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Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS, A New, Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy, 2nd Edition Paperback – January 27, 2012

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,265 ratings

Understand your psyche in a clear and comprehensive way, and resolve deep-seated emotional issues. Self-Therapy makes the power of a cutting-edge psychotherapy approach accessible to everyone. Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) has been spreading rapidly across the country in the past decade. It is incredibly effective on a wide variety of life issues, such as self-esteem, procrastination, depression, and relationship issues. IFS is also user-friendly; it helps you to comprehend the complexity of your psyche. Dr. Earley shows how IFS is a complete method for psychological healing that you can use on your own.Self-Therapy is also helpful for therapists because it presents the IFS model in such detail that it is a manual for the method.
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Is It Truly Possible To Resolve Psychological Issues Through a Self-Help Book?

Have you ever been in a positive mood only to have something seemingly very small happen, perhaps someone made a casual off-handed criticism of you, but for some weird reason you felt immediately deflated, and found yourself feeling almost like a child again, small, afraid, and helpless?

Have you ever lost your temper with someone you really care about, maybe even someone you love very much, but suddenly you found yourself saying things and acting in ways that were not the way you really feel about that person, and later you regretted your actions deeply?

Have you ever really wanted to find the motivation to do something in your life, like start a new diet plan for example, but despite all your best efforts, you felt as if something was sabotaging you, and maybe you even found yourself standing in front of an open refrigerator at midnight, staring longingly at the rest of that chocolate cake?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there is nothing to worry about, and you are certainly not alone.

In fact, from the viewpoint of "Internal Family Systems" (IFS), you are perfectly normal.

The problem in each of these situations is simply a part (or parts) that is over-reacting. In the first case, there is a part that is holding you back that you're not aware of. In the second, there is a part that exploded in anger.

Most of us prefer to think of ourselves as one, unitary, sensible personality. But human beings are not as simple and straightforward as we may like to think.

In reality, we are complex systems of interacting parts, each with a variety of emotions and motivations.

IFS has a sophisticated way of working with your "parts," which are natural divisions in the psyche, sometimes called subpersonalities. This approach has been rapidly spreading across the entire country for the past decade and is being applauded by patients and therapists for its incredible effectiveness.

You can think of these parts as little people inside of you. Each with their own perspectives, beliefs, feelings, memories, and motivations.

Some of your parts are in pain. Some of your parts want to protect you from pain. Some of your parts try to manage how you interact with others. Some of your parts are even locked in battles with each other that have been going on for years.

And most of the time, all of this is completely outside our awareness.

All we know is that sometimes we feel great, sometimes we feel nervous, sometimes we feel frustrated, confused, angry, and so on. And if we are honest with ourselves, we don't really understand why.
Your True Self, The Source of All Healing

Unfortunately many people spend their whole lives thinking that this surface dance of emotional states is all there is to life. However, underlying this cast of characters, and within every human being is the true Self that is wise, calm, open and loving.

IFS is specifically designed to help you access this Self. Once you are in touch with your Self, from this incredible place of strength and love, you can connect with your troubled parts and heal them.

It's through the Self that you can heal your own wounds and watch as all of your parts reclaim and reveal their natural strength and goodness.



What Makes IFS So Powerful?


Internal Family Systems is more powerful than other therapeutic approaches for three main reasons:
  1. The Self. Healing comes from your true Self, and IFS has innovative ways of helping to access your Self and remain there during a session.
  2. Internal Love. IFS has discovered that all your parts are doing their best to help and protect you. This means that you don't have to fight them or try to get rid of them. You can connect with them from the compassion of Self and develop cooperative, trusting relationships with them. This makes transformation much easier.
  3. A Step-by-Step Procedure. IFS understands the complex structure of the psyche and has developed a sophisticated procedure for healing each of your parts. There is no guesswork. You don't wallow around for years in your childhood. IFS has laser-like precision and efficiency.
Self-Therapy: A Complete Guide To Psychological HealingTherapy does not have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive.

Relief from chronic, painful, life-long emotional issues, such as depression and anxiety, is possible and can be entirely in your control.

You simply need an effective framework for understanding and communicating with the various parts of yourself, along with a step-by-step process for transforming these parts into healthy resources.

This is the promise of Self-Therapy, a clear guide by Dr. Jay Earley that explains exactly how to you can heal deep wounds, resolve stuck places, and restore wholeness, strength, self-confidence, and joy to your life.


What Makes Self-Therapy So Effective?

1. It is based on Internal Family Systems, a full-fledged form of therapy.
IFS is actually much much more than another therapeutic technique.
In actuality it is both a revolutionary way of understanding the human psyche and a complete practice for learning to love yourself and others.
Self-Therapy teaches you to engage in IFS sessions on your own or with a partner. You learn a complete method of therapy, designed from years of clinical work with a wide variety of individuals and a wide range of psychological challenges.

2. IFS is a user-friendly form of therapy.
The IFS model taught in Self-Therapy is not only effective but also extraordinarily user friendly.
It is natural to visualize your parts, give them names, and talk to them. It brings your psyche alive in a way that is easy to grasp.

3. IFS is based on the Self, so it can be used without a therapist.
In IFS it is not the therapist or any outside force that "fixes" you.
In IFS the source of healing is You; the source of healing is your true Self.
Your true Self is who you really are in the deepest sense.
Your true Self is compassionate, openly curious, connected, and calm.
Even when working with a therapist or another IFS practitioner, it is always your true Self that is the agent of healing in the IFS approach.
As you introduce your suffering parts to the Self, they each develop a trusting and healing relationship with the Self.
Through this, an unstoppable momentum of transformation unfolds.

4. Self-Therapy brings IFS to life.

It contains transcripts of actual sessions and illustrations that bring parts vividly to life. It also has help sheets that outline the IFS process which you can use during sessions to know what to do next. And there are exercises that can be be applied directly from the book in your life.


Can Self-Therapy Help Me With My Issue?

Internal Family Systems can help with both mental health symptoms and a wide variety of complex life issues, such as:
  • Self-Esteem
  • Depression
  • Loneliness
  • Relationship Problems
  • Passive-Aggressive Behavior
  • Procrastination
  • Communication Issues
  • People Pleasing
  • Eating Issues
  • Perfectionism
  • Inner Critic
  • Fear and anxiety
  • Shyness
  • Phobias
  • Feelings of inner conflict
  • Insecurity on the job
A Must Read For Therapist And Client Alike
With Self-Therapy, Dr. Jay Earley makes the power of IFS accessible to everyone by teaching it as a complete method for psychological healing that anyone can use on their own.

And Self-Therapy is also the book of choice for therapists wanting to learn Internal Family Systems Therapy.

Therapists and existing IFS practitioners will appreciate this clear map of the IFS model, which includes transcripts from actual therapy sessions, illustrations that explain complex and subtle dynamics in the psyche, and detailed tips on how to proceed in various circumstances that may come up during a session.

Self-Therapy constitutes a complete manual for the IFS procedure.

Self-Therapy is simply an absolute must read for every therapist seeking to move their clients beyond tolerable recovery to a deeper, more complete process of healing.



From the Inside Flap

Jay has the gift of both insight and teaching--and he uses both in his new book. He allows us access to the many layers of our selves and helps us to understand, work with and ultimately feel harmonious with behaviors that have baffled us. Self-therapy is a wonderful cogent guide written by a wonderful cogent teacher.
-- Geneen Roth, author of
When Food is Love and Women Food and God

The fact that Jay Earley wrote this book is high praise for the IFS model because he was an accomplished writer and thinker, steeped in systems thinking, long before encountering IFS. Jay's passion has been to introduce IFS to a lay audience in such a way that people can work with their parts on their own--without the need for a therapist. Through Jay's user-friendly description of IFS, you will begin to change how you do "self talk," or internal dialogue. Through well-described experiential exercises and examples of actual IFS sessions, you will be able to enter your inner world in such a way that your extreme parts begin to heal. Rather than just coping with them, you welcome them and transform them into valuable resources.
-- Richard Schwartz, PhD, creator of IFS, from the foreword

Enormously hopeful and empowering, this book illuminates the process of Internal
Family Systems (IFS) as a method of self-therapy that centers on the revolutionary
principle that all of us have a Self. Presenting a view of the human psyche with
this calm, compassionate, curious Self at the center, Jay Earley takes the reader
step-by-step through a method of self-exploration which views overwhelming
emotion and dysfunctional behavior as stemming from parts that are doing their
best to help the person survive. Earley's writing is beautifully organized and clear,
as compassionate and respectful as the process he is teaching, and the reader is
supported and encouraged at every step. Anyone wishing to live a fuller, richer,
more meaningful life, or help others do so, needs to read this book.
-- Ann Weiser Cornell, PhD, author of
The Power of Focusing and The Radical
Acceptance of Everything

