Internal Family Systems Therapy—New Dimensions

Internal family systems therapy, or IFS, is widely recognized as one of the most compassionate and comprehensive psychotherapies available. Its non-pathologizing approaches to behavior, consciousness, and personality have been adopted by clinicians around the world, but with the exception of Richard Schwartz’s foundational introductory text, few texts give clinicians the information they need on adapting the IFS framework to patients’ complex and diverse needs and circumstances. Internal Family Systems Therapy changes that. The chapters focus on topics common in therapists’ practice, and each provides both a refreshing approach to sometimes-thorny issues, and clear, practical guidance for how best to explore them in treatment. For any practitioner interested in learning about this vital, vibrant form of therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy is the perfect introduction. For clinicians already part of the IFS community, this book is bound to become one of the most essential tools in their toolbox.

CE credit is available to purchasers of this book at www.mensanapublications.com.

Martha Sweezy, PhD, is the associate director and director of training for the dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) program at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a lecturer on psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, and assists at IFS trainings. She is the author of two articles on IFS, "Treating Trauma After Dialectical Behavioral Therapy" in the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration (2011, Vol. 21, No. 1, 90–102) and "The Teenager’s Confession: Regulating Shame in Internal Family Systems Therapy" in the American Journal of Psychotherapy (2011, Vol. 65, Issue 2, 179-188). She has a therapy and consultation practice in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Ellen L. Ziskind, LICSW, has been affiliated with Harvard Medical School at Cambridge Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Institute for Psychotherapy and Two Brattle Center, leading staff groups and doing group consultation. Currently she is on the faculty at Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy. IFS is an integral part of her work with individuals, couples and groups. She has a private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts.