Can the vagus nerve cause anxiety? A guide for therapists
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a therapeutic model that helps clients understand and work with the different “parts” of themselves.
If you've ever said, “Part of me wants to do this, but another part of me absolutely doesn't,” you already have a pretty good starting point for understanding IFS.
We all have parts. You might have a part that is incredibly driven and productive, a part that worries about disappointing other people, and another part that would really like everyone to leave you alone for a while. In Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, the goal isn't to decide which of those parts is the “real” you or to get rid of the ones you don't like.
Instead, we get curious about them.
This is one of the reasons I use IFS frequently in my own clinical work. It gives clients a way to understand behaviors that otherwise don't make much sense to them. Rather than asking, “Why do I keep doing this when I know better?” we can start asking, “What part of me keeps doing this, and what does that part believe it's protecting me from?”
That question can take the work in a very different direction.
How are IFS Self and parts explained?
When I have IFS Self and parts explained to clients, I usually start with the idea that having different parts of yourself isn't inherently problematic.
It's normal.
You can love your partner and have a part of you that wants to run away during conflict. You can want a promotion and have another part that is terrified of being more visible. You can know you're safe and still have a part of your nervous system behaving as though you're in danger.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy gives us language for understanding those contradictions that are an inherent part of the human experience.
IFS also proposes that underneath our parts is the Self. The Self isn't another part that we need to find or create. It's the core of who we are and is associated with qualities like curiosity, compassion, calmness, confidence, courage, creativity, clarity, and connectedness.
The goal isn't for Self to overpower our parts. Instead, we're trying to help the client access enough Self-energy to become curious about them.
That difference matters.
If I'm frustrated with the anxious part of myself and desperately trying to make it go away, I'm probably not approaching that part from Self. If I can become genuinely curious about why it's anxious and what it thinks might happen if it stopped worrying, we have somewhere to go.
What are managers, firefighters, and exiles?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy commonly describes parts through three roles: managers, firefighters, and exiles. Managers and firefighters are protectors, while exiles are the vulnerable parts they protect. When explaining IFS Self and parts to clients, it is crucial to understand how these three roles interact.
Managers are proactive. They're trying to keep something painful from happening in the first place.
Perfectionism can be a manager. So can people-pleasing, overworking, controlling, planning for every possible outcome, or constantly monitoring how other people perceive you.
Exiles tend to hold the experiences and emotions our system has worked hard to keep away from us. These parts may carry shame, fear, rejection, grief, loneliness, or memories connected to trauma.
Then we have firefighters.
Firefighters are also trying to protect us, but they tend to show up once something painful has already been activated. They want the feeling gone—now.
That might look like scrolling for three hours, drinking, binge eating, shutting down, spending money, picking a fight, or doing something impulsive that provides immediate relief.
When we understand managers, firefighters, and exiles this way, behaviors that seemed irrational can start making a lot more sense.
This doesn't mean every behavior is healthy or that we don't work to change harmful patterns. It simply means we recognize that there's probably a reason the behavior developed before we try to take it away.
What are IFS unblending techniques?
One of the concepts I use most frequently from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is “unblending.”
When we're blended with a part, we aren't simply experiencing the part, we feel like we are the part.
Compare these two statements:
“I am a failure.”
“A part of me feels like a failure.”
They may look almost identical, but clinically, they're very different. And our lived experience of each is different.
That small amount of separation gives us room to become curious.
IFS unblending techniques help clients create that space. I might ask a client where they notice a particular part in or around their body, how they feel toward it, or whether the part would be willing to step back just enough for us to get to know it.
Sometimes I'll ask, “What is this part afraid would happen if it stopped doing this?”
I love that question because protective behaviors usually make more sense once we understand what the part believes would happen without them.
The purpose of IFS unblending techniques isn't to make a part disappear. It's to help the client relate to it rather than being completely consumed by it, which is also a central goal when IFS Self and parts are explained to clients.
How can Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy be used with trauma?
This is one of the places where I find Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy particularly useful.