The non-pathologizing and empowering aspects of the IFS Model find their
ultimate expression in Dr. Earley's book,
Self-Therapy. Exercises, illustrations, and
session transcripts supplement this detailed approach for individuals to safely
work alone or with a peer to transform their inner worlds dominated by outmoded
beliefs to lives filled with love, compassion, and connection. Therapists, too, will
appreciate this clear map of the inner territory of the psyche and will find this book
a valuable and accessible resource for their clients.
-- Susan McConnell, senior IFS trainer
Self-Therapy is an invaluable resource, an absolute must for all therapists who want
to move their clients beyond tolerable recovery to a more thorough process of
healing. It is a gift to those of us who want to offer a gentle excavation of wounds
resulting in a beautiful new landscape.
-- Cheryl Ades, LCSW, Louisville, KY

Jay presents an exceptionally clear explanation of the IFS model. He provides
"user friendly" directions on how therapists and clients can use the process. I can
apply it directly from this book.
-- Kevin J Miller, PhD, Florham Park, NJ

Jay has a very thorough understanding of IFS and an uncanny ability to break it
down into small enough chunks to make it accessible to novices while still making
it stimulating for experienced IFS practitioners. Self-Therapy demystifies therapy
and empowers people to work on themselves to expand and heal their lives.
-- Kira Freed, M.A., LPC, CLC, Tucson, AZ

The inside of the psyche is so hard to describe, and Jay does a great job of making it
accessible. The illustrations really helped me to get a visual notion of the concepts.
Self-Therapy describes each idea in many different ways, so that something sticks
for each person. It really adds to the professional IFS literature.
-- Kathy Grace, M.A., LPC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pattern System Books; 2nd ed. edition (January 27, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0984392777
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0984392773
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.85 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,265 ratings

About the author

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Jay Earley
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Jay Earley, Ph.D, is a big-picture thinker and social and psychological theorist.

He studies psychotherapy in a comprehensive way to arrive at a depth understanding of the human psyche and the process of transformation.

Jay is known for the clarity of his teaching and writing, his creative methods of demonstrating complex ideas, and his detailed description of therapeutic technique.

Jay focuses on Internal Family Systems Therapy in all aspects of his work. He teaches classes in IFS both for the general public as a practice for self-help and for therapists who want to learn IFS. He is the author of Self-Therapy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Inner Wholeness Using IFS, Self-Therapy, Vol. 2, Self-Therapy, Vol. 3, Freedom from Your Inner Critic, Interactive Group Therapy, Transforming Human Culture, and Resolving Inner Conflict.

Jay’s book, Interactive Group Therapy describes his group therapy method in which people learn interpersonal relationship skills by working directly on their relationships with each other.

Jay has a Ph.D. in psychology from Saybrook University and is a licensed psychologist in California (PSY6973). He has been in private practice as a psychotherapist since 1973.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,265 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book helpful for therapists and social work students. They find it provides clear explanations and helps them build their understanding without difficulty. The book is well-written and user-friendly, making it easy to understand. Readers mention that the book increases their sense of well-being and happiness. They also say internal family systems therapy is a good resource to use in group settings.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

92 customers mention "Effectiveness"90 positive2 negative

Customers find the book helpful for therapists and social work students. They say it helps them get to the core issues and improve their effectiveness at accomplishing goals. The book is described as an interesting form of therapy that improves self-awareness and opens up a lot of freedom.

"...I think the book would also be helpful to therapists looking for a strong intro to IFS, or to therapists who know some about IFS and want to know..." Read more

"...from start to finish -- discovering, connecting with, and healing the parts of you that have emotional wounds (or "burdens") from your past -- and..." Read more

"...Turn to this. Really. Try it. It’s different because it really does work. And by the way the language is all common every day easy to understand...." Read more

"This is a very interesting form of therapy. But best with a therapist experienced in the field...." Read more

78 customers mention "Insight"75 positive3 negative

Customers find the book helpful for learning IFS. They say it explains how to heal wounds from the past clearly and is a good guide for learning the psychological system. The exercises are detailed without being pedantic, and the concept resonated with them. Readers mention the manual is a great help, helping grow emotional intelligence and self-regulation.

