Internal family system therapy (IFS) has been growing in popularity among various mental health professions. With an increase in its use, IFS has been a focus of research which has led to it becoming an evidence-based approach. Keep reading to learn 11 Internal Family Systems Exercises & Activities to do with your Clients.
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Internal family system therapy was developed in the 1980s by Dr. Richard Schwartz. Dr. Schwartz was influenced by a number of approaches including psychodynamic psychotherapy, family therapy, person-centered therapy, and experiential therapy. Dr. Schwartz continued to modify this therapeutic approach as he gained more insight through his clinical practice.
In his clinical work, Dr. Schwartz observed that it is common for clients to come to us with conflicting feelings, thoughts, and emotions. He believes that each of us has different parts within us and that each has its own function and purpose. This concept became known as multiplicity. Multiplicity recognizes that we each have different personalities within ourselves which can have different perspectives and driving emotions.
This led to the development of the Internal Family Systems Model. Key concepts associated with Internal Family Systems Model will be discussed in the next section.
Roles in IFS: Managers, Firefighters, and Exiles
Let’s review the main roles in Internal Family Systems therapy:
- Managers – Managers refer to protective roles that try to keep themselves safe. This can include keeping the individual from forming close relationships that could cause distress.
- Exiles – Exiles refer to emotions such as feeling hurt, humiliated, frightened, and shamed, that the manager keeps out of consciousness in locked inner closets.
- Firefighters – A firefighter’s role is to act when exiles are upset and may bring their extreme emotions out of their locked closet, or put the individual in a vulnerable position.
- Self – The Self: The Internal Family Systems Model believes that each of us has a core Self that has qualities such as perspective, confidence, compassion, and acceptance. The challenge that clients may experience is that they may have little access to their Self.
- Self-Led Person – The Self-Led Person: When individuals learn to trust and are able to see that they didn’t need to protect themselves as much as they were, the Self is able to lead. When in a crisis, a Self-Led Person is able to remain calm and centered so they can navigate the situation at hand in a calm manner.
Mental Health Concerns That Can Benefit from Internal Family Systems Therapy
As an evidenced-based approach, IFS can be used with clients who are experiencing a range of mental health concerns, and clients from various populations. IFS can be used with clients who are living with trauma-related concerns, anxiety, depression, and substance use concerns. This can include individuals who experienced childhood trauma and neglect.
Additionally, Internal family services can be used with individuals who are living with low self-esteem, low self-worth, and poor emotion regulation skills.
Consistent with other therapeutic approaches, there are some situations where IFS would not be the best fit. This includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some personality disorders. Additionally, IFS may not be the best approach to use with clients who are currently in a crisis.
Internal Family Systems Exercises
Internal family systems exercises can be used to provide psychoeducation and explore concepts associated with internal family systems therapy. Most of the IFS activities you can use can be tailored to your client and their needs. Examples of internal family systems activities that you could use in a counseling session include:
1. Parts Visualization Mapping Exercise
Begin your session by providing psychoeducation about different parts of our internal systems. After your client has an understanding of the different parts that can be within themselves, ask them to draw circles that overlap into one area. Ask your client to label the different areas of themselves that connect to the center, which represents their core Self. This visualization can help your client visualize the different parts of themselves, and how they are intertwined with each other. Allow for time to process their thoughts and reactions to this exercise, and any changes it has led to within their perception of themselves.
What It Is: A visual mapping exercise that helps clients identify and organize different parts of their internal system in relation to the core Self.
How It Helps Clients: Improves self-awareness, normalizes internal multiplicity, and helps clients understand how their parts interact and influence one another.
How to Do It: Provide psychoeducation about IFS parts (managers, firefighters, exiles, and Self). Ask the client to draw overlapping circles with a shared center representing the Self. Have them label surrounding areas with different parts and allow time to process insights and emotional reactions.
2. Connecting to Vulnerable Parts and Unburdening
TherapyByPro’s Connecting to Vulnerable Parts and Unburdening Worksheet can be used to help clients release burdens, traumas, and limiting beliefs that their parts may be carrying. The progression of this worksheet can be used to guide your session. There are six components to this worksheet that will encourage your client to connect with their exiled parts so they can work towards releasing the negative aspects of it. Allow for time to process their experience with their exercise.
What It Is: A structured worksheet-based exercise focused on identifying and releasing emotional burdens carried by exiled parts.
How It Helps Clients: Supports trauma processing, reduces emotional distress, and promotes healing by helping parts release limiting beliefs and past pain.
How to Do It: Use TherapyByPro’s Connecting to Vulnerable Parts and Unburdening Worksheet to guide the session through its six components. Move at the client’s pace, ensure emotional safety, and process reactions after completion.
