already healing for many parts. Once they realize there is a Self and it's always potentially there, that can change the way those parts relate to everything. This is especially true for exiles, but it's also true for protectors who realize "I don't have to do this job as hard as I have—Self is there."

Principle #7: Self is the agent of healing

Principle #8: Self Is Equipped to Lead

To end this exploration of principles, we look at the last principle, which is all about self-leadership: Self is equipped to lead.

A Fundamental Trust

Self is a capable and the natural leader of the inner system. This is again such a powerful perspective. Basically, this is a fundamental trust in every human being. No matter how disorganized a system is that might be sitting across from us, no matter how little access this human has had to Self their whole life, the basic trust is: Self is equipped to lead.

It may not be an easy road. It may take time. But Self is equipped to lead—that's the fundamental trust we have in the power of Self in every single person.

The Natural State

We would even go as far as saying it is the natural state of the system for Self to lead, for Self to negotiate, for Self to connect to the parts. Self is the natural leader of our inner system.

How the Principles Come Together

When that's our orientation and we have trust that that is true, we have trust that Self can heal. We know that once the vulnerability goes down and Self goes up, the system can change. We know that the parts actually want that too, and that all those parts that are super active right now—they do have positive intent, and they can change, and they are intelligent.

Then it's so easy to welcome them all.

In one way, all of these principles come back together to the core of how we are with others, how we are with people that we want to support, how we are with ourselves and the places where parts of us need help.

That's what all these principles point to, and that's what really defines the way of being with humans as we work with them using this perspective.

Principle #8: Self is equipped to lead

Conclusion: Principles as Foundation

These principles—from leading sessions from Self through welcoming all parts, recognizing their intelligence and positive intent, understanding they're not their burdens, knowing that more Self and less vulnerability creates change, trusting that Self is the agent of healing, to believing that Self is equipped to lead—form the foundation upon which all IFS work rests.

They're not rigid rules but orienting perspectives that inform every interaction, every decision, every moment in the therapeutic process. They remind us to trust the system's inherent wisdom, to respect the protective intelligence of parts, to believe in the healing capacity of Self, and to maintain faith in the possibility of transformation even in the most challenging situations.

When we hold these principles, our entire approach shifts. We move from trying to fix or change to witnessing and facilitating. We shift from seeing pathology to recognizing protective strategies. We transition from being the expert who knows what's best to being the supporter who helps clients access their own internal healer and leader—their Self.

These principles don't just guide the therapy—they embody a fundamentally different way of understanding human suffering and healing, one that honors the multiplicity of our inner experience while trusting in the singular healing power of our essential Self.

External Sources

Glossary