(The Nation) – Internal Family Systems is the latest therapy trend for a traumatized United States. But can splitting ourselves into parts be a science?

In trying to get me to home in on my skepticism—or what he would call my skeptical “part”—Schwartz was practicing one of the fundamental techniques of IFS therapy, which is to locate specific feelings within the physical body. Through this technique, IFS promises to “heal trauma” and “restore wholeness,” while also helping to treat more discernible diseases like addiction and depression. In his 1995 book Internal Family Systems Therapy, Schwartz describes IFS as “a synthesis of two paradigms: the plural mind, or the idea that we all contain many different parts, and systems thinking”—but a more apt description might be that IFS is a combination of Jung, Freud, shamanism, Yogic theory, and Gestalt therapy, all jumbled together and simplified to make it as marketable as possible. (Read More)