A Revolutionary & Transformative Treatment of PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Substance Abuse - and More!
Copyright:
10/7/2016
Author:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
Product:
POS046425
Copyright:
10/7/2016
Author:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
Product:
POS046425
Copyright:
7/13/2016
Authors:
DANIEL J SIEGEL, MD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
RICHARD SIMON, PH.D.
Product:
NRS001129
Copyright:
7/13/2016
Authors:
DANIEL J SIEGEL, MD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
RICHARD SIMON, PH.D.
Product:
NRS001129
Mindfulness Meets Internal Family Systems
Helping Clients Move from Acceptance to Transformation
By Richard Schwartz - Many therapeutic attempts to integrate mindfulness help clients notice negative emotions from a place of separation and extend acceptance toward them. But what if it were possible to transform this inner drama, rather than just keep it at arm’s length? The goal of Internal Family Systems (IFS) is to build on this important first step of separating from and accepting these impulses, and then take a second step of helping clients transform them.
Daily Blog
Copyright:
11/5/2015
Authors:
TARA BRACH, PHD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
JACK KORNFIELD, PHD
KRISTIN NEFF, PH.D.
TIM DESMOND, LMFT
RICHARD SIMON, PH.D.
CHRISTOPHER K GERMER, PH.D
Product:
NRS001089
Copyright:
11/5/2015
Authors:
TARA BRACH, PHD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
JACK KORNFIELD, PHD
KRISTIN NEFF, PH.D.
TIM DESMOND, LMFT
RICHARD SIMON, PH.D.
CHRISTOPHER K GERMER, PH.D
Product:
NRS001089
Going Beyond Mindfulness with Internal Family Systems
Dick Schwartz on Achieving Awareness and Healing with IFS Therapy
A perennial quandary in psychotherapy, as well as spirituality, is whether the goal is to help people come to accept the inevitable pain of the human condition with more equanimity or to actually transform and heal the pain, shame, or terror, so that it’s no longer a problem. The goal of the therapeutic approach that I use, Internal Family Systems (IFS), is to build on the important first step of separating from and accepting self-destructive impulses, and then take a second step of helping clients transform them.
Daily Blog
Using Internal Family Systems to Reduce Self-Criticism
Dick Schwartz Offers an IFS Approach to Self-Compassion
When you think of yourself as being psychosocially monolithic, instead of comprising a range of different parts, having self-compassion seems simple: you just relate to the self you happen to identify with at the moment with warmth, rather than harshness. But once you recognize that you’ve got many selves in there, things become more complicated, and it becomes crucial to recognize that there are levels of self-compassion, some of which need much more effort, awareness, and emotional resilience than others.
Daily Blog
Facing Our Dark Side
Some Forms of Self-Compassion Are Harder than Others
Achieving a genuine state of self-compassion is a more challenging undertaking than many realize. Far from a little feel-better incantation you offer yourself when stressed, it’s a journey into multiple parts of yourself that may include the good, the bad, the ugly, the confused, the frightened, and the abandoned.
Magazine Article
Internal Family Systems, Guidepost for Sexual Intimacy
Richard Schwartz on Better Sex through the IFS Approach
No other area of a couple's life holds as much promise for achieving intimacy as sex. I used to instruct that couples issue a moratorium on sex and assign exercises that allowed them to show affection to each other without any sexual expectation. Not anymore. My goal now is to help partners reach the kind of soul-deep connectedness in their sexual encounters that can transform their lives and their relationship with each other. Within each of us is a complex family of subpersonalities. As a result, intimacy has two components: the knowing and revealing of one's secret parts and also the sense of awe and belonging that comes with Self-to-Self connectedness.
Daily Blog
VIDEO: Helping Traumatized Clients Heal their Inner Parts
Treating Complex Trauma with IFS Therapy
According to Dick Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, all people have within them multiple “inner parts,” each with distinct emotions, beliefs, and roles adapted to help us cope with life’s challenges.
Daily Blog
Depathologizing The Borderline Client
Learning to Manage Our Fears
Inevitably, given their history of trauma, many borderline clients will trigger their therapists from time to time. But forgoing the urge to blame these clients and taking responsibility for what’s happening inside you can become a turning point in therapy.
