"While there is no debating the high risks and extreme consequences of serious addictive practices, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has a contrasting view of the origin and function of addiction. It's survival work. Simply put, the well-intentioned protective subpersonalities ( parts in the language of IFS) who engage in addictive practices aim to save the internal family by soothing underlying emotional pain that has the potential to cripple."
"and then the proactive manager parts, a team of strong, controlling, task-oriented agents named for their devotion to stability and improvement, try to hide or improve that part. As their tactics become too inhibitory and harsh, a distracting/soothing team (called firefighters in IFS because their job is to douse the flames of emotional pain and shame) employs some rapid-result self- medication like alcohol, drugs, food, or sex to distract from or soothe the now aggravated emotional pain of the wounded part."
Addiction is widespread across substances and behaviors and often operates as survival work rather than pure disease. Protective subpersonalities, or parts, seek to soothe and protect vulnerable wounded parts: proactive manager parts attempt to control and hide vulnerability while firefighter parts employ rapid-result self-medication like alcohol, drugs, food, or sex to douse emotional pain and shame. These tactics can offer immediate relief but progressively harm body, mind, and spirit. Generalist therapists who are trained in addictive processes can use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to receive disclosures as therapeutic openings, engage parts compassionately, and prepare clients for more focused addiction treatment rather than automatically referring out.
#internal-family-systems #addiction-as-survival #therapeutic-disclosure #generalist-therapist-training
Read at Psychology Today
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