Approach · Internal Family Systems
Internal Family Systems
Sometimes the clearest description of an internal struggle is that there is more than one voice involved: a part that wants to leave the job and a part that is terrified to, a part that wants to speak up and a part convinced it is safer to stay quiet.
The Language
Speaking in Parts
Internal Family Systems describes the mind as made up of distinct parts, each with its own perspective, history and intention, rather than a single unified voice that is simply confused. Naming a part (the perfectionist part, the part that shuts down in conflict, the part that still sounds like a critical parent from decades ago) is often the first moment a client can talk about a pattern without either fully identifying with it or being ashamed of it. It becomes something you have, rather than something you entirely are.
This is used here as a way of working inside individual therapy, drawn on where it is useful, rather than a formal certification or a stand-alone program. It sits alongside the ordinary work of individual sessions (history, current relationships, concrete goals) as one additional lens for describing what is happening internally.
Why Protectors Show Up
Protectors and What They Protect
Parts that look unhelpful from the outside (the part that picks a fight right before something good happens, the part that overworks until it is exhausted, the part that goes numb in an argument) are usually protectors. Their job is to keep something more vulnerable from being exposed again: an old fear of abandonment, a memory of being humiliated, a belief formed young that needing something is dangerous. A protector rarely responds well to being told to stop, because from its own perspective it is the only thing preventing real harm.
Working with a protector, rather than around it, usually means getting curious about what it is afraid would happen if it eased off, and only then turning attention to the more vulnerable part it has been guarding. That order matters. Trying to reach the vulnerable part first, before a protector trusts that it is safe to step back, tends to produce more defense rather than less.
A Stuck Decision
Internal Conflict Made Visible
Consider someone stuck for months on whether to end a relationship. Framed as a single question, stay or go, it can feel like an unsolvable riddle, revisited every few weeks with no more clarity than before. Framed in parts, it often turns out to be two or three positions arguing past each other: a part exhausted by the relationship and ready to leave, a part afraid of being alone, and a part loyal to a version of the relationship that existed years ago and has not been true for a while. Naming each of these separately usually does more to unstick the decision than any amount of pros and cons lists.
This pairs naturally with the systemic frame described on the main Approach page. A family or a couple is itself a system of interacting members, each with their own needs and histories; a person’s internal parts operate the same way in miniature. Understanding one often clarifies the other, which is part of why this way of working fits comfortably inside a practice trained in marriage and family therapy.
Athena is not IFS-certified. This is described as a way of working she draws on inside individual therapy, not a formal credential. She is not a prescriber and does not treat substance abuse, grief, or OCD.
Common Questions
Internal Family Systems Questions
- Is Athena certified in Internal Family Systems?
- No. She draws on IFS-informed, parts-based language as one way of working inside individual therapy. That is not presented as a formal certification.
- Does using parts language mean I have a disorder?
- No. Talking about internal parts (a protective part, a tired part, a part that wants something different) is simply a way of describing internal conflict, useful for almost anyone stuck between two impulses.
- How does this connect to family therapy if I am only in individual sessions?
- Athena is trained as a marriage and family therapist, so the internal system you are made of is considered alongside the external system you live inside (your household, partnership or family) even when only you are in the room.
- What does individual therapy cost?
- Individual sessions are 60 minutes at $200, in person in Salt Lake City or by telehealth anywhere in Utah.
Start With the Contact Form
Parts language is one tool used inside individual therapy, alongside whatever else fits your situation.