Today, I want to dive deeper into Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and how I weave it together with Energy Healing. If you caught my last post, Energetic Cord Cutting: A Path to Empowerment, you got a glimpse of how I blend these two powerful modalities.
IFS has been gaining a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. When I first heard about it, I had an aha moment—Wait, isn’t this what my therapist has been doing all along? In one of my IFS training’s, we were told that this is a common reaction – IFS does share many things with other types of psychotherapy, BUT now it has a solid evidence-based framework.
As an IFS-informed therapist, I’ve immersed myself in courses, received IFS therapy personally, and integrated its principles into my work. In this post, I’ll break down how IFS and Energy Healing complement each other, offering a unique path to healing and self-discovery.
What is Internal Family Systems Therapy?
Internal Family Systems is a type of therapy developed by Richard Schwartz.
IFS is like imagining that your mind is a family made up of different parts of you, each with its own feelings, thoughts, and jobs. For example, you might have a part that feels scared, another that gets really angry, and one that tries to make everyone happy. These parts sometimes argue or get overwhelmed, just like a real family might.
IFS helps you learn how to listen to these parts, understand what they need, and work together with them. It also shows you that deep down, there’s a calm, wise part of you called the “Self” that can help guide and take care of the other parts. It’s like being the leader of your own inner team, helping all your parts feel understood and work together peacefully.
One book to get you started is Self Help by Gabby Bernstein.
The Best Intro to Internal Family Systems – Gabby Bernstein’s Self-Help
If you’ve ever done any exploration into manifestation, you will have undoubtedly read some of Gabby Bernstein’s books. One of her well-known books is The Universe Has Your Back. Also, every year she does a manifestation challenge around the New Year. She recently released the book Self Help. This book is Internal Family Systems explained for anyone. I skimmed through it and found it the best introduction to Internal Family Systems. She covers the essentials without going to far into the weeds. Her explanation of the IFS’s concept of Self is one of the best that I’ve read. This book will help anyone interested in IFS to start the process at home.
Diving a Little Deeper: No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
If you want to understand IFS with some more depth, No Bad Parts by the founder of IFS, Richard Schwartz is also a win. This books is clear & gives the reader an overview of IFS and also guides the reader to get started.
How Energy Healing Accents IFS
As a psychotherapist & energy healer, I have found that combining them both is beneficial for clients. Here are some ways I’ve found energy healing to support IFS work. I sometimes combine them both while a person is sitting across from me in the therapy room or online. Other times the client is receiving an energy healing on the energy healing table and psychotherapy is mixed at the same time.
1)Energy Healing helps a person ground & connect to sensations in their body & around them
Often, I use a body-based approach to help people connect to their parts. People notice tension, pain and emotions present in different parts of their body.
A person receiving an energy healing is lying on a table usually with their eyes closed. This allows a person to shift more into their body than it would if they were sitting across from me on a chair.
2)Energy Healing helps anchor in Self energy while being present with other parts
When a person is lying on the energy healing table, I always start by grounding and aligning myself prior to starting the energy healing. As I connect to their energetic field I can sense if they are grounded and connected to Self energy. Sometimes it can take a few sessions to do the necessary parts work to feel safe enough to explore the path towards grounding & connecting to Self energy.
3)Energy Healing helps a person allow uncomfortable parts or emotions to be present
Once a person is grounded and supported by someone else who is grounded, this can allow a person to hold space for parts that feel uncomfortable to acknowledge or to allow them to be present for more than a short period of time.
4) Energy Healing allows space for the unknown
Mystical things can happen during an energy healing. Energy healing allows space for things to happen beyond the mind & body. Sometimes a person has guides who are present. Sometimes they access a deep internal knowing about something. Sometimes a message comes out. Many times I have shared things that come to me intuitively that a client has been hearing too (or vice versa).
At Home & With a Therapist
Internal Family Systems is a very practical & approachable guide if you want to start doing some of your own inner-work at home. There may be times where seeking out a psychotherapist to help you will accelerate your progress and help you see your blind-spots.
Energy Healing is similar – if you’ve done my Energy Healing at Home Series, this will undoubtedly bring benefits. If you committed every day to clearing your chakras, anchoring in Hara & expanding your Core Star, you will see positive results. There may be times where receiving energy healing from another person will help you deepen your work.
If you’re finding yourself in a space where you could benefit from support – be sure to reach out! I offer psychotherapy & energy healing both on their own & combined. If you want to find out if we’d be a fit, I offer free 15 minute consults.
