No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

Schwartz is a prominent psychotherapist and the founder of internal family systems (IFS) therapy. He holds a PhD in marriage and family therapy, and he began his career studying family systems theory. His early work, which focused on family therapy, laid the foundation for his later development of IFS. Schwartz’s professional journey took a significant turn in the 1980s when he was working with families dealing with eating disorders. During this time, he noticed that his clients often spoke about different “parts” of themselves, which seemed to have distinct personalities and motivations. This observation led him to develop the IFS model, which views the mind as composed of multiple, discrete sub-personalities. He used his experience in family systems therapy to posit that individuals possess “internal” family systems, the parts of which engage in complex relationships with each other as well as with the outer world.

Throughout his career, Schwartz has held academic positions at various institutions, including the University of Illinois at Chicago, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, and Harvard Medical School. He has also served as the director of the Center for Self Leadership, an organization dedicated to the practice and development of the IFS model.