Trauma can create protective strategies that made enormous sense at one point in someone's life but are now creating problems.
Maybe hypervigilance helped a child anticipate an unpredictable parent's mood. Maybe becoming invisible reduced conflict. Maybe perfectionism created safety through achievement. Maybe shutting down made overwhelming experiences tolerable.
Years later, those same strategies may be interfering with relationships, work, or the person's ability to feel safe. For more, see our guide to treating childhood trauma in adult clients.
Rather than immediately trying to eliminate the response, IFS lets us ask why it's there. When IFS Self and parts are explained to them, clients with trauma histories can begin to view their protective strategies with self-compassion.
This is also why I don't necessarily go straight toward the most wounded part of the system. If protective parts aren't ready for us to access something, that's information. And giving them space to be seen as they’re ready is part of the corrective process.
We can work with the protectors first.
As with other specialized therapy modalities, this requires clinical judgment. The framework doesn't replace our responsibility to assess safety, pacing, stabilization, diagnosis, or whether another intervention would better meet the client's needs. Part of the ongoing debate around IFS is its research base, which remains limited, and the IFS Institute itself notes that larger, replicated trials are needed for specific conditions.
What does IFS Level 1 training certification involve?
There's an important distinction when discussing IFS Level 1 training certification: Completing Level 1 training does not mean someone is IFS Certified.
Level 1 is the foundational training offered through the IFS Institute. It involves approximately 90 hours of training, including supervised small-group practice in both the therapist and client roles. In the United States and Canada, admission is limited to people who are already credentialed to work in a mental health profession. Clinicians who successfully complete an official Level 1 training earn a Certificate of Completion.
IFS Certification is a separate, competency-based process that begins after Level 1. It involves additional steps, including working with a consultant and submitting a video session for review. Completing Level 1 doesn't guarantee eligibility.
That distinction is worth paying attention to when researching IFS Level 1 training certification, whether you're looking for your own training or helping a client understand a therapist's credentials.
How does IFS fit with other specialized therapy modalities?
Like many specialized therapy modalities, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy gives clinicians both a way of conceptualizing what's happening and a framework for deciding what to do next.
I also don't think clinicians necessarily need to view IFS as competing with every other framework they use.
In my own work, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can give me language for understanding the protective function of a client's behavior while other approaches may help me understand their nervous system, relationships, attachment patterns, or trauma history.
The model is one lens.
And as clinicians, our job is ultimately to determine whether that lens helps us understand and treat the person sitting in front of us.
What should therapists remember about Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy?
If there's one idea I would want a clinician to take away from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, it's this:
Get curious before you try to get rid of something.
When clients have IFS Self and parts explained in a way that makes sense to them, the question can shift from “What's wrong with me?” to “Why might some part of me need to do this?”
That doesn't mean we excuse harmful behavior or never work toward change.
It means we understand the function before we intervene.
And very often, the part a client has spent years fighting is the part that can tell us exactly where the work needs to go.
Sources
Hodgdon, H. B., Anderson, F. G., Southwell, E., Hrubec, W., & Schwartz, R. (2022). Internal family systems (IFS) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors of multiple childhood trauma: A pilot effectiveness study. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma.
IFS Institute. (n.d.). IFS Level 1 training programs.
IFS Institute. (n.d.). Research.
Joss, D., Comeau, A., Chevannes, R., Parry, G., Rea, H. S., et al. (2026). A randomized controlled trial of an online group-based internal family systems treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder: The Program for Alleviating and Resolving Trauma and Stress (PARTS) study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advance online publication.
Schwartz, R. C., & Sweezy, M. (2020). Internal family systems therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
How SimplePractice streamlines running your practice
SimplePractice is HIPAA-compliant practice management software with everything you need to run your practice built into the platform—from booking and scheduling to insurance and client billing.
If you’ve been considering switching to an EHR system, SimplePractice empowers you to run a fully paperless practice—so you get more time for the things that matter most to you.
Try SimplePractice free for 30 days. No credit card required.
