IFS exercises can help clients move from talking about their internal experiences to actually noticing, exploring and relating differently to their parts.
A client may intellectually understand that they have a critical part, for example, but something different happens when they slow down, notice where that critic appears, explore what it is trying to accomplish and discover what it fears would happen if it stopped.
The exercises below provide 20 practical ways therapists can explore Internal Family Systems (IFS) concepts in therapy, including identifying parts, working with protectors, exploring polarisation, practising unblending and developing greater access to Self-led curiosity.
Clinical note: Internal Family Systems is a specific psychotherapy model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. These exercises are educational resources for appropriately trained professionals and are not a substitute for formal IFS training, supervision, comprehensive assessment or individualised treatment. Work involving vulnerable parts or traumatic material should be paced according to the client's needs, stability and readiness.
What Are IFS Exercises?
IFS exercises are therapeutic activities designed to help clients notice and explore their internal system of parts while developing greater Self-leadership.
Within the IFS model, parts may take different roles.
Some work proactively to prevent pain or vulnerability.
Some react quickly when distress has already been activated.
Others may carry vulnerable emotions, beliefs or memories.
Rather than immediately trying to eliminate a difficult reaction, IFS becomes curious about it.
A useful starting question is often:
“What is this part trying to do for you?”
The following exercises provide different ways of exploring that question.
IFS Exercises for Identifying Parts
1. Who Is Here Right Now?
Start with a current situation rather than asking the client to identify every part in their internal system.
Ask:
“When you think about this situation, what happens inside?”
Imagine the client is considering applying for a new job.
They might say:
“I get excited.”
Then:
“Immediately I start thinking I'm not qualified.”
Then:
“I tell myself I shouldn't even bother.”
Separate these reactions.
You might say:
“It sounds like there's one part that's excited about the opportunity, another that worries you aren't qualified, and perhaps another that wants to avoid applying altogether. Does that fit?”
Let the client correct the description.
Then ask what each part wants.
Best for: introducing IFS through a real-life problem.
2. Name the Job, Not the Problem
Choose a part the client dislikes.
Instead of naming it after the symptom, explore its possible job.
For example:
“The anxious part”
might become:
“The Danger Scanner.”
“The perfectionist”
might become:
“The Mistake Preventer.”
“The people pleaser”
might become:
“The Rejection Preventer.”
Ask:
“If that really were its job, why might it believe the job is necessary?”
This moves the conversation from judgment toward function.
Best for: helping clients become curious about protectors.
3. Find the Part in the Body
Ask the client to bring a manageable situation to mind.
Then ask:
“As you notice this part, where do you experience it in or around your body?”
The client might notice:
- pressure behind the eyes
- a tight chest
- heat through the arms
- a heavy stomach
- tension in the jaw
Stay with observation before interpretation.
Ask:
- Does it have a shape?
- Does it feel still or moving?
- Does it seem close or far away?
- Does anything change when you simply notice it?
The goal is not to make the sensation disappear.
It is to help the client experience the part with greater awareness.
Best for: clients who access internal experiences more easily through sensation than language.
4. Give the Part a Voice
Choose one clearly identified part.
Ask the client to complete several sentences from the part's perspective:
“I want you to...”
“I don't want you to...”
“I'm worried that...”
“If you don't listen to me...”
“What I wish you understood is...”
For example, a perfectionistic part might say:
“I want you to check it again.”
“I'm worried you'll make a mistake.”
“If you make a mistake, people will realise you're incompetent.”
Now the therapist has something more specific to explore than “perfectionism.”
Best for: understanding the beliefs and fears associated with a part.
IFS Protector Exercises
5. The Protector Interview
Choose a protective part and approach it as though you are interviewing it about its job.
Ask:
- What is your job?
- When do you usually show up?
- What are you watching for?
- What do you want the client to do?
- What are you trying to prevent?
- What are you afraid would happen if you stopped?
Do not rush toward:
“Great. Now can it step aside?”
The protector may have spent years believing its job is essential.
The exercise is about understanding first.
Best for: perfectionism, control, avoidance, self-criticism and people pleasing.
6. Follow the Protector's Fear
Ask:
“What is this protector afraid would happen if it didn't do its job?”
Then follow the answer.
For example:
Protector: “She'll make a mistake.”
Therapist: “What worries you about her making a mistake?”
Protector: “People will judge her.”
Therapist: “And what worries you about that?”
Protector: “They'll realise she isn't good enough.”