Magazine Article
Copyright:
8/8/2022
Authors:
MARGARET BLAUSTEIN, PHD
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
STEPHEN PORGES, PH.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PAT OGDEN, PHD
RUTH LANIUS, MD, PHD, FRCPC
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
ELIZABETH WARNER, EDM, PSYD
ELIZABETH HOPPER, PH.D.
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
GARY BAILEY, MSW, ACSW
STEVEN GROSS, MSW
PATRICIA WILCOX, LCSW
MICHELE HENDERSON, LICSW
JANA PRESSLEY, PSY.D.
ALEXANDRA COOK PHD
MATTHEW SANFORD
LORRAINE R FREEDLE, LCSW, PHD, ABPDN, ABSNP, CST-T
Product:
CRS001598
Copyright:
8/8/2022
Authors:
MARGARET BLAUSTEIN, PHD
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
STEPHEN PORGES, PH.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PAT OGDEN, PHD
RUTH LANIUS, MD, PHD, FRCPC
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
ELIZABETH WARNER, EDM, PSYD
ELIZABETH HOPPER, PH.D.
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
GARY BAILEY, MSW, ACSW
STEVEN GROSS, MSW
PATRICIA WILCOX, LCSW
MICHELE HENDERSON, LICSW
JANA PRESSLEY, PSY.D.
ALEXANDRA COOK PHD
MATTHEW SANFORD
LORRAINE R FREEDLE, LCSW, PHD, ABPDN, ABSNP, CST-T
Product:
CRS001598
Copyright:
5/21/2022
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
WENDY D'ANDREA, PHD
LAURENCE HELLER, PHD
MICHAEL NICONCHUK, MSC
Product:
POS058925
Copyright:
5/21/2022
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
WENDY D'ANDREA, PHD
LAURENCE HELLER, PHD
MICHAEL NICONCHUK, MSC
Product:
POS058925
Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Trauma from the Premier Experts
Copyright:
4/20/2022
Authors:
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
SEBERN FISHER, MA, BCN
WENDY D'ANDREA, PHD
RUTH LANIUS, MD, PHD, FRCPC
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
PAUL A. FREWEN, PHD, CPSYCH
JAMES HOPPER, PH.D.
MICHAEL MITHOEFER, MD
SHERAIN HARRICHARAN, PHD
RICK DOBLIN, PHD
MICHAEL ALPERT, MD
ELIZABETH CALL, PSYD
FRANCIS GUERRIERO, MA, LICSW
SUSAN WALKER, MD
PHIL WOLFSON, MD
MARGARET MCKINNON, PHD
BRAEDEN TERPOU, PHD
SUE CARTER, PHD
ROBIN CARHART-HARRIS, PHD
ANDREW PENN, RN, MS, NP, CNS, APRN-BC
ANDREW NICHOLSON, PHD
DANIELA RABELLINO, PHD
CHANTELLE LLOYD, PHD
TINA CHAMPAGNE, OT, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA
ANNE WAGNER, PHD, C PSYCH
Product:
CRS001536
Copyright:
4/20/2022
Authors:
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
SEBERN FISHER, MA, BCN
WENDY D'ANDREA, PHD
RUTH LANIUS, MD, PHD, FRCPC
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
PAUL A. FREWEN, PHD, CPSYCH
JAMES HOPPER, PH.D.