3. Meeting and Welcoming Protective Parts
Once your client has a grasp on healthy and effective coping skills, you can work with them to meet and welcome the different parts of themselves that may be scary or overwhelming. It is important to ensure that you have developed a safe and supportive environment within the context of your therapeutic relationship for this IFS activity. Encourage your client to approach this IFS exercise with compassion and a healthy curiosity about themselves. The goal of this exercise is to further explore the intentions of this part and better understand why it is trying to protect them.
What It Is: An IFS exercise that helps clients safely engage with protective parts such as managers or firefighters.
How It Helps Clients: Reduces fear and resistance toward protective behaviors while increasing compassion and understanding of internal defenses.
How to Do It: Ensure the client has grounding skills in place. Invite them to approach protective parts with curiosity and kindness, exploring each part’s intention and protective role.
4. Parts Mapping Worksheet
This Parts Mapping Worksheet is another example of a mapping exercise that can promote self-awareness and help in the healing process by deepening their understanding of their different parts. Encourage your client to take their time as they explore the different parts of themselves and pay attention to the varying qualities, perspectives, and roles that are present. Allow for time to process their experience and explore any changes to their understanding of themselves and their different parts.
What It Is: A structured mapping activity that deepens understanding of the client’s internal system.
How It Helps Clients: Promotes insight, organization, and clarity around the roles and relationships between parts.
How to Do It: Use the Parts Mapping Worksheet to help clients identify different parts, their qualities, and functions. Allow time to reflect on patterns and internal dynamics.
5. Working With Exiles
Working with the exiles is an IFS exercise where you focus on exploring the exiles in your client’s Self. This can be a delicate process because it often includes trauma and other challenging experiences. Because of this, proceed at a pace that is comfortable for your client, which means that it can’t occur over a number of sessions. Additionally, it is important to ensure that they have the necessary skills to cope with any discomfort that may arise for them. You can begin by identifying their exiles with the use of thoughtful exploration questions, followed by validation and normalizing the existence of these exiles. You can then encourage your client to communicate with their exiled parts. After working with the exiles, spend time exploring their managers and firefighters that work to protect them. While your client is exploring these parts of themselves, the clinician can help the client validate their concerns, and provide support for their intended purpose.
What It Is: A core IFS exercise focused on gently engaging exiled parts that carry pain, shame, or trauma.
How It Helps Clients: Facilitates emotional healing, reduces avoidance, and helps clients integrate wounded parts safely.
How to Do It: Proceed slowly and ensure adequate emotional regulation skills. Identify exiles through exploratory questions, validate their experiences, and explore how protective parts attempt to manage the distress.
6. The 8 Cs of Self Leadership
The 8 Cs is a common internal family systems activity. With this activity, you will help your client explore each of the C’s and how they relate to it. The 8 Cs that are explored include:
- Curiosity
- Connectedness
- Calm
- Courage
- Confidence
- Creativity
- Clarity
- Compassion
Allow for time to process any takeaways that your client has gained from this IFS exercise.
What It Is: An exercise that explores the qualities of the Self as defined in IFS therapy.
How It Helps Clients: Strengthens access to Self-energy and increases clients’ confidence in their ability to lead their internal system.
How to Do It: Guide clients through reflection on each of the 8 Cs: curiosity, connectedness, calm, courage, confidence, creativity, clarity, and compassion. Process insights gained during the exercise.
7. Self-Compassion for Parts Exercise
Another internal family systems activity that can be beneficial is to guide your client through a self-compassion exercise. This should incorporate kindness and understanding that they show themselves and their different parts.
What It Is: A guided compassion-based IFS activity focused on offering kindness to internal parts.
How It Helps Clients: Reduces self-criticism, increases emotional safety, and promotes internal trust.
How to Do It: Guide clients through intentionally offering compassion, validation, and understanding to their parts, particularly those associated with distress.
8. Driving the Bus Exercise
This Driving the Bus Worksheet can be used to explore how the different parts of you responded to an inner conflict. You will then be able to explore which part is “driving the bus” and further explore this experience with your client. Allow the worksheet to guide the progression of your session, and ensure that you have time to process your client’s experience with this IFS exercise.
What It Is: A metaphor-based IFS exercise that explores which part is currently directing behavior during internal conflict.
How It Helps Clients: Increases awareness of part-driven behaviors and supports intentional Self-leadership.
How to Do It: Use the Driving the Bus Worksheet to help clients identify which part is “driving” during a recent conflict and process how that affected outcomes.
