At any given moment, we can have several different reactions to the same experience. For example, when someone hurts our feelings, a part of us might feel angry, another part might feel sad, and yet another might want to run and hide.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapy approach that helps us better understand these different parts of ourselves, recognize what each is trying to tell us, and navigate our emotions with greater clarity, confidence, and self-compassion.
At Main Line Counseling Partners we have therapists who offer IFS therapy both in person at our office in Bryn Mawr, as well as online counseling (telehealth through HIPAA compliant software) for clients in the state of Pennsylvania.
If you are searching for internal family systems therapists near you, you will find a warm, collaborative approach here. Sessions take place in private comfortable offices and you will work together with your IFS therapist to explore your goals and strategies for healing.
Internal family systems therapy, also called “parts work” can help if you are dealing with anxiety, trauma, depression, people-pleasing, perfectionism, relationship patterns, or a harsh inner critic.
Level 2 Gottman Couples Therapist and trauma specialist Offering EMDR, intensive therapy and child and family therapy.
Offering trauma healing, depression and anxiety relief for adults and teenagers using CBT, DBT and IFS
Level 2 Gottman Couples Therapist with advanced training in Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and Attachment Style Work
Level 3 Gottman Couples Therapist offering couples therapy, art therapy and traditional individual counseling using IFS and ACT.
If you are searching for internal family systems therapists near you, you will find a warm, collaborative approach here. Sessions take place in private comfortable offices and you will work together with your IFS therapist to explore your goals and strategies for healing.
Internal family systems therapy can help if you are dealing with anxiety, trauma, depression, people-pleasing, perfectionism, relationship patterns, or a harsh inner critic.
Ready to talk it through? Book a free 15-minute consultation with our intake coordinator who will set up a call with your potential therapist.
Internal family systems therapy, (also called parts work therapy), is an evidence-informed approach to psychotherapy developed in the 1980s by psychologist and family therapist Richard Schwartz. It starts from a simple idea: the mind is naturally made up of many parts, and having parts is normal, not a disorder.
Instead of trying to eliminate difficult thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, an IFS therapist helps you get curious about why they exist and what they are trying to do for you.
Keep life running and try to prevent pain before it starts. They show up as the inner critic, perfectionist, over-planning, people-pleasing, or constant worry.
Carry painful emotions and memories, often from childhood, such as shame, fear, loneliness, or feeling unworthy. Managers work hard to keep exiles out of sight. This is the "inner child" many people talk about.
React as protectors when painful feelings break through. They sometimes look for fast relief through numbing, overeating, drinking, scrolling, anger, or shutting down.
IFS teaches that beneath your parts is the Self, a core part of you that is naturally calm, curious, compassionate, and confident. The Self is not something you have to build. In internal family systems therapy, your therapist helps your parts trust the Self enough to step back, so the Self can lead.
Internal family systems therapy is used for a wide range of concerns. Many clients come in feeling stuck, with strategies that once worked but now cost them more than they give. Our IFS therapist works with adults on the following.
IFS is a gentle approach to trauma therapy because it does not require you to retell every detail of what happened. Your IFS therapist helps you build safety first, then works at a pace your protective parts agree to. It can help with childhood trauma, complex trauma, and the lingering effects of painful relationships.
Anxiety often comes from a part of you working overtime to keep you safe. IFS counseling helps you understand what that part fears, so you can calm it from the inside rather than fight it.
Depression can involve parts that carry heavy shame, hopelessness, or exhaustion, along with protectors that shut things down. Internal family systems therapy helps you meet those parts with care and ease their burdens.
Patterns like people-pleasing, avoiding conflict, jealousy, or shutting down in closeness often trace back to protective parts. IFS helps you respond from your Self instead of reacting from old wounds. Many internal family systems therapists also use it in couples and family work.
IFS counseling is a psychotherapy approach, not a replacement for medical care. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or go to your nearest emergency room.
Starting IFS counseling can feel like a big step. Here is what the process looks like, so there are no surprises.
Your free consultation: Before you commit, we offer a free 15-minute consultation with our intake coordinator who will set up a call with your potential therapist.
Your first session: The first session is about getting to know you: what you want help with, your history at the level you are comfortable sharing, and what you hope will change. Your IFS therapist also explains how internal family systems therapy works and answers your questions. You will not be asked to dive into painful material right away.
Ongoing sessions: In a typical internal family systems therapy session, you turn your attention inward and notice what is happening: a feeling, a thought, a sensation in your body. Your therapist guides you to get curious about the part involved, ask what it needs, and listen with compassion. You stay awake, aware, and in control throughout. You can pause or slow down at any time.
Clients who work with an IFS therapist often describe:
Results vary from person to person, and no therapy can promise a specific outcome.
IFS therapy is a form of talk therapy that sees your mind as made up of different parts, each with a role. You learn to understand those parts with compassion, heal the ones carrying pain, and lead from your calm, core Self.
Your therapist guides you to notice a part, get curious about it, learn what it protects you from, and, when it feels safe, help it let go of painful burdens. The process is gentle and moves at your pace.
Many people use IFS for trauma because it doesn't require you to retell everything that happened. Your protective parts are respected, and work starts with safety. Whether it is right for you depends on your history and goals, which we can talk through in a consultation.
No. You decide what you share and when. Some clients explore early experiences, and others focus on present-day patterns.
No. You stay awake, aware, and in charge for the whole session. IFS uses guided inner attention, not hypnosis.
Yes. Many clients do IFS by video from home. The work is internal, so it translates well to telehealth.
It depends on your goals. Some concerns improve in a few months, and deeper or long-standing issues often take longer. We check in on your progress regularly.
Look for a licensed therapist with formal IFS training. At Mainline Counseling Partners, we are trained in IFS and serves Bryn Mawr and nearby communities, as well as clients online across Pennsylvania.
You don’t have to keep feeling controlled by overwhelming emotions, anxiety, or unhealthy relationship patterns.
Contact Main Line Counseling Partners today to learn whether Art Therapy is right for you.
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