MICHAEL MITHOEFER, MD
SHERAIN HARRICHARAN, PHD
RICK DOBLIN, PHD
MICHAEL ALPERT, MD
ELIZABETH CALL, PSYD
FRANCIS GUERRIERO, MA, LICSW
SUSAN WALKER, MD
PHIL WOLFSON, MD
MARGARET MCKINNON, PHD
BRAEDEN TERPOU, PHD
SUE CARTER, PHD
ROBIN CARHART-HARRIS, PHD
ANDREW PENN, RN, MS, NP, CNS, APRN-BC
ANDREW NICHOLSON, PHD
DANIELA RABELLINO, PHD
CHANTELLE LLOYD, PHD
TINA CHAMPAGNE, OT, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA
ANNE WAGNER, PHD, C PSYCH
Product:
CRS001536
Foundations of the IFS Model
Copyright:
4/1/2022
Author:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
Product:
IRS035190
Copyright:
4/1/2022
Author:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
Product:
IRS035190
Copyright:
12/29/2021
Authors:
DAVID KESSLER, MA, RN, FACHE
DANIEL J SIEGEL, MD
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
CLAUDIA BLACK, PHD
JOHN M. GOTTMAN, PHD
JULIE SCHWARTZ GOTTMAN, PHD
JANINA FISHER, PH.D.
LESLIE KORN, PHD, MPH, LMHC, ACS, RPP, NTP, NCBTMB
TERRENCE REAL, LICSW
STEPHEN PORGES, PH.D.
WILLIAM DOHERTY, PHD
SUSAN JOHNSON, ED.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
LINDA GRAHAM, MFT
RICHARD SEARS, PSYD, PHD, MBA, ABPP
JOE KORT, PHD, LMSW
BRITT H RATHBONE, LCSW-C, ACSW, BCD, CGP
MARY JO BARRETT, MSW
GABOR MATÉ, MD
TAMMY NELSON, PHD
JONAH PAQUETTE, PSY.D.
COURTNEY ARMSTRONG, LPC, MHSP
LISA FERENTZ, LCSW-C, DAPA
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
KENNETH V. HARDY, PHD
IAN KERNER, PHD, LMFT
EDWARD HALLOWELL, MD
CATHERINE PITTMAN, PHD, HSPP
DAFNA LENDER, LCSW
DAVID TREADWAY, PH.D.
LYNN LYONS, LICSW
SUZANNE IASENZA, PHD
DAVID JOBES, PHD, ABPP
ALEXANDRA SOLOMON, PHD
MICHAEL MITHOEFER, MD
DEANY LALIOTIS, LICSW
JAMES L. FURROW, PHD
DEB DANA, LCSW, LICSW
GEORGE FALLER, LMFT
PETER FRAENKEL, PHD
HOWARD SCHUBINER, MD
SABRINA N'DIAYE, PHD, LCSW-C
KENNETH CARTER, PHD, ABPP
MANUELA MISCHKE-REEDS, MA, LMFT
ELLIOTT CONNIE, MA, LPC
ANDREW TATARSKY PHD
CANDICE RICHARDSON DICKENS, LCPC-S, LCADC-S, CCTP, MAC
STEPHEN SNYDER, MD
SHADEEN FRANCIS, LMFT
DERAN YOUNG, LCSW
JADA MCCRAY, LCSW-C
NOAH GARCIA, MA, LPC-S, NCC
ABI BLAKESLEE, SEP, CMT, MFT, PHD
MEG JAY, PHD
JENNIFER UDLER, LCSW-C
RAMANI DURVASULA, PHD, LCP
JULIANE TAYLOR SHORE, LMFT, LPC
LAURA COPLEY, PHD, LPC
JOHN J RATEY, MD
Product:
NRS001440
Copyright:
12/29/2021
Authors:
DAVID KESSLER, MA, RN, FACHE
DANIEL J SIEGEL, MD
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
CLAUDIA BLACK, PHD
JOHN M. GOTTMAN, PHD
JULIE SCHWARTZ GOTTMAN, PHD
JANINA FISHER, PH.D.
LESLIE KORN, PHD, MPH, LMHC, ACS, RPP, NTP, NCBTMB
TERRENCE REAL, LICSW
STEPHEN PORGES, PH.D.
WILLIAM DOHERTY, PHD
SUSAN JOHNSON, ED.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
LINDA GRAHAM, MFT
RICHARD SEARS, PSYD, PHD, MBA, ABPP
JOE KORT, PHD, LMSW
BRITT H RATHBONE, LCSW-C, ACSW, BCD, CGP
MARY JO BARRETT, MSW
GABOR MATÉ, MD
TAMMY NELSON, PHD
JONAH PAQUETTE, PSY.D.
