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Internal Family Systems
The Guest House - by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Internal Family Systems works under the premise that we are all comprised of a complex system of parts. There are parts that hold our strengths and resilience, there are parts that hold our wounds, and there are parts that protect us from harm or from what we fear most. In IFS parts work, we work to understand your unique system while healing and integrating the wounded parts, further resourcing and shaping the evolution of our other parts, and soothing the protectors within.
I find Internal Family Systems parts work to be a pivotal modality for clients with complex trauma, or who have felt fractured by traumatic lived experiences. I find it to be meaningful for those who have been marginalized, disenfranchised or harmed by institutions and systems, and who feel they have lost parts of self to childhood, intergenerational, relational or cultural trauma. With IFS, we work to embrace and create safety for the parts in pain, recover the parts that hold your wisdom and voice, and integrate all unique parts that make you yourself, so you can embody a sense of confidence, regulation and wholeness once again.