Therapist: “And if that happened?”
Protector: “They'll reject her.”
The purpose is not to interrogate the client endlessly.
Stop when something meaningful emerges or the client becomes overwhelmed.
Best for: understanding the deeper fear behind protective strategies.
7. Appreciation Before Change
Choose a part the client wants to eliminate.
Ask:
“Before we ask this part to change anything, can we understand what it has been trying to do?”
Identify its positive intention.
For example:
“The critic has been trying to prevent you from being humiliated.”
Then ask whether the client can acknowledge the intention without approving of the strategy.
A possible statement might be:
“I understand you've been trying to protect me from being judged.”
Notice how the part responds.
It may soften.
It may not.
Both are useful information.
Best for: reducing internal battles with protective parts.
8. What Does the Protector Need to See?
Protective parts may operate according to information learned much earlier in the client's life.
Ask:
“What does this part believe about you or your situation?”
A protector might believe:
“Nobody will help us.”
Then explore:
“What does this part know about your life now?”
Perhaps the client is now an adult with supportive relationships, resources and choices they did not previously have.
Do not argue with the part.
Instead ask:
“Is there anything about your current life you'd like this part to notice?”
Best for: protectors that appear to respond to current situations as though older circumstances are still present.
IFS Exercises for Blending and Unblending
9. Add “A Part of Me”
Listen for global statements.
For example:
“I'm useless.”
Invite the client to experiment with:
“A part of me feels useless.”
Or:
“Nobody can be trusted.”
becomes:
“A part of me believes people can't be trusted.”
Ask:
“Does anything change when you say it that way?”
Do not tell them that it should feel better.
Sometimes the shift is substantial.
Sometimes nothing changes.
The exercise simply introduces the possibility that the part's experience is not the entirety of the client's identity.
Best for: introducing unblending.
10. Turn Down the Volume, Don't Turn It Off
Ask the client to imagine the part's voice has a volume dial from 0–10.
If the part is currently at 9, do not ask it to disappear.
Ask:
“Would it be willing to move from a 9 to an 8 so we can hear it more clearly?”
This is deliberately different from:
“Can you make the voice go away?”
The message is:
“We want to hear you. We just need enough space to listen.”
Notice whether the client's experience changes.
Best for: parts that feel overwhelming or dominant.
11. Place the Part Beside You
If imagery feels appropriate for the client, invite them to imagine the part sitting somewhere nearby rather than completely filling their internal experience.
Ask:
- Where would it sit?
- How close would it want to be?
- What does it look like, if anything?
- How does it feel to have it beside you rather than completely inside the experience?
The client may imagine the part in another chair, beside them or elsewhere in the room.
The purpose is not to pretend the part is literally outside the person.
It is an experiential way of creating enough distance to relate to it.
Best for: clients who respond well to imagery.
12. Who Is Reacting to the Part?
Ask:
“How do you feel toward this part?”
If the answer is:
“I hate it.”
ask:
“Could we become curious about the part that hates it?”
Now explore that second part.
Perhaps it says:
“This anxiety has ruined everything for us.”
Rather than forcing the client to become compassionate toward the anxious part, acknowledge that another protector may first need attention.
Best for: situations where clients struggle to approach a part with curiosity.
IFS Exercises for Self-Energy
13. The Curiosity Shift
Choose one part the client judges strongly.
Compare three questions:
Control: “How do I get rid of this?”
Judgment: “Why am I still like this?”
Curiosity: “What is this part afraid would happen if it stopped?”
Ask the client to notice how each question feels internally.
Then spend one minute exploring the part using only genuine curiosity.
If curiosity is unavailable, that is useful information too.
Ask:
“What gets in the way of feeling curious toward it?”
Best for: introducing a Self-led stance without demanding compassion.
14. The 8 Cs Check-In
The IFS model commonly describes Self using eight qualities:
- Curiosity
- Compassion
- Calmness
- Clarity
- Confidence
- Courage
- Creativity
- Connectedness
Choose one part.
Instead of rating every quality, ask:
“Which of these feels naturally available toward this part right now?”
Maybe the client cannot access compassion but can access curiosity.
Start there.
Then ask:
“What happens when you approach the part from that quality?”
Best for: helping clients recognise qualities associated with Self-energy.
15. What Changes When I Stop Fighting It?
Choose a manageable internal reaction.
For 30 seconds, ask the client to notice how they normally respond to it.