COURTNEY ARMSTRONG, LPC, MHSP
LISA FERENTZ, LCSW-C, DAPA
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
KENNETH V. HARDY, PHD
IAN KERNER, PHD, LMFT
EDWARD HALLOWELL, MD
CATHERINE PITTMAN, PHD, HSPP
DAFNA LENDER, LCSW
DAVID TREADWAY, PH.D.
LYNN LYONS, LICSW
SUZANNE IASENZA, PHD
DAVID JOBES, PHD, ABPP
ALEXANDRA SOLOMON, PHD
MICHAEL MITHOEFER, MD
DEANY LALIOTIS, LICSW
JAMES L. FURROW, PHD
DEB DANA, LCSW, LICSW
GEORGE FALLER, LMFT
PETER FRAENKEL, PHD
HOWARD SCHUBINER, MD
SABRINA N'DIAYE, PHD, LCSW-C
KENNETH CARTER, PHD, ABPP
MANUELA MISCHKE-REEDS, MA, LMFT
ELLIOTT CONNIE, MA, LPC
ANDREW TATARSKY PHD
CANDICE RICHARDSON DICKENS, LCPC-S, LCADC-S, CCTP, MAC
STEPHEN SNYDER, MD
SHADEEN FRANCIS, LMFT
DERAN YOUNG, LCSW
JADA MCCRAY, LCSW-C
NOAH GARCIA, MA, LPC-S, NCC
ABI BLAKESLEE, SEP, CMT, MFT, PHD
MEG JAY, PHD
JENNIFER UDLER, LCSW-C
RAMANI DURVASULA, PHD, LCP
JULIANE TAYLOR SHORE, LMFT, LPC
LAURA COPLEY, PHD, LPC
JOHN J RATEY, MD
Product:
NRS001440
Resolving Trauma, Anxiety, Attachment Injuries, Addiction & More
Copyright:
11/19/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
GABOR MATÉ, MD
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
DERAN YOUNG, LCSW
Product:
NRS001530
Copyright:
11/19/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
GABOR MATÉ, MD
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
DERAN YOUNG, LCSW
Product:
NRS001530
Incorporating IFS with EMDR, SP, CPT, AEDP, DBT, and Psychedelic Medicines for Treating Complex Trauma and PTSD
Copyright:
11/11/2021
Authors:
LANE PEDERSON, PSYD, LP
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
JANINA FISHER, PH.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
ELIZABETH CALL, PSYD
KATHLEEN M CHARD, PHD
KARI GLEISER, PHD
Product:
CRS001472
Copyright:
11/11/2021
Authors:
LANE PEDERSON, PSYD, LP
BESSEL A VAN DER KOLK, MD
JANINA FISHER, PH.D.
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
DEBORAH KORN, PSYD
FRANK ANDERSON, MD
ELIZABETH CALL, PSYD
KATHLEEN M CHARD, PHD
KARI GLEISER, PHD
Product:
CRS001472
Interventions for All Types of Worry
Copyright:
11/10/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
DAVID CARBONELL, PHD
ELENA WELSH, PHD
Product:
CRS001526EVG
Copyright:
11/10/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
DAVID CARBONELL, PHD
ELENA WELSH, PHD
Product:
CRS001526EVG
The Living, Sensing Self
Copyright:
10/4/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PETER A. LEVINE, PHD
Product:
POS058693
Copyright:
10/4/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PETER A. LEVINE, PHD
Product:
POS058693
Copyright:
9/17/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PATTI ASHLEY, PHD, LPC
AMY PERSHING, LMSW, ACSW
ANN SAFFI BIASETTI, PHD, LCSWR, CEDS, CIAYT
Product:
CRS001517EVG
Copyright:
9/17/2021
Authors:
RICHARD C. SCHWARTZ, PHD
PATTI ASHLEY, PHD, LPC
AMY PERSHING, LMSW, ACSW
ANN SAFFI BIASETTI, PHD, LCSWR, CEDS, CIAYT
Product:
CRS001517EVG
VIDEO: Richard Schwartz on Healing Our Wounded Inner Parts
The Originator of IFS on Helping Clients Awaken Self-Healing
Internal Family Systems (IFS) has allowed therapists to awaken the capacity for deep self-healing within even their most troubled clients. In this video clip from his 2015 Symposium keynote, Richard Schwartz, the originator of IFS, explains the transformative power of connecting with our wounded inner parts.
