Open uping Healing: The Power of Internal Family Systems Informed EMDR Therapy
Are you seeking a deeper path to heal from past trauma? Internal family systems informed emdr therapy offers a powerful answer by combining two highly effective methods.
This approach:
- Integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS) with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
- Uses IFS to help you understand your inner “parts” and connect with your core “Self.”
- Employs EMDR to reprocess distressing memories and reduce their emotional impact.
- Effectively addresses complex trauma, especially when you feel “stuck.”
This guide explores how these therapies work together for transformative healing.
I’m Bambi Rattner, Psy.D., and my experience has shown me the incredible potential of internal family systems informed emdr therapy to foster lasting change.
Important internal family systems informed emdr therapy terms:
The Foundations: Understanding IFS and EMDR
To understand how Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR work together, let’s first look at each approach individually. They offer a gentle, powerful way to bring peace to your inner world.
What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?
Developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems therapy views the mind as having multiple “parts.” This non-pathologizing approach sees these parts not as signs of illness, but as entities trying to keep you safe. IFS identifies three types of parts:
- Exiles: Wounded parts carrying pain from past trauma.
- Managers: Proactive protectors that control situations to prevent pain.
- Firefighters: Emergency responders that use impulsive behaviors to soothe emotional fires.
At your core is your Self, an undamaged essence of wisdom and compassion. Accessing your Self brings forth the 8 C’s of Self-Energy: Calm, Curiosity, Compassion, Confidence, Courage, Creativity, Connectedness, and Clarity. The goal is to help your parts trust your Self to lead, allowing them to relax their extreme roles. Learn more through An overview of the Internal Family Systems model.
What is EMDR Therapy?
Developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing helps the brain process experiences that have become stuck. Based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, EMDR addresses how maladaptively stored memories can trigger ongoing distress.
The 8-phase treatment uses bilateral stimulation (BLS)—such as eye movements—while you focus on a distressing memory. This stimulates the brain’s natural healing process, leading to desensitization (reducing the emotional charge) and reprocessing (integrating the memory healthily). The result is a sense of empowerment and freedom from being hijacked by the past. You can learn more about EMDR as an evidence-based treatment.
Both IFS and EMDR are powerful on their own, but when they come together in internal family systems informed emdr therapy, they create a framework for safe, thorough, and respectful healing.
The Synergy: How IFS and EMDR Create a Powerful Alliance for Healing
When IFS and EMDR join forces, they create a powerful alliance for healing. Internal family systems informed emdr therapy is particularly effective for those who feel “stuck” in therapy or find that EMDR alone doesn’t resolve underlying internal conflicts.
Protective “parts” can create blocks that slow the EMDR process. Instead of pushing past these protectors, this integrated approach befriends them, respectfully gaining their permission before working with vulnerable “Exile” parts. IFS provides a map to steer these internal dynamics, while EMDR offers the engine for reprocessing memories. This teamwork increases safety, allows for deeper processing, and reduces the risk of feeling overwhelmed. Your Self-energy becomes a vital resource, paving the way for internal attachment repair. For more information, visit More info about IFS therapy services.
The Unique Benefits of Integrating IFS into EMDR
Integrating IFS into EMDR makes the healing journey gentler and more effective, especially for complex trauma. Key benefits include:
- Improved Resourcing: IFS helps you connect with your Self-energy, building inner resilience from within to prepare you for deep trauma work.
- Navigating Internal Conflict: When parts are at odds, IFS provides tools to understand and negotiate with them, preventing you from getting “stuck” in EMDR.
- Preventing Flooding: By gaining permission from protective parts before processing, we greatly reduce the risk of feeling overwhelmed.
- Self-Led Healing: IFS empowers you to lead your own healing from your core Self, making the process more about internal guidance than external intervention.
- Changing Traumatic Memories: IFS helps the parts carrying trauma to “unburden” themselves, leading to more profound and lasting change than just desensitization.
- Relational Repair with Self: The process helps you build a secure and trusting internal attachment, healing the fractures caused by trauma.
- Increased Client Empowerment: Understanding and leading your internal system gives you a greater sense of agency over your well-being.
