In an open forum recently, I was asked by someone who was looking for a therapist why he keeps hearing recommendations to find one who is versed in IFS (Internal Family Systems) to support his work with psychedelic medicines. The first and main point of my answer was that IFS can contain the transpersonal. Let’s look at that word “transpersonal”.
“Transpersonal” refers to experiences that are “beyond the usual limits of ego and personality“. Things that come up in journeys that we might call weird, mystical, otherworldly, or ineffable. We might find ourselves disembodied or with perceptual abilities that we don’t normally have. We might encounter visions or “others” that defy normal description. We find ourselves in places and conditions that are impossible in typically normal states of consciousness. For people new to psychedelics or anomalous experiences, this can be super cool, baffling, or scary, depending on many factors.
How do we deal with such things in an IFS framework? IFS uses “parts” language. It allows us to look inside ourselves to identify parts of us that have certain feelings, attitudes, experiences, or jobs. Parts may appear in many forms, such as people (who may or may not look like us), animals, colors, shapes, inanimate objects, fantastic entities, or something else. These are all okay! Staying open and curious is essential. Since a part is not a diagnosis, or a named complex, or a condition to be treated, there are many options left open for the work in a session. Once we have established a relationship with a part, we can help it to transform.
My orientation is coaching, education, and personal growth. My mission is to help people get curious about the learning potential in non-ordinary experiences. With IFS we can bring in something really strange, reserving judgement and diagnosis, so as to name it, interact with it, and benefit from the interaction. It is inspirational to witness a client learning about themselves and their potential for transformation and healing. Always, the client’s system leads the way.
By the way, “all parts are welcome” does not mean all parts are yummy! Allowing them to be seen by the client and the practitioner as they show up in the system, in their raw and immediate manifestations, is a special sauce of the IFS approach. There are steps and safeguards to limit overwhelm and crippling fear. We make sure that we check in frequently with the client’s system and respect what it can handle.