Daily Blog
VIDEO: How Symptoms Reveal the Path to Growth
IFS Developer Richard Schwartz on Befriending the Inner "Protector"
Often, our attitudes toward anxiety symptoms are misguided, says Richard Schwartz, the originator of Internal Family Systems. By understanding responses like cold sweats and heavy breathing, for instance, as positive expressions of a wish to protect oneself, rather than simply negative symptoms, Schwartz says, trauma survivors are in a better position to begin the process of healing.
Daily Blog
Engaging Ourselves Compassionately
Richard Schwartz Explains the IFS Approach to Mindfulness
By Richard Schwartz - Mindfulness allows us to separate from our irrational self-statements. But what if it were possible to transform this inner drama, rather than just keep it at arm’s length, by taking mindfulness one step further?
Daily Blog
Helping Clients Access Their True Selves
Dick Schwartz on Changing Outer Dialogues by Changing Inner Dialogues
By Richard Schwartz - As clients embody more Self, their inner dialogues change spontaneously. They stop berating themselves and, instead, get to know, rather than try to eliminate, the extreme inner voices or emotions that have plagued them. Even clients who've shown little insight into their problems are suddenly able to trace the trajectory of their own feelings and emotional histories with startling clarity and understanding.
Daily Blog
Helping Struggling Couples Get to the Root of Intimacy Problems
Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems Approach to Couples Therapy
By Richard Schwartz - No other area of a couple's life holds as much promise for achieving intimacy as sex. Indeed, the promise of intimacy may be as important as lust for drawing human beings toward sex in the first place. My goal now is to help partners reach the kind of soul-deep connectedness in their sexual encounters that can transform their lives and their relationship with each other.
Daily Blog
VIDEO: Richard Schwartz on Being a Compassionate Witness to Yourself
How Internal Family Systems Gives Traumatized Clients Their Power Back
According to Richard Schwartz, the originator of Internal Family Systems therapy, the natural state of the mind is to be subdivided into parts, which carry the memories, beliefs, and emotions that make up what we call our personality. In the following video from his 2015 Networker Symposium keynote address, he explains how we can become healing attachment figures for these wounded inner parts.
Daily Blog
The Paradox of Acceptance
Richard Schwartz Shares What Wise Buddhists Have Known for Centuries
By Richard Schwartz - We normally think of the attachment process as happening between caretakers and young children, but the more you explore how the inner world functions, the more you find that it parallels external relationships, and that we have an inner capacity to extend mindful caretaking to aspects of ourselves that are frozen in time and excluded from our normal consciousness.
Daily Blog
Mindfulness Meets Internal Family Systems
Helping Clients Move from Acceptance to Transformation
By Richard Schwartz - Many therapeutic attempts to integrate mindfulness help clients notice negative emotions from a place of separation and extend acceptance toward them. But what if it were possible to transform this inner drama, rather than just keep it at arm’s length? The goal of Internal Family Systems (IFS) is to build on this important first step of separating from and accepting these impulses, and then take a second step of helping clients transform them.
Daily Blog
Going Beyond Mindfulness with Internal Family Systems
Dick Schwartz on Achieving Awareness and Healing with IFS Therapy
A perennial quandary in psychotherapy, as well as spirituality, is whether the goal is to help people come to accept the inevitable pain of the human condition with more equanimity or to actually transform and heal the pain, shame, or terror, so that it’s no longer a problem. The goal of the therapeutic approach that I use, Internal Family Systems (IFS), is to build on the important first step of separating from and accepting self-destructive impulses, and then take a second step of helping clients transform them.