Perhaps they:
- argue with it
- criticise it
- suppress it
- try to distract from it
Then experiment with:
“For the next 30 seconds, don't fix it. Just notice it and see whether you can become interested in what it is doing.”
Compare the two experiences.
The objective is not relaxation.
The question is:
“What changes in your relationship with the experience?”
Best for: clients who automatically enter an internal struggle with difficult emotions.
IFS Exercises for Polarised Parts
16. Two-Chair Polarisation Exercise
Place two chairs opposite each other.
Assign one conflicting part to each chair.
For example:
Chair 1: “You need to achieve more.”
Chair 2: “I can't keep doing this.”
The client moves between chairs and speaks from each position.
Each part answers:
- What do I want?
- What am I afraid of?
- What do I think about the other part?
- What do I wish the other part understood?
After several exchanges, step out of both chairs.
Ask:
“From here, what do you notice about both of them?”
Best for: internal conflict, burnout and ambivalence.
17. Find the Common Fear
Choose two polarised parts.
Ask each:
“What are you afraid would happen if the other part got its way?”
Example:
Achievement Part: “If she rests, she'll fall behind and fail.”
Exhausted Part: “If she keeps working, she'll completely burn out.”
Then ask:
“What do both parts ultimately want?”
Perhaps:
“They both want me to be okay.”
Recognising a shared intention can reduce the sense that one part must defeat the other.
Best for: strongly polarised internal systems.
18. The Internal Negotiation
Once two parts have been heard, ask:
“Is there a small experiment both parts might be willing to allow?”
For example:
The achievement part wants another three hours of work.
The exhausted part wants to abandon everything.
An experiment might be:
Work for 30 focused minutes, then stop for the evening.
Ask each part how it responds.
If one strongly objects, explore why rather than overriding it.
The goal is not compromise for its own sake.
It is helping the client experience internal decision-making with more curiosity and less domination by one extreme.
Best for: translating parts awareness into everyday choices.
IFS Exercises for Everyday Triggers
19. Slow-Motion Trigger Replay
Choose a recent trigger that is manageable to revisit.
Replay it slowly.
For example:
Event: “My friend cancelled our plans.”
Ask:
“What was the very first thing you noticed inside?”
Perhaps:
“A sinking feeling.”
Then:
“What happened next?”
“I thought they didn't want to see me.”
Then:
“Did another part respond?”
“Yes. I got angry and thought, ‘Forget them.’”
Then:
“I sent a cold reply.”
Then:
“I started criticising myself for overreacting.”
Map the sequence:
Vulnerability → Protector → Behaviour → Critic
Ask:
“Which part might need our attention first?”
Best for: recurring interpersonal and emotional patterns.
20. Internal Team Debrief
At the end of a difficult week or after a significant event, conduct an internal team debrief.
Ask:
“Which parts worked hardest this week?”
For each one:
- When did it show up?
- What was it responding to?
- What was it trying to accomplish?
- Did another part react to it?
- What did it seem to need?
Then ask:
“Was there any moment when you could observe these parts rather than being completely caught inside them?”
This turns parts work into an ongoing awareness practice rather than something that only happens during major emotional events.
Best for: consolidating IFS work between sessions.
IFS Exercises for Anxiety
When using IFS with anxiety, it can be useful to explore the collection of parts surrounding anxiety rather than assuming there is one anxious part.
For example:
Risk Scanner: notices possible danger.
Planner: tries to prepare for every outcome.
Avoider: suggests escaping the situation completely.
Critic: attacks the client for feeling anxious.
An in-session exercise might begin with a recent anxious situation.
Ask:
- Which part appeared first?
- What did it predict?
- Which protector responded?
- Did another part criticise the reaction?
- What does each part fear?
The client may discover that what they experience as “anxiety” is actually an entire protective sequence.
IFS Exercises for the Inner Critic
Instead of arguing with the critic, experiment with interviewing it.
Ask:
“What are you trying to achieve by criticising me?”
Then:
“What are you afraid would happen if you stopped?”
A critic might respond:
“If I stop pushing you, you'll become lazy.”
Continue:
“And what worries you about that?”
Perhaps:
“You'll fail.”
Then:
“What worries you about failing?”
The eventual answer might involve rejection, humiliation or insecurity.
The therapist and client now have a different therapeutic target than simply:
“Stop being self-critical.”
IFS Exercises for Teens
IFS exercises for teenagers often work better when parts are introduced through situations they actually encounter.