The Role of Self-Energy in the Therapeutic Process
Your Self-energy is the core of who you are, untouched by trauma and possessing the qualities needed for healing: calm, curiosity, compassion, confidence, courage, creativity, connectedness, and clarity. Accessing this core Self is vital in internal family systems informed emdr therapy.
When guided by your Self, you bring a peaceful presence to your internal system, providing a secure attachment figure for your wounded parts. They feel safe enough to share their stories and release their burdens. Your Self is the wise, compassionate leader your inner system needs. It fosters self-compassion and creates the ideal environment for lasting change, acting as the primary agent of healing that fuels the EMDR reprocessing.
Navigating Healing: How Internal Family Systems Informed EMDR Therapy Works in Practice
Feeling stuck, looping on thoughts, or dissociating in therapy are common signs of protective parts at work. Internal family systems informed emdr therapy sees these as attempts to keep you safe, not as obstacles. We approach these parts with curiosity, asking what they fear and need. This collaborative approach helps you stay within your window of tolerance, where you can process difficult material without being overwhelmed.
We use the 6 F’s of IFS to connect with parts: Find, Focus, Flesh out, Feel towards, Befriend, and explore their Fears. This careful pacing and the use of IFS interweaves—gentle pauses to check in with parts during EMDR—ensure your internal system feels respected, keeping the healing process flowing.
Applying IFS Across the 8 Phases of EMDR
IFS enriches all eight phases of EMDR treatment:
- Phase 1 (History Taking): We map your internal system, identifying which parts carry pain and which protect you.
- Phase 2 (Preparation): We focus on connecting with your Self-energy and building trust with protective parts.
- Phase 3 (Assessment): We identify not just the target memory, but also which parts hold it.
- Phase 4 (Desensitization): We use IFS interweaves to soothe activated parts during processing, preventing loops.
- Phase 5 (Installation): We ensure all parts agree with the new positive cognition.
- Phase 6 (Body Scan): We check with parts to release any remaining physical tension.
- Phase 7 (Closure): We ensure all parts feel safe and contained before the session ends.
- Phase 8 (Re-evaluation): We begin the next session by assessing the internal system’s harmony.
A Closer Look at an Internal Family Systems Informed EMDR Therapy Session
A session begins by noticing trailheads—clues to which parts are active. We then use direct access communication, talking directly with these parts from your Self to understand their concerns. Once protective parts feel heard, they often grant permission to work with vulnerable Exile parts.
This leads to unburdening, where an Exile’s story is witnessed by your compassionate Self, often using EMDR to reprocess the trauma. This witnessing and retrieval allows the Exile to release its burdens and transform. We can also address legacy burdens—pain passed down through family or culture. The result is the integration of unburdened parts, which return to the system with positive qualities, moving your inner world from conflict to collaboration.
A Deeper Dive: Addressing Complex Trauma and Dissociation
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), often resulting from developmental trauma, can create a tangled knot of overwhelming emotions, somatic responses, and dissociation. This can make healing feel difficult. However, internal family systems informed emdr therapy offers a gentle yet powerful way to untangle these knots and find lasting peace.
The Role of ‘Protector Parts’ in an Internal Family Systems Informed EMDR Therapy Framework
In complex trauma, protective Managers and Firefighters are often highly active. They developed to help you survive, and their intentions are positive, even if their methods are now problematic. Standard EMDR can sometimes trigger these protectors by approaching memories too directly, leading to resistance or dissociation. Protectors fear overwhelm and work to keep vulnerable Exile parts hidden.
Internal family systems informed emdr therapy respects this dynamic. We don’t push past protectors; we negotiate with them. By approaching them with curiosity and respect, we understand their fears and what they need to feel safe. Once protectors trust that your Self can handle the process, they often relax and allow the healing to proceed. You can learn more about How IFS helps with EMDR resourcing.
How This Integrated Approach Safely Heals Complex Trauma
Internal family systems informed emdr therapy safely heals complex trauma by:
- Careful Pacing: We honor your “window of tolerance,” pausing and using IFS tools to prevent overwhelm and re-traumatization.
- Working with Dissociative Parts: We communicate with dissociative parts, understanding their protective role and helping them find healthier strategies.