"...In case you haven't heard of IFS, it is a respected psychological system and is used primarily by licensed therapists and clinics, and recommended..." Read more

"...This book is a textbook, a workbook, and a walkthrough of the IFS process from start to finish -- discovering, connecting with, and healing the..." Read more

"...And by the way the language is all common every day easy to understand. No obscure Pali scriptures or lofty abstractions. Done." Read more

"...But best with a therapist experienced in the field. The book helps in the understanding but not so easy to do by oneself...." Read more

50 customers mention "Clarity"44 positive6 negative

Customers appreciate the book's clarity. They find it well-written and user-friendly, making sense of the structure of the therapy. The book is accessible to the general public, providing a systematic and easy-to-use approach that works for gaining clarity and changing behavior patterns. Overall, readers describe it as comprehensive and practical.

"...The book is written to be accessible to the general public, which is the only broad-based introductory IFS book I know of yet that is in good..." Read more

"...The book provides thorough explanations, examples, and exhaustive "what to do if this doesn't work" alternatives and solutions...." Read more

"...This is a clearly written and quite complete book on connecting with and helping internal parts which are creating problems in your life...." Read more

"...There is direct contact with oneself in a way that is much more articulated and you will understand yourself with compassion, calm, and interest in..." Read more

43 customers mention "Readability"43 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate its straightforward approach and clear writing style. The book provides a comprehensive overview of connecting with others and self-therapy. While some find it educational, others say it takes time to digest. Overall, customers consider it an enjoyable read and a must-have addition for self-therapy.

"I think the book is excellent - I've already recommended it to numerous people...." Read more

"...It can get really tiring. But I would just have to say, it’s worth the effort...." Read more

"...This is a clearly written and quite complete book on connecting with and helping internal parts which are creating problems in your life...." Read more

"This is an awesome book and this system is incredibly powerful, as I’ve seen in my own life and in the lives of people who have been exposed to..." Read more

19 customers mention "Happiness"19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for boosting their happiness and well-being. They say it provides relief, comfort, strength, and a stronger sense of feeling alive. The book helps them understand their moods, feelings, and thoughts better, which is life-changing and worth the effort. Readers describe it as an empowering, satisfying, and energizing guide for regulating their moods.

"...a week, or as little as 5 minutes in a day to create greater calm, inner-peace, and love for myself. Am I completely healed of all childhood trauma?..." Read more

"...In the end it has also helped my family, my marriage, and my personal happiness. Color me impressed." Read more

"...much more articulated and you will understand yourself with compassion, calm, and interest in a way you cannot imagine ahead of time." Read more

"...It’s changing my life and lifting heavy weights that have kept me still and weighed down in life. I feel renewed in different ways...." Read more

10 customers mention "Internal family systems"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the internal family systems book helpful. They say it's a good resource for group settings and helps families, marriages, and personal relationships.

"...Internal Family Systems is the best thing I'm come across in the psych world in the course of reading a fair number of psych books in my 44 years,..." Read more

"...In the end it has also helped my family, my marriage, and my personal happiness. Color me impressed." Read more

"The internal family model is very compelling. Feels much like EMDR in some aspects, what makes me believe it more, as I’m an EMDR practitioner...." Read more

"A great guide for learning IFS. Good resource to be used in a group setting. It’s taken me a year to master the IFS skills this book teaches." Read more

8 customers mention "Value for money"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides good value for money. They say it's worth the cost and a great way to save on psychologist fees.

"...all people will get at least $15 of value from it, enough to be worth the cost. It's very rare that I find a book I can say that about." Read more

"...SO worth it! Much more useful than most of the self-help books I've read." Read more

"...👍🏼 He’s a great teacher 👍🏼 This book is amazing value for the dollar..." Read more

"...Well worth the cost!" Read more

24 customers mention "Ease of use"16 positive8 negative

Customers have different views on the book's ease of use. Some find the process helpful and straightforward, with clear instructions and examples for every step. Others describe it as hard work and not simplistic.

