“Truth is One, Paths are Many”
Gandhi / Sri Swami Satchidananda / Vedanta
“One Self, Many Minds”
IFS book title
I close in on finishing the hotly anticipated (at least by me ;) new book No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with The Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, I’m awestruck by the undeniable synchronicity of how my multiple therapeutic and spiritual interests, beyond IFS, come together in these pages.
Should I be surprised? No. Because when we’re aligned with who we truly are, with what has meaning for us, when we own it AND are open to the many mysterious workings of the universe, such synchronicities are ready made. Plentiful.
But still, I’m amazed! I’ll explain why.
IFS: NUTSHELL
The Internal Family Systems model, as you may already know, and while hardly new, represents a timely paradigm shift in the history of psychotherapy and mental health treatment. Positing that we are all internally multiple (Multiplicity of Mind/Polypsychism), it flips the mono-mind view and the antiquated psychiatric and medicalized deficit/pathology/diagnostic model on its head, in the most beautiful and life-affirming way possible.
IFS goes beyond analytic and cognitive “all head” models in favor of a profoundly hopeful, respectful, holistic, mindbodysoul somatic/body-based, “felt sense” experience of our internal workings; our own multiplicity.
It also goes far deeper than the many mindfulness-based approaches popular today.
Like many ancient spiritual traditions, IFS declares that we all have a core essence- the seat of consciousness- a soul if you will. Everyone, no exceptions, And that this essence is intact, undamaged, essentially whole—regardless of what trauma, pain or suffering we may have endured.
In IFS, this essence is called the Self. Or Larger Self.
To access, perceive, and align with this larger SELF is the penultimate goal, or what in IFS is called becoming Self-Led.
From this perspective, our pain, trauma, our ‘symptoms,’ our ‘defenses,’ are all called ‘Parts.’ And even the classic “ego” is reframed as not as a discrete and notoriously selfish state, but as a collection of (protector) parts. Sorry Freud.
There are three distinct categories of parts in IFS. Exiles, which are usually the youngest, most vulnerable ‘child’ parts of ourselves that carry the deepest, oldest pain. Managers are parts whose role is to protect our exiles. And lastly Firefighters, who spring us into extreme action (i.e. drinking binge, spending spree, suicidality) when the internal system/psyche is threatened (usually by an overwhelming external event) to become flooded with the pain our managers might not be able to contain.
In IFS therapy, all parts are seen as having a positive intent, no matter how extreme or even destructive their roles might be.
Parts were forced into their roles for reasons. Accepting this, the work initially is to come to understand those reasons, not fight with them, or try to change it by force or rationality. We go inside, initiate contact with our parts, ask for space to be created, open a dialogue, and creatively, patient, using imagination, visualization, step by step methodology, and the safety of the therapeutic connection, explore what our parts are feeling, what they’re doing for us and why, and what they would ultimately need to know it’s safe to release the pain or extreme roles they been stuck in.
(Schwartz’s No Bad Parts offers several guided exercises that you can experiment with on your own—with some important caveats—so you can begin to get the lay of the land of your own internal parts landscape. If you’re curious, I highly recommend checking it out).
Ultimately, we want to encourage and help our parts to heal (un-blend and unburden), come into the present time with us, and take on more up-to-date roles in the system so that there is increasing functionality, harmony amongst our parts, integration, and trust in our larger SELF to lead.
There’s much more to it, of course, This is just the basic premise and goals. The bulk of the work must be therapeutically assisted, with a trained or experienced IFS practitioner (such as yours truly, as I’ve been studying and applying IFS since 2006).
psychedelics
“Everything is either medicine or poison, depending on dose, and how it’s used”
-Siddha Veda
As you may know, if you’ve been following me on Instagram, or this blog, while psychedelics are still classified as illegal Schedule 1 controlled substances (and I am NOT advocating anyone breaking the law), I’m more than on board with every individual’s sovereign choice and right to do as they chose (lest it harm none) and be in charge of their ow mind, body and consciousness. As such, I’m all-in with the healing and integration power and potential of psychedelics and plant medicines when used mindfully, responsibly, and ideally, with competent guidance and therapeutic integrational support.
