Internal Family Systems (IFS)
What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?
Do you ever feel like parts of you are at odds with each other? Maybe one part wants connection and closeness, while another pulls away out of fear of being hurt. Or perhaps there’s a part that strives for perfection while another feels exhausted and just wants to rest. It can feel like you’re made up of conflicting voices—each trying to protect you in its own way, but leaving you feeling stuck, disconnected, or overwhelmed.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate, evidence-based approach that helps you understand and heal the different “parts” within you. Rather than trying to silence or get rid of these parts, IFS helps you listen to them—learning what each one needs and how they’ve been working to keep you safe.
At Anne Giles Counseling, we use IFS to help clients navigate trauma, anxiety, relationship challenges, and perfectionism by cultivating curiosity instead of judgment. This process builds self-leadership—the calm, confident, and compassionate core of who you are—so you can live from a place of alignment and authenticity.
IFS is especially supportive for individuals experiencing:
Inner conflict or self-criticism
Difficulty trusting or connecting in relationships
Overwhelm, anxiety, or emotional reactivity
People-pleasing or perfectionistic patterns
A desire to heal from trauma or past emotional pain
Through IFS, you’ll learn to relate to yourself with understanding, soften the harsh inner voices, and create space for healing that feels grounded, gentle, and lasting.
How Was Internal Family Systems (IFS) Developed?
Most people think of themselves as one unified “self,” but if you’ve ever caught yourself saying things like “Part of me wants this, but another part of me doesn’t,” then you’ve already experienced the essence of IFS. Developed in the 1980s by Dr. Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems (IFS) emerged from the realization that our inner world operates much like a family—made up of different “parts,” each with its own beliefs, fears, and protective roles.
These parts often develop as responses to life experiences—some shaped by love and purpose, others formed to help us survive pain or trauma. Over time, they can become polarized or extreme, creating inner conflict, self-criticism, anxiety, or emotional shutdown. But at the core of every person lies the Self—a calm, compassionate, grounded presence that can lead the internal system toward balance and healing.
IFS helps you access this Self so you can build a new kind of relationship with your parts—one based on curiosity, not judgment. Instead of pushing them away or trying to “fix” yourself, you learn to understand the purpose behind each part’s behavior and guide them toward safety and trust.
At Anne Giles Counseling, IFS is used to help clients untangle inner conflict, reduce emotional reactivity, and cultivate self-leadership—the ability to meet life’s challenges from a centered, compassionate place. Whether you’re navigating trauma, perfectionism, burnout, or relationship stress, this work helps you move beyond coping into deep, sustainable healing.
Because you’re not broken or fragmented—you’re made of many parts, all trying to protect you. IFS helps those parts finally exhale.
What You Can Expect
Exploration is at the heart of Internal Family Systems (IFS). In our work together, we begin by gently mapping out the “parts” of you that show up most often—perhaps the perfectionist, the caretaker, the achiever, or the part that feels anxious or shut down. Each of these parts has developed for a reason, often as a way to help you manage pain, keep you safe, or maintain control in moments that once felt overwhelming.
Rather than trying to change or silence these parts, we’ll approach them with curiosity and compassion, helping you understand their intentions and release the burdens they carry. As you build trust with these inner parts, you’ll begin to access your Self—the calm, confident, and compassionate center that naturally brings healing and balance to your system.
Throughout this process, you’ll gain awareness of how different parts influence your emotions, behaviors, and relationships, and learn to respond from Self rather than react from protection. The result is greater emotional regulation, clarity, and inner harmony—helping you move through life with more confidence, connection, and authenticity.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) at Anne Giles Counseling
At Anne Giles Counseling, our work is rooted in curiosity and compassion—the kind that helps you understand what’s happening beneath the surface and why. Many of our high-achieving clients are deeply self-aware yet still feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, self-criticism, people-pleasing, or emotional exhaustion. Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers a framework to explore those patterns with clarity and depth, without judgment or pressure to “fix” yourself.
We’re drawn to IFS because it blends evidence-based structure with deep emotional insight. Rather than focusing only on behavior or cognition, IFS works from the inside out—helping you build a relationship with the different “parts” of yourself that drive your reactions, protect you from pain, and influence your relationships.
IFS plays a central role in much of our therapeutic work, often woven together with EMDR and somatic therapy for a more integrative and embodied healing process. We’ve witnessed clients transform self-criticism into self-compassion, understand the parts that fuel burnout, and develop an inner sense of calm and self-trust that feels truly sustainable.
This isn’t about striving for perfection or control—it’s about coming home to yourself.
Reconnect, Understand, and Come Home to Your Self
At Anne Giles Counseling, we specialize in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy to help you move beyond self-criticism, anxiety, and the inner conflicts that keep you feeling stuck. This approach invites you to explore the different “parts” within you—those that strive, protect, avoid, or carry pain—and understand how each has been working to keep you safe.
Through IFS, you’ll learn to relate to these parts with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment or control. As this internal trust deepens, the tension between parts begins to ease, making space for your Self—the calm, confident, and grounded core of who you are—to lead.
You can schedule a free 15-minute consultation or reach out directly to learn more about how IFS therapy can help you feel centered, connected, and whole again.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy Boulder, CO
1650 38th Street, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80301