"...This book is a textbook, a workbook, and a walkthrough of the IFS process from start to finish -- discovering, connecting with, and healing the..." Read more

"...The book helps in the understanding but not so easy to do by oneself. There are too many components and variables...." Read more

"This book was my introduction into IFS. It's a superb introduction towards parts work...." Read more

"...It’s been very triggering for me and a process but a process with great results...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2013
    I think the book is excellent - I've already recommended it to numerous people. Internal Family Systems is the best thing I'm come across in the psych world in the course of reading a fair number of psych books in my 44 years, and this book by Earley does a great job of explaining it.

    IFS is not the simplest thing in the world to explain in writing, yet the book nails it by combining clear illustrations, good organization and thoughtful writing. It also has numerous exercises you can do yourself. And a section of tips on doing IFS with a partner, and on working with a therapist.

    The book is written to be accessible to the general public, which is the only broad-based introductory IFS book I know of yet that is in good measure written for the public (i.e. not written for therapists). It's largely written for the person who will be going through therapy or wants to practice IFS on their own or with a partner. I think even having the awareness of the concepts and info will help most people, even if they don't do the exercises.

    The great thing about the above is it gives IFS a better chance of making a bigger impact on the world than is possible simply through therapists. There are only so many therapists, and only some know much IFS and relatively few have been trained in it, or are now slated to be trained.

    Besides letting more people do it on their own, I think IFS therapists in general will benefit from it because I think a good number of people who read it and find IFS appealing will at some point in the upcoming years of their life will go to an IFS therapist to experience the added benefits of therapy or tackle harder things that need a therapist. Kind of like how the Grateful Dead became the highest grossing tour band in the U.S. because they let people record their concerts and share copies for free. More people got copies of the music, liked it and then went to concerts, bought t-shirts and bought CDs. The more people who are introduced to IFS through books like this, the more the average IFS therapist will have people knocking on their door looking to do it.

    One small note is that while the tagline of the book mentions "healing your inner child," my impression is that according to IFS and to the author (Earley) and my own experience of myself, most people are healing several inner parts of themselves, including some adult parts that are not serving them well. While I don't care about sub-titles, I thought I would mention the above to clarify in case it's needed for anyone that this is not some half-baked new age book talking only about healing an inner child. As the first half of the tagline conveys, IFS works with all parts of our personality, and tries to get all aspects of who we are more healthy to better serve us. Healing the childish parts of us that are often unconscious is certainly an important part of the process, and the book is a multi-dimensional approach to those parts and other parts of who we are.

    In case you haven't heard of IFS, it is a respected psychological system and is used primarily by licensed therapists and clinics, and recommended by many respected leaders in the field. The founder of it was the co-author of one of the best selling textbooks on marriage and family therapy used by universities, and who taught at one of the top schools in the country. It's not a passing fad and not a new-age gimmick with the aim of selling books. IFS is not family therapy - Schwartz used the systematic thinking common in family therapy to discover that we have our own internal set of sub-personalities or parts that combine to form who we are. Often some of the parts are on track and some are not, and need some assistance from us in coming to serve us better.

    The book focuses on how you can learn what the parts of yourself are, how they operate, and how you can help them learn and mature to become better at serving you. Doing so takes time. Don't expect to read this book or any book, and have easy answers or have most things figured out just like that. It takes ongoing time and attention. My guess is that most people will need to read the book again in a year and delve deeper in the second time.

    Overall, the writing in Self-Therapy is lucid and understandable, without dumbing down. I think the book would also be helpful to therapists looking for a strong intro to IFS, or to therapists who know some about IFS and want to know more. When you consider that the founder Richard Schwartz was able to help a lot of people when he first started doing IFS, and it was only part-way developed when he first started doing it and he had no book with lots of details explaining it to help him, I would assume that a high quality therapist could read this book and begin using some of the concepts in their practice.

    If you click on my profile, you'll see that I'm a real person, and that I give things poor ratings as well as good ones, and that I don't often give something such a strong review.

    If you stumbled across this book while surfing the net, I strongly recommend you plop down the small cost to get it. It might well change your life. And at the least, I think almost all people will get at least $15 of value from it, enough to be worth the cost. It's very rare that I find a book I can say that about.
    134 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2021
    This book changed my life, and I can't imagine my life without it. Full stop.

    I started with an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist a little over 2 years ago, and I found her methods really helpful. She started giving me IFS homework where I would do tiny, mini sessions of connecting with myself and my challenging feelings (anxiety, fear, unworthiness, etc.). That felt helpful too. Being impatient and wanting to heal my childhood wounds faster still, I researched IFS materials and found this book.