Daily Blog
Using Internal Family Systems to Reduce Self-Criticism
Dick Schwartz Offers an IFS Approach to Self-Compassion
When you think of yourself as being psychosocially monolithic, instead of comprising a range of different parts, having self-compassion seems simple: you just relate to the self you happen to identify with at the moment with warmth, rather than harshness. But once you recognize that you’ve got many selves in there, things become more complicated, and it becomes crucial to recognize that there are levels of self-compassion, some of which need much more effort, awareness, and emotional resilience than others.
Daily Blog
Reflections on Rich
Friends Celebrate His Life and Legacy
Sharing how Rich Simon impacted our lives—and the field as a whole.
Magazine Article
IFS and Chronic Pain
Listening to Inner Parts that Hold the Hurt
If most chronic pain is maintained by complex mind–body interactions, how can therapists help treat it?
Magazine Article
Working With Internalized Racism
From Shame to Unburdening with IFS
While the Black Lives Matter movement has increased the country’s understanding of the pernicious impact of racism, how do people actually do the internal work of grappling with the unacknowledged racism within themselves?
Magazine Article
The Viral Wake-up Call
From Virtual Symposium 2020
Amid the pandemic, the pain and vulnerability of the majority of Americans, who live on the financial edge and can’t afford a crisis like this, are glaringly apparent. What’s also clear is how totally interdependent we are.
Magazine Article
Facing Our Dark Side
Some Forms of Self-Compassion Are Harder than Others
Achieving a genuine state of self-compassion is a more challenging undertaking than many realize. Far from a little feel-better incantation you offer yourself when stressed, it’s a journey into multiple parts of yourself that may include the good, the bad, the ugly, the confused, the frightened, and the abandoned.
Magazine Article
Depathologizing The Borderline Client
Learning to Manage Our Fears
Inevitably, given their history of trauma, many borderline clients will trigger their therapists from time to time. But forgoing the urge to blame these clients and taking responsibility for what’s happening inside you can become a turning point in therapy.
Magazine Article
When Meditation Isn't Enough
Going Beyond Acceptance to Healing
A psychotherapist discusses the next step: how to help clients transform the disruptive feelings and thoughts that they’ve learned to simply observe during meditation.
Magazine Article
The Larger Self
Discovering the Core Within Our Multiplicity
The practice of therapy, for both therapist and client, is transformed when we connect with our fundamental core, a process that involves learning to listen closely to our inner cacophony and embracing even the parts of ourselves that we formerly loathed.
Magazine Article
Pathways to Sexual Intimacy
Revealing Our Many Selves in the Bedroom
No other area of a couple's life holds as much promise for achieving intimacy as sex. Indeed, the promise of intimacy may be as important as lust for drawing human beings toward sex in the first place. My goal now is to help partners reach the kind of soul-deep connectedness in their sexual encounters that can transform their lives and their relationship with each other.
Magazine Article
Know Thy Selves
The Inner Lives of Couples Therapy
Every couples therapist knows the experience. Just moments ago, as you talked to the wife and then her husband, you were struck by how likable each one seemed. You sensed their warmth, their humor. But now you've hit on one of those issues—perhaps it's a conflict about an in-law, or something about sex, or even the proverbial struggle about the toothpaste tube—and suddenly the people whose company you were enjoying earlier appear to have left the room.
Magazine Article
Page 1 of 1 (10 Items)
Richard Schwartz began his career as a family therapist and an academic at the University of Illinois at Chicago. There he discovered that family therapy alone did not achieve full symptom relief and in asking patients why, he learned that they were plagued by what they called "parts." These patients became his teachers as they described how their parts formed networks of inner relationship that resembled the families he had been working with. He also found that as they focused on and, thereby, separated from their parts, they would shift into a state characterized by qualities like curiosity, calm, confidence and compassion. He called that inner essence the Self and was amazed to find it even in severely diagnosed and traumatized patients. From these explorations, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model was born in the early 1980s.
IFS is now evidence-based and has become a widely-used form of psychotherapy, particularly with trauma. It provides a non-pathologizing, optimistic, and empowering perspective and a practical and effective set of techniques for working with individuals, couples, families, and more recently, corporations and classrooms.
In 2013, Schwartz left the Chicago area and now lives in Brookline, MA where he is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
