Hi everyone, it's Steve here again. I'm back for my second audio in this particular series the “Multiplicity of the Mind”. In the first audio I introduced a therapeutic model called Internal Family Systems Therapy or IFS. I've used this particular model A) because I'm trained in it, and B) because I feel it's a really nice way of kind of identifying and explaining different parts of ourselves - different sort of sub personalities that we all have.

And my hope is, of course, that this offers you a better understanding of yourself, that it might offer you an opportunity to do some further reading or self exploration, which I hope is beneficial and helpful.

I should state before I talk about the specific internal family systems model and introduce its core concepts today, that there are many different types of therapies which seek to approach different types of ego states. This is just one that I find very, very accessible and thought it might make a good audio series for you.

So as mentioned before, IFS, or internal family systems is an approach to psychotherapy that seeks to identify and address our multiple sub-personalities. Or as Dick Schwartz would say, these sort of internal families within our mental health system. Now, these sub personalities consist of many different parts, wounded parts, or parts that might be carrying different painful emotions, shame, anger, anxiety, and there might be protective parts that seek to protect us from the pain of those wounded parts.

So let's start with the self. So self is an interesting concept in itself. IFS would consider self as kind of the core part of our internal structure. That's the part that, when we are in self, in self energy, as they might say, we are able to observe our feelings. We might have a feeling of choice, or a sense of understanding of our struggles. We're not necessarily feeling overwhelmed by them. Maybe a sense of objectivity. Maybe one's core self could be considered a concept that describes their confident, compassionate, whole person as at the center of who you are, or of others individuals. So this self, and orbiting around that, that's the way I see it anyway, we have these different other parts.

So, for example, let's start with protectors. Now it's very, very important to understand protectors and what protectors are. There's two different categories in IFS of protectors. Let's start with manager protectors. And you might not like this language. Feel free to use different words. I find that it's so adaptable, it really doesn't matter. But manager parts, manager protectors, are often preemptive and proactive. And the most common manager part that we might encounter is the critic, the part that we experience to be critical. And, often it will have a function of, in some way trying to improve us, to drive us forward, to motivate us. Yet we may experience that part to be a bit abusive, or shaming, or in some way difficult. I'll talk much more about that in a separate audio, but that's a common manager. That one tends to come across in IFS therapy.

Other managers might seek to overthink, over worry. They might have positive beliefs that if they worry they can keep you safe. And what happens is parts tend to get stuck in their roles. And some of these parts might be quite young, and not necessarily understand how they impact on the self or on the system generally. Now, there might be rescuer parts, there might be pleasing parts.

Then there's a different, separate type of protector. These are what IFS refer to as firefighters. And firefighters tend to work differently to managers. They tend to be more impulsive and reactive, rather than preemptive and proactive. So, firefighters generally will often do whatever it takes to put the fire out. Usually the fire is some sort of painful feeling or difficult emotion.

Now, common firefighters that we see, particularly in ADHD might be substance misuse, or alcohol misuse, or reactive behaviors. You know, be that sexually or some sort of gratification seeking behaviors. In the short term they may seem relatively effective mightn't they? Let's just say, hypothetically, I was trying not to drink, but maybe I really like a drink, and maybe I was trying to do dry January, and then I go and have three beers, quite impulsively. My critic manager is likely to have something to say about that, isn't it? And so then you might start to see some sort of part to part conflict. Or, you know, some sort of polarization of different parts, and the way in which they seek to protect us.

Other firefighters might include self-harming behaviors, or parts that think about more risky behaviors such as self-harm or suicidal ideation. And you've heard me talk in previous audio about dissociation and numbing. You might find a firefighter seeks to numb.Now, there's a third category, aside from these two manager type parts, and that is what what IFS refers to as exiles. Exiles are parts that are holding pain. They're the parts of ourselves who we perhaps dissociated from at a time of distress. And, those parts are stuck and holding pain within us.

And sometimes when we experience pain from the past, or think about painful memory, it's actually an exile part which is trying to show us, or seek help or support. And they're called exiles because our protectors have various, often effective ways, of banishing that pain. Or pushing that part away again. Exiling it, exiling it alone with its struggles.

So, dissociation does that very effectively, doesn't it? Maybe some suppressing manager, or the avoiding manager, or a part that makes us overwork. Or numbing through addiction behaviors or gratification seeking behaviors. So therefore, the pain doesn't get addressed. The exile stays exiled and we continue to potentially struggle.

Now this is all very common, and I'm describing perhaps slightly more struggling system. But, when you really break it down and think about it, and you start to take even the most seemingly simple person with very few mental health difficulties, when you start to break down their mind in this way, I suppose everyone looks a little bit complex, don't they?

Because yeah, all these different working parts to who we are. I'm just trying to get you to think about this, normalize it for you, and if you find it helpful please do listen on to the rest of the series. And I'll be talking more later about how these different parts can affect us and the kind of things that we might be able to do, which can soothe and help ourselves.

Okay, bye for now.