Glossary

This is a glossary of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of the mind and psychotherapy, plus the related concepts and techniques you may find in our writing and beyond.

We wrote it because we kept using words like “unblending” in articles and then spending a paragraph explaining them. Now we link to the terms here instead.

It is not authoritative. We are not the IFS Institute: we are the people who explore IFS well beyond the therapy room. We are the people who run participatory and inclusive events with no keynote speakers, and who write articles that at times go beyond the serious-only context of IFS. We have opinions, we share them and hope that we can have meaningful conversations with those who read them.

Other glossaries exist, and some are better sourced. This one is ours, which mostly means it matches how we actually talk.

IFS Specific

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Parts Work

Inner Alignment

Direct Access (IFS)

Self

Self-energy

Critical mass of self energy

Parts (in IFS)

Protectors

Proactive parts - managers

Reactive parts - firefighters

Vulnerable parts - exiles

Polarization

Burdens

Trailheads

Blending & Unblending

Personal vs. Legacy Burdens

Witnessing & Retrieval

Unburdening

Self-Leadership

Parts Mapping

Lifemapping

The 8 C’s of Self

The 6 F’s of Working with a Protector

Exile Retrieval Imagery

IFS-Informed Communication

Self vs. Manager Functioning

Self-like Parts

Collective Systems

IFIO (Intimacy from the Inside Out)

Unattached Burdens

IFS Trained, Certified, Informed

Related

Values Clarification

Titration

Mindfulness

Negotiation

Compassion

Boundaries

Attachment

Cultural Trauma

Rituals

Integration

Corrective Emotional Experience (CEE)

Window of Tolerance

Co-regulation

Rupture and Repair

Mentalization (Reflective Function)

Empathy

Empathy vs. Compassion

Attachment Styles

Felt Sense

Practice

Spiritual Bypassing

Metta Bhavana (Loving-kindness Meditation)

The Four Immeasurables (Brahmaviharas)

Equanimity (Upekkha)

Inner Saboteur

Homeplay (Take-Home Practice)

Affirmations

Unconference (Open Space)

Focusing

Pragmatic Dharma

No-self, Buddha Nature, Bodhicitta

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Ego State Therapy

Schema Therapy