You may also know that we are in the midst of a global renaissance of psychedelic research. This is being called the “third wave” of research and attention on various psychedelic and plant compounds for their medicinal and therapeutic potential. Psychedelics-as-medicine has even recently made headline/feature status in the New York Times. The first and second waves we could say went awry due to heavy-handed governmental control and the ultimate demonization of all non-pharmaceutical substances. And the misapplication and spiritual-bypassing-flavored glorification of psychedelics by the counterculture movement, leading to the “reefer madness” craze and the larger war on drugs policy that essentially relegated psychedelics to the shadows.
Yet, they never went away. And of course, plant medicines are part and parcel of various indigenous cultures, shamanic traditions and ceremonial practices for an aeon.
What you may not know is that Silicon Valley tech geniuses have been microdosing LSD and psilocybin for decades, quietly championing their potential for increased energy, focus, and creative thinking.
And here we are now in 2021 on the cusp of the mainstreaming and immanent legalization of psychedelics and plant medicines (at least for clinical and therapeutic application) thanks to the diligent work of organizations like MAPS, and the increasingly promising outcomes these substances (psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine, ayahuasca, DMT etc) are being shown to have on a variety of mental health conditions as demonstrated in study after study, clinical trail after trial by some of he worlds most prestigious institutions (Harvard, John Hopkins, etc).
convergence
So while reading Richard Schwartz’s No Bad Parts, I was astonished to hear Dick (as he’s known) express his own fascination, hopefulness and endorsement of the current psychedelic research and medicine movement. He appears to favor MDMA (“ecstasy”) as a medicinal and therapeutic aid to facilitate both parts work and the connection to SELF, which, remember, is understood in IFS to be in essence, the embodiment of soul, the seat of consciousness. The God within, if you will.
His rationale for MDMA as facilitator of connection with the larger Self over other psychedelic compounds is essentially that it does not initiate the types of acute, gross hallucinations and perceptual warping common with (higher doses) of LSD and psilocybin.
And I see his point. From a therapeutic and psycho-spiritual standpoint, one that seeks to facilitate healing, wholeness, and spiritual connection/connection to Source— the All That There Is, the I AM THAT I AM, the God Mind, etc— let’s face it, tripping balls, as they say, would be viewed as novelty, frivolity, unnecessary. A potential psychological and spiritual impediment even.
At the same time, I believe there to be inestimable potential larger value, and therefore I support the well-thought through heroic dosing adventures of any intrepid explorer. Though with such journeys, I implore the aspiring psychonaut to be as objective as possible about ones baseline stability—emotionally, mentally and otherwise.
And to do the homework. Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind would be a good start. Exploring the thinking of both (historical) Terence McKenna and (contemporary) James Fadiman would be wise.
Beyond this, I caution not going it alone, approaching the journey with ceremonial awe, respect and reverence, with proper preparation, intention/set and setting consideration, an experienced sitter, and a plan for post-journey integration work— ideally with a third-wave friendly licensed therapist or experienced and well-vetted spiritual coach, counselor or guide.
If you were working with me in preparation for a psychedelic journey of any kind, among other things, I’d want to conduct at one session using IFS. We would start by looking for what Dick calls trailheads, or, indicators of parts near the surface, that through the language of body, may present through images, sensations, impulses, or memory flashes in or around our body. From here we’d look to see what any parts need, are afraid of, or have to say about anything—perhaps specifically regarding any concerns about the medicine journey you’re about to take.
I did this with someone fairly recently, in preparation for her (second ever) psilocybin experience. We quickly identified one part of her, clearly what we would consider a manger part, that was concerned with how the part (a young exile) she protects would handle the “trip.” This manager clearly saw this exile as fragile, among other things. The exile was not ready to engage, or the protector was not comfortable with it yet (unclear). Fortunately, a negotiation of sorts was facilitated—a way this part could provide a signal if it felt the exile was in danger at any point during the experience. It seemed that’s all that was needed.
Long story short, she had a beautiful, subtlety profound, trigger-free mushroom experience.
It’s funny. I’ve been wondering for a while, from the perspective of IFS/Multiplicity of Mind, if ‘problematic’ experiences on psychedelics resulting from approaching too mindlessly, with too much gusto, or without proper set and setting might in some cases be the result of the medicine bypassing our manager/protector parts in ways that ultimately backfire. Is that what “bad trips” might in some cases be about? A pissed off, activated protector part being bypassed to access Exile energy without its consent? Or a firefighter triggering the fight/flight alarm?
