Glossary

This is a glossary of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of the mind, plus the related concepts and techniques we keep reaching for.

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

It is not authoritative. We are not the IFS Institute — we are the people who run events with no keynote speakers and no schedule, and who have published an article about the sock of destiny. Where our usage drifts from the canon, or where we just have opinions, we say so in the entry. Where we are unsure, we would rather say that than smooth it over.

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)

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)