For example:
“You send something in the group chat and nobody replies for an hour. Who shows up inside?”
A teenager might identify:
The Overthinker: “They're ignoring us.”
The Checker: “Look at the chat again.”
The Rage Part: “Delete the message and leave the group.”
The Whatever Part: “Who cares? They're annoying anyway.”
The Critic: “Why did you send that?”
Now ask:
“What is each one trying to stop you from feeling?”
Teen-friendly formats can include:
- character cards
- sticky-note maps
- internal group chats
- comic strips
- two-chair conversations
- “meet the team” cards
The clinical concept remains the same. The presentation becomes more engaging.
IFS Exercises for Groups
Parts work in groups requires careful boundaries because members do not need to disclose vulnerable material to participate.
One lower-intensity exercise is Parts Around a Shared Scenario.
Give everyone the same hypothetical situation:
“You make a mistake at work and your manager asks to speak with you.”
Ask members to invent possible parts that might appear:
- Critic
- Worrier
- Defender
- People Pleaser
- Avoider
- Problem Solver
Then discuss:
What might each part be trying to accomplish?
This teaches parts concepts without requiring anyone to expose deeply personal material.
How to Choose an IFS Exercise
Choose the exercise based on what is happening in the client's system rather than simply moving through a list.
If the client cannot distinguish different reactions:
Try Who Is Here Right Now? or Give the Part a Voice.
If the client hates a particular reaction:
Try Appreciation Before Change or The Protector Interview.
If one part feels overwhelming:
Try Add “A Part of Me,” Turn Down the Volume or Place the Part Beside You.
If two parts are fighting:
Try Two-Chair Polarisation or Find the Common Fear.
If the same pattern keeps happening:
Try Slow-Motion Trigger Replay.
If the client understands their parts but struggles to relate differently to them:
Try The Curiosity Shift or an 8 Cs Check-In.
IFS Exercises vs IFS Worksheets
IFS exercises and IFS worksheets can support different parts of therapy.
A worksheet makes information visible.
An experiential exercise allows the client to interact with what is happening in the moment.
For example:
An IFS worksheet might map a perfectionistic protector, its triggers and its fears.
An IFS exercise might involve noticing that protector in the session, creating enough space to relate to it and asking what it fears would happen if it stopped working so hard.
Therapists can use both.
The important question is:
“What will help this client understand or relate differently to what is happening right now?”
Frequently Asked Questions About IFS Exercises
What is a simple IFS exercise?
A simple starting exercise is to choose one current difficulty and ask, “What different parts of you show up around this?” Identify what each part says, feels, wants the person to do and what it may be trying to accomplish.
What questions do you ask parts in IFS?
Questions may include: What do you want me to know? What are you trying to do for me? What are you afraid would happen if you stopped? What do you need me to understand? Who or what are you protecting? Questions should be used flexibly rather than as a scripted interrogation.
How do you identify protector parts?
Look for internal responses that attempt to prevent, control, avoid or rapidly reduce vulnerability or distress. Rather than deciding that a behaviour is a protector in advance, explore what the part believes its behaviour accomplishes.
What is an IFS unblending exercise?
Unblending exercises help create enough separation for a person to relate to a part rather than experiencing its perspective as the whole self. One simple example is shifting from “I'm worthless” to “A part of me feels worthless right now” and noticing whether that creates any internal space.
Can IFS exercises be used with teens?
Parts-oriented exercises can be adapted for adolescents when clinically appropriate. Teen-friendly approaches often use realistic scenarios, character cards, visual maps, internal group chats or different seats to represent conflicting parts.
Are parts work and IFS the same thing?
No. Parts work is a broad term for therapeutic approaches that work with different internal aspects or states. Internal Family Systems is one specific parts-based psychotherapy model with its own theoretical framework and clinical processes.
Final Thoughts on IFS Exercises
The strongest IFS exercises do not begin by trying to make a difficult part disappear.
They begin with curiosity.
What is this part doing?
When does it appear?
What is it trying to prevent?
What does it fear would happen if it stopped?
A perfectionistic part may be protecting against humiliation.
An avoidant part may be protecting against failure.
An angry part may be protecting vulnerability.
A critic may believe constant pressure is the only thing preventing rejection.
Understanding those intentions does not mean every strategy needs to continue.
It gives therapist and client a way of working with the internal system that does not begin with another internal battle.
And sometimes the most useful shift is surprisingly small:
from “Why am I like this?”
to:
“What is this part trying to do for me?”