When doing IFS therapy, there are times where, if we’ve rushed the process of unburdening an Exile of its pain without the full permission of its manager/protector, backlash via a Firefighter part can certainly occur, either in or after the IFS session. Dick has written about this, even in No Bad Parts.
I suppose this just goes to illustrate that whether with psychedelics, therapy, or any healing endeavor, there are always risks. We can do all we know to do to mitigate them, but the backlash of parts of us that might not be in full support of what we’re doing can always occur. We can have an unanticipated therapeutic aftereffect (akin to medicinal side effects?) just as we can at anytime have a “bad trip,” or at least difficult or frightening moments or stages during the journey.
Ste’s
Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE) is a term coined by Dr. Yvonne Kason in 1994. It refers to any non-ordinary event or experience that profoundly impacts an individual’s perception of themselves and the world—by altering and expanding a person’s sense of reality and identity, and augmenting their sensitivities. There are multiple varieties of experiences that may qualify as potentially transformative, transcendent, or others as simply anomalous. (For more on this see my Spiritual Support service).
Personally, I’ve been interested in the entire range of metaphysical phenomenon since my teens. Early experiences (albeit more mindlessly approached) with psychedelics, and books like Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception opened me up to a whole different way of perceiving reality, lighting the fuse for my fascination with all things non-ordinary.
For much of my mental health career—much of my 20 plus years— I kept these interests under wraps, out of the “consulting room.” For multiple reasons, to be sure. But when my insidious near burnout meets atypical mid life crisis meets Dark Night of the Soul breakdown to breakthrough awakening experience kicked in a few years back, I knew it was either bring all of me together—and forward— or quit and go open a crab shack on the beach. Suffice to say, I’m furiously happy with the spiritually-assisted choice I made, as I now get to work with more and more like-minded seekers in Therapy Outside the Box, and enjoy much complementarity, sense of community and fulfillment working with like minded colleagues through the monthly mental health professional case conference I lead through ACISTE (American Association for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences), as well as my affiliation with The Psychedelic Support Network and the Association for Spiritual Integrity, among other organizations.
And here I am experiencing the synchronistic confirmation (partially confirmation bias, perhaps) of one of my favorite theorists embracing and endorsing the potential of both psychedelics/plant medicines, and the transcendent spiritual experience as utterly complimentary with this way of viewing our psyche, and facilitating healing, wholeness, and connection with The Divine.
Does any of this align with YOU?
With how YOU see yourself, your own psyche?
With YOUR interest in responsible consciousness expansion and exploration?
How does synchronicity appear to be calling YOU, and to what?
I’d love to know!
all together now
If YOU are seeking a different kind of Therapist in Nashville, or an alternative Therapist in Franklin TN, visit me at Therapy Outside the Box for more information.
Some services (links below) are also available via Video/Telehealth from virtually anywhere in the world.
Especially if you are interested in exploring healing, wholeness and integration via Internal Family Systems Therapy, you might want to learn about how I apply it creatively and somatically, along with intuitive guidance via my own spirit-guided clarisentient/claricognizant ability. This allows for an especially accurate application of IFS that I find to be as fulfilling to conduct as my clients do to experience.
Likewise, if you have had or are currently going through a potentially Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE), and/or or you are interested in responsibly pursuing psychedelics or plant medicines, either via microdosing or macro journeying, you might benefit from the Spiritual Support offering I call Support for Extraordinary Experience®.
If you are interested in an alternative Energy Psychology-based approach to healing and alignment via Higher Self using the Spiritual Science of The Spoken Word / Ancient Art of Invocation, you might enjoy the gentle but powerful and efficient process I’ve developed called Subconscious Heal and Release®. The philosophical foundation of this approach is also, you guessed it, Multiplicity of Mind/IFS.
And/Or…if you’d wish to experience a smattering of any and all these methods, we could potentially explore them all under the rubric of my Integrative Counseling specialty.
Peace, Love, and Transformation!
Chris Hancock, LCSW, ACMHP
Franklin, TN