9. Exploring Multiplicity
Exploring your client’s experience with multiplicity can be beneficial to internal family systems activity. As your client explores the different parts of themselves, take time to normalize this experience and that they have different parts of themselves. Bringing awareness to their different parts can help them work towards gaining more access to their core Self.
What It Is: A normalization-focused exercise addressing the presence of multiple parts within the self.
How It Helps Clients: Reduces shame, increases acceptance, and reinforces the IFS concept that multiplicity is normal.
How to Do It: Discuss the concept of multiplicity, validate the client’s experience of having different parts, and explore how awareness supports access to the core Self.
10. Resolving Conflicts Between Parts
A common experience that internal family systems therapy works to explore is the conflict within different parts of themselves. This can be a challenging experience for clients to experience and navigate. TherapyByPro offers a Resolving Conflicts Between 2 Parts Worksheet that can be used to make sense of tension and conflict between different parts of themselves. The goal of this worksheet is to find a path forward that both parts are agreeable to. Similarly, TherapyByPro offers a Resolving Conflicts Between 3 Parts Worksheet that can be used to address 3 conflicting parts.
What It Is: A conflict-resolution exercise designed to address tension between internal parts.
How It Helps Clients: Promotes internal harmony, cooperation, and emotional regulation.
How to Do It: Use TherapyByPro’s Resolving Conflicts Between 2 Parts or 3 Parts Worksheet to guide exploration of competing needs and collaboratively identify a path forward.
11. Understanding the Exile Part
This Understanding My Exile Part Worksheet can be used to help clients understand the part of themselves that protects them from feelings including pain, fear, and sorrow. Exploring this part of your client should be done in a safe environment, and allow your client to recognize the purpose of these emotions being locked away.
What It Is: A worksheet-based IFS exercise focused on understanding the role and purpose of exiled parts.
How It Helps Clients: Supports trauma awareness, emotional integration, and compassionate self-understanding.
How to Do It: Use the Understanding My Exile Part Worksheet in a safe therapeutic setting. Encourage reflection on what the exile protects and how healing can occur through Self-leadership.
Frequently Asked Clinical Questions
Below are the practical questions clinicians ask when introducing and implementing Internal Family Systems (IFS) exercises and activities in therapy sessions:
How can a clinician structurally introduce parts visualization mapping to a client struggling to conceptualize multiplicity?
Guide the client to draw overlapping circles around a shared center that represents their core Self. Validate the concept of internal multiplicity to naturally reduce shame and increase baseline self-acceptance. Have them label the surrounding fields with active parts to clarify how different sub-personalities interact and influence daily choices.
When utilizing an unburdening worksheet, what clinical parameters prevent an exiled part from flooding the client’s system?
Verify that the client possesses adequate distress tolerance and grounding skills before engaging locked childhood wounds. Proceed slowly across multiple sessions and explicitly seek operational permission from active manager parts. Validating and normalizing the exile’s pain avoids sudden autonomic nervous system overload or system shutdown.
How should a therapist handle a highly reactive firefighter part during a “Driving the Bus” exercise?
Utilize the metaphor to identify which protective sub-personality has forcefully taken over the client’s current behavioral direction. Approach the firefighter with healthy curiosity and radical compassion rather than direct, non-collaborative confrontation. Uncover its positive intent as an emergency shield designed to bury intense emotional pain.
Why are complex experiential IFS activities contraindicated for individuals experiencing acute crises or active psychosis?
Intensive sub-personality exploration requires a stable baseline of cognitive clarity and cohesive psychological grounding. Deeply analyzing polarized internal conflicts when structural coping resources are spent can trigger severe clinical decompensation. Prioritize immediate crisis stabilization, objective safety planning, and basic distress tolerance until the client stabilizes.
How can a clinician write objective, measurable treatment plan goals when assigning qualitative parts mapping activities?
Frame your target progress metrics around the client’s concrete behavioral capacity to identify and track active parts. Write specific objectives requiring them to log internal conflicts, complete the 8 Cs worksheet, or apply Self-led coping mechanisms. This successfully translates qualitative internal dialogue into trackable data parameters for managed care reviewers.
Final Thoughts On Choosing IFT Exercises & Activities
Thank you for reading this resource on 11 Internal Family Systems Exercises & Activities to do with your Clients. IFS exercises can be a powerful tool for clinicians who are using internal family systems therapy in their clinical work. By introducing IFS concepts in digestible pieces, you can explore them with your clients and try to help them gain more access to their Self.
If you are interested in learning more about internal family systems therapy, we encourage you to seek out Continuing Education Courses and other training opportunities in your area. Once you develop a thorough understanding of IFS, its concepts, and exercises, you can then work to apply your new knowledge and skills to your clinical practice.
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