Moving From Acceptance Toward Transformation With Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)

Clients come to psychotherapy intent on changing, rather than accepting, their unwanted behaviors, emotions, or thoughts. The problem often is, however, that their lack of self-acceptance is the primary obstacle to change. This article describes how one approach, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, fosters clients' acceptance of all parts of themselves no matter how destructive, and how that acceptance can lead to the transformation of those parts and, in turn, of other people.