Psychologist Richard Schwartz is the co-author, along with Michael
Nichols, of a book called Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods. This
book has been used around the world as an
important tool to help mental health professionals learn to treat
couples and family therapy with a deft hand using the latest research
and education.
Psychologist Richard Schwartz is the co-author, along with Michael
Nichols, of a book called Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods. This
book has been used across the country and around the world as an
important tool to help mental health professionals learn to treat
couples and family therapy with a deft hand using the latest research
and education. While the book is important, Richard Schwartz himself
would probably call Internal Family Systems (of which the book is an
offshoot) his greatest professional accomplishment.
His brainchild, Internal Family Systems is a program that was developed
after Richard Schwartz began evaluating many of the things his clients
were telling him. Again and again, they spoke of their inner feelings
and he began to notice a pattern developing. Many of his clients
described feeling a strange branching inside, with some parts of
themselves struggling against each other, with some of these parts
exhibiting extreme behavior. He developed a theory that these many parts
were controlled under normal circumstances by an overall consciousness.
He called this consciousness the Self. However, when any of those parts
felt as though their needs were not being met, the power balance was
thrown out of whack and the Self no longer could maintain control.
Using the concepts behind IFS, he was able to make significant
breakthroughs with a number of patients. Realizing that many health
professionals could benefit from these concepts, he started the Center
for Self Leadership. The Center is in Oak Park, Illinois and it is open
to both mental health professionals and laymen interested in furthering
their understanding of the mind and gaining control over their inner
selves. There are three levels of training at the center, each of them
field with workshops and classes that can help anyone come to a higher
understanding of the principles and techniques behind the IFS system.
Besides having a large part in The Center for Self Leadership, he has
taken his ideas on the road on a number of occasions, holding workshops
and giving lectures at various locations around the world. For those
individuals who would like to learn more about the IFS method but can’t
afford or don’t have the opportunity to see Richard Schwartz in person,
there are several other ways to get a good grasp on the methods. One of
these is to read his books, which are filled with anecdotes and specific
teachings. Another is to find and download podcasts of his recorded
lectures, which lets you hear his system in his own words at a fraction
of the cost.
