Description: Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) provides a revolutionary treatment plan for PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders and more. Using a non-pathologizing, accelerated approach -- rooted in neuroscience -- IFS applies inner resources and self-compassion for healing emotional wounding at its core. This new manual offers straight-forward explanations and illustrates a wide variety of applications. Easy to read and highly practical. Step-by-step techniques Annotated case examples Unique meditations Downloadable exercises, worksheets IFS is Evidence-Based Thirty years ago, IFS creator Richard Schwartz, PhD, listened to his clients describing the behaviors and fears of their most extreme parts. He found that the inner world of all his clients was characterized by parts who had a positive intent for the client but had taken on extreme roles in an effort to be safe. He also discovered that these extreme parts would become less disruptive and more cooperative once their concerns were addressed and they felt safer. IFS views psychic multiplicity as the norm: we all have parts. In addition, every part has a good intention for the client, and every part has value. When clients listen to all their parts, they can heal their wounded parts. Today, IFS, which has established a legacy of efficiency and effectiveness in treating many mental health issues, is being heralded by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk as a treatment that all clinicians should know.
Brief description: Martha Sweezy, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, a program consultant and supervisor at Cambridge Health Alliance, and the former assistant director and director of training for the dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) program at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She is the co-editor/co-author of the books Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions, and Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy, as well as co-author of the book Intimacy from the Inside Out: Courage and Compassion in Couple Therapy. She has a therapy and consultation practice in Northampton, MA.
Review Quotes:
"A unique and effective roadmap for working with parts of the self to resolve trauma and attachment injury. Concise, accessible, and grounded in an attitude of kindness and respect for the client, the manual includes vivid case transcripts, clear solutions for therapeutic challenges, and engaging exercises for clients to complete. With these practical and accessible interventions, therapists of all persuasions will find this book to be an invaluable addition to their toolbox, one that could revolutionize their clinical work." --Pat Ogden, PhD, Founder & Educational Director, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute