IFS is about cultivating harmonious relationships among all parts of ourselves (our internal family, so to speak). IFS guides us toward loving all of who we are, trusting ourselves, releasing emotional burdens, healing traumas, and shifting patterns of behavior that are not serving us. This is done by accessing healing qualities that are already within us, such as compassion and curiosity, and through radical acceptance and the firm acknowledgement that there are no bad parts of you. IFS embraces the fact that we contain multitudes and celebrates what all parts of us have to offer, especially once they have been released from burdensome roles into their naturally valuable states.

The word "somatic" refers to the body. Most styles of “talk therapy” consist of an intellectual dialogue between the therapist and client, in which they analyze, dissect, and cognitively reframe problems in the client’s life. Somatic IFS does not dismiss the intellectual parts of ourselves, but encourages us to let awareness settle into the body, befriend our nervous systems, and listen and give expression to the non-cognitive parts of ourselves that tend to be less privileged in our modern world. This allows us to go deeper in therapy and discover and heal the root causes of many surface-level mental health issues that can only be addressed from the “bottom-up” rather than the “top-down.”

Mindfulness practice helps us to release ourselves from the grip of thought and automatic behavior, to relax into our natural presence. Mindfulness does not need to be difficult and effortful – the basis of mindfulness is awareness, and you are already aware without even trying. The problem is that our awareness tends to be caught up in - and identified with - thoughts. The more we can let thoughts come and go, stop doing so much and instead trust our innate being, the more we can access healing qualities that are fundamental to who we are on a deeper level - what IFS calls the Self. We can then turn our awareness toward all parts of ourselves (and others) with compassion, clarity, and confidence.

Mindfulness has roots in Asian religions, particularly Buddhism, which is a spiritual practice that has had a great influence on me. But despite its origins, mindfulness is not inherently religious, and the benefits are supported by scientific research.