- Healing Exiled Parts: With permission from protectors, your Self witnesses the pain of Exiles while EMDR helps release their burdens, allowing for integration.
- Preventing Re-traumatization: Gaining permission from protectors and leading with Self-energy creates a much safer space for deep healing.
- Building Internal Trust: Compassionate dialogue with all your parts builds internal safety, allowing your system to relax and find harmony.
This approach creates profound, lasting change, not just symptom reduction. For more details, refer to Modifications for Complex PTSD in EMDR.
Key Considerations for IFS-Informed EMDR
Choosing the right therapy is a significant decision. While internal family systems informed emdr therapy offers profound benefits, it’s important to understand how it differs from standard EMDR.
- Handling “Resistance”: Standard EMDR may see stuck points as something to overcome. The integrated approach sees a protective part at work and pauses to communicate with it compassionately.
- Resourcing: Instead of just teaching grounding techniques, IFS-informed work focuses on connecting you with your core Self-energy as the primary internal resource.
- Client’s Role: You become an active leader in your healing, developing relationships with your parts, rather than a passive recipient of treatment.
- View of Symptoms: Symptoms are seen not as pathologies to be fixed, but as the actions of parts trying to protect you. This is a de-pathologizing perspective.
Therapists practicing this integrated method require extensive training in both modalities to blend them skillfully. They must also be aware of their own internal parts to remain present and effective.
This approach is also culturally sensitive. The IFS concept of “legacy burdens”—beliefs passed down through generations—resonates with those who have experienced cultural or systemic trauma, allowing for the healing of inherited pain.
While more formal research is developing, clinical experience shows that addressing internal conflicts alongside traumatic memories leads to deeper, more lasting change. This therapy helps you develop a new, harmonious relationship with yourself, which becomes a foundation for ongoing resilience.
Frequently Asked Questions about IFS and EMDR Integration
Is IFS-Informed EMDR faster than other therapies?
While EMDR is known for efficiency, internal family systems informed emdr therapy can sometimes accelerate healing by navigating internal blocks and gaining cooperation from protective parts. This means less time feeling “stuck.” However, the priority is not speed but deep, lasting change. The therapy moves at a pace that feels safe for your system. For those seeking a concentrated experience, our intensive retreats offer an opportunity for accelerated healing, with many clients achieving breakthroughs in days rather than months.
What is a common myth about this integrated therapy?
A common myth is that this therapy “pushes past” protective parts to get to the trauma. The opposite is true. The approach is built on respect and collaboration with all parts. We honor the positive intentions of your protectors (Managers and Firefighters) and engage them with curiosity. We take time to understand their fears and gain their permission before proceeding. This consent-based approach is about befriending parts and building internal trust, not forcing access.
Do I need to have a specific diagnosis to benefit?
No. While highly effective for complex trauma and PTSD, this therapy helps with a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, depression, addictions, relational issues, and low self-esteem. It’s beneficial for anyone who feels “stuck” in patterns or at war with themselves. If you seek to understand your inner world and resolve internal conflicts, internal family systems informed emdr therapy can be a powerful path toward a more integrated life.
Start on a Journey of Integrated Healing
Combining the self-understanding of IFS with the memory reprocessing of EMDR creates a path that transforms your relationship with yourself. Internal family systems informed emdr therapy is a compassionate approach to lasting change that honors your inner world. You learn to work with your parts and reprocess past experiences to find peace.
This journey leads to Self-leadership, where your core Self guides you with wisdom and clarity, creating inner harmony. You move from reactivity to calm confidence. This change goes beyond symptom relief; you develop a secure internal attachment, becoming a loving presence for all parts of yourself. This inner security fosters healthier relationships and a more authentic life.
At Intensive Therapy Retreats, our immersive format allows you to dive deep and achieve breakthroughs in a condensed timeframe, free from daily interruptions. If you’re ready for a path that leads to profound and enduring healing, we invite you to explore what’s possible. The journey to wholeness can be accelerated when you give yourself the dedicated time to go deep.
Explore our EMDR therapy retreats and find how internal family systems informed emdr therapy can open up your capacity for lasting change.