    This book is a textbook, a workbook, and a walkthrough of the IFS process from start to finish -- discovering, connecting with, and healing the parts of you that have emotional wounds (or "burdens") from your past -- and it teaches all of this in simple, easy-to-understand language. The book provides thorough explanations, examples, and exhaustive "what to do if this doesn't work" alternatives and solutions.

    Since purchasing a year and a half ago, I've read and worked through all but the last 2 chapters, and have used what I've learned with myself as often as 7 times a week, or as little as 5 minutes in a day to create greater calm, inner-peace, and love for myself. Am I completely healed of all childhood trauma? Of course not. But my quality of life is slowly but surely improving in ways I can't begin to measure, and many ways I'm sure I don't yet realize. This book doesn't really offer "quick fixes," so if you're having trouble just getting through the day, you may want to start by seeing a therapist, or if you're not able to, research some emotional exercises; CBT is one methodology that offers a lot of tools and strategies to help regain homeostasis (THIS REVIEW IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE).

    Though there may be an inescapable spiritual quality in IFS, there is no mysticism or magic. In order for IFS to work you don't need to believe in anyone or anything other than yourself, and your capacity to be curious, to love, and to hold space for compassion.

    I recommend this to anyone and everyone who wants to fill their life with more peace, love, curiosity, and compassion. If you have any hesitation at all about whether this book is for you, feel free to reach out -- I'm joniokun on ig. (I'm not receiving any money to do this, I just believe in the method.)

    **CAUTION**
    I will add a note of caution here that the author and other reviewers have also mentioned: If you experienced serious, deep trauma when you were younger, it may be safer to begin your IFS work with a trained IFS therapist who can help you take baby steps and wade carefully and slowly in from the shallow end, instead of trying to carry the burden all on your own. ♡

    Whether or not you choose to buy this book, take care, and know that you are loved, and you are not alone.
    44 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • DanDoherty
    5.0 out of 5 stars I am totally impressed
    Reviewed in Canada on November 21, 2022
    I am probably worst case scenario. I had TBI and complex PTSD. For many years have done CBT and also something that works like EMDR but much more powerful. This IFS system seemed to have solved the problem that was causing my worst trigger. I have been fighting that trigger my entire life and within a week I believe I have found the cure. Of course I will continue applying this most insightful therapy.
  • Roseraha
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on November 25, 2024
    Recommend
  • Pauline
    4.0 out of 5 stars Best price for this book online
    Reviewed in Sweden on August 28, 2022
    I don’t usually buy books from Amazon since we have several good online bookstores in Sweden but this was the best price I could find for this book and with a fast delivery.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Complete guide to wholeness
    Reviewed in India on June 15, 2022
    An eye opening book. A must read. I feel blessed to encounter this book. Thankyou so much for this amazing book.😇
  • Graham Mummery
    5.0 out of 5 stars Using the Creative Immagination to Heal
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2019
    I was recommended this book as an introduction to a therapeutic technique known as IFS (Internal Family Systems) devised by the therapist Richard Schwartz. This draws and develops on ideas from the likes of Jungian Psychology, Gestalt, Psychosynthesis and John Rowan taking them in a new direction. Readers aware of the concepts of sub-personalities and visualisation will be on home ground.

    Yet for all that, many therapists will find what is on show in this book will be useful in dealing with resistances to healing. If this is strange to some, it is something that often happens in therapy. It is, as Jungian analyst Donald Kalsched amongst others, a part of the psyche often protecting another part from further suffering. In IFS these parts are named protectors and exiles, and they manifest as personalities. For my money this is the best book I have come across about resistances and how to deal with them.

    One of the thing that gives this credence is the way the author Jay Earley approaches his matter. There are thorough descriptions of the ideas with drawings, diagrams and pictures. It also does not pretend everything displayed is easy. Indeed there are sections on how to deal with some difficulties The book itself is structured as a self-help manual with pointers to work books that the interested reader can download to follow and structure the exercises contained in the book, together in with the reminder that it may be necessary to work these with a trained therapist.

    Taken as a whole it is hard to think that a book like this could be better prepared. As a therapist, I have used some of these exercises both on myself and other clients. This is both a fascinating and useful book for therapists and general readers alike. I will be exploring further other books by this author and of course the aforementioned Richard Schwartz.
    2 people found this helpful
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