Reminder 1

A Primer 3nd edition

Andreas Michael & Nadine Menezes

* This is a draft of the working copy of Andreas who continuously adds improvements after feedback from clients and the

wider IFS community. The original version of the document created and presented by Andreas and Nadine at the Annual IFS

conference in 2016 can be found by emailing hi@selfleadershipthroughcreativity.com. For the latest version of this

document, go to www.SelfLeadershipThroughCreativity.com and tap "Paper".

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

Introduction 3 Thanks 4 Your Authors 4

The Power of Art 6 Creativity 7 Art 8 Symbols 9 Imagination 10 The Present Moment 11 Creative Therapies Today 13

Benefits, Harm and Disinterest 14

ArtIFS 18 Art We Like and Don’t Like 18 ArtIFS and Art Therapy 22 Self Leadership in ArtIFS 23 Processing 25 General Q & A 26

Why did we use drawing? 26 Why and when to use meditation? 27 When to finish drawing/creating? 27 Why the IFS steps? 28 Difference between individual work and group work 28 What questions to ask clients? 28 Embodied work has the most impact 29

What We Have Discovered 29 Individual and group ArtIFS work with all IFS steps possible 29 You can do ArtIFS without therapist if there is enough knowledge of IFS 29 ArtIFS is simple, flexible and has a lot of scope 29 Use as and when required 30 A feeling of accomplishment – “Meaningful creation in life as well as art” 30 Time to ‘integrate’ may be necessary 30 Parts seen that would not be seen otherwise 30 ArtIFS does not bypass protectors. The “childish”/”self indulgent” parts can have a voice too 30 Parts can hide but also show themselves 31 Parts shift in parallel, even if not directly worked on. 31 Therapists can work on their own internal systems 31

Why Use ArtIFS with IFS? 32

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Potential Pitfalls 32 A Graphical Overview of ArtIFS 36 Transferring to Other Art Forms 37

Exercises 39 Going Inwards 41

Exercise 1: Three Minutes of Silence 42 Exercise 2: Drawing Before Drawing 42

Snapshot 43 Exercise 3: Leaving Interpretation for Later 44

Focusing In 46 Exercise 4: Fleshing Something Out 46 Exercise 5: Clove-Mapping 47 Exercise 6: Council Meeting 48

Witnessing 50 Exercise 7: Re-telling a Story Using Drawing 51 Exercise 8: The Story of a Story 51

Retrieval 52 Exercise 9: Pre and Post 52

Unburdening 54 Exercise 10: Play Pretend 54 Exercise 11: Unburdening Sequence 55

Integration 57 Exercise 12: Goal Image 57 Exercise 13: Integration Sequence 57

Case Studies 59 The Case of the Black Spot 59 Problem Solving 60

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Introduction

This booklet is an introduction to a budding framework called ArtIFS – Self Leadership

through Creativity, which is based on an evidence-based psychotherapeutic model called 1

Internal Family Systems (IFS). We’ve found IFS to be ground-breaking in its approach to

psychological healing and also a very enriching way of life. We hope to contribute to the

therapeutic community in some small way by providing a framework within which artistic

exercises and endeavours to work with the IFS model creatively. We’re convinced this can

make some applications more effective and help make the model’s healing properties more

easily accessible to wider audiences. With the help and support of the IFS community, we

aim to develop a robust and clear framework for navigating the IFS model when employing

creative methods. We hope it will be found as useful by laymen and therapists alike as it has

been to us and our clients so far.

ArtIFS has been a wonderful journey which started after a week of an IFS level 1 training in

London in September, 2015. Empowered with in-depth knowledge of Self and parts, we went

to a art gallery called Tate Modern. We were so fascinated with how fun, useful and

fascinating our new perspectives were that we decided to create a small working group

exploring art and IFS. Over the year that followed, we met on a weekly basis, sometimes

more often, and used mostly artwork and photography as trailheads for inner exploration.

These meetings, which we soon referred to as “ArtIFS” sessions, were times of mystery,

discoveries and loads of fun in the midst of some difficult circumstances. With time, we

noticed some common themes and started collect insights about how to work with IFS in this

way, and we started to jot down our thoughts. Our notes grew, we started to categorise them

and, over time, we developed a series of exercises covering all the steps of IFS, that we

figured could be formalised more. Finally, we started the work of putting our thoughts

together, used it with clients and a few groups and started discussing it with like minded

individuals in the IFS community. It finally resulted into something that we would now refer

to as a complete system for using art with IFS. We decided to call this framework ArtIFS –

Self Leadership through Creativity.

1 The IFS model has been found to be effective in various contexts by the US Government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/)

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Our creative applications have been focused on the facilitation of the IFS steps using art.

After getting to know the wonderfully diverse and rich world of art therapy, we realised that

the true value we could offer was the IFS model. The simplicity, rigour and thoughtfulness of

the model was easily transferable to creative ways of working. We found great benefits in

fitting creativity into that loose structure of the IFS model: suddenly the artistic endeavours

gained more meaning, they were put in a larger context, and the underlying goal of Self

leadership provided us with deeper spiritual motivation. Besides finding ways of facilitating

IFS steps, we could easily see how to use IFS in non-therapeutic ways. We still find new

ways of enriching our lives using art with IFS and hope this booklet can provide some

inspiration for others. There really are no limits – that’s what creativity is all about!

Thanks

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful IFS community for sharing

experiences, providing feedback and being so open and welcoming to our every attempt to

connect. The wisdom and kindness of the people involved with IFS speaks volumes about

what the model is really about. We’d especially like to thank Foundation IFS, and in

particular Dr. Toufic Hakim, for so much kind support, encouragement and useful feedback,

without which we would never have come this far.

Your Authors

Nadine Menezes is a trained IFS practitioner who has always been passionate about exploring

the deeper mysteries of life and enabling others to reach their potential. After 4 years at

medical school, she realized she wanted to pursue a path that felt truer to herself so she took a

leap and left to explore her creative side. Her own journey since has involved photography,

art, indie game development collaborations and even horticulture. She loves developing new

possibilities and working with both clients and organisations. Read more about her IFS

practice on NadineMenezes.com.

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Andreas Michael (MSc) is a trained IFS Practitioner helping his clients lead their discovery

and understanding of themselves while working to release self-limiting constraints. He has

been working with the IFS model on a daily basis since 2014. He studied economics in

Stockholm, Lima and Lausanne and now works as a project manager in London. Read more

about his IFS practice on SelfLedYou.co.uk.

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The Power of Art

As humans, the only way our bodies experience the world is through the senses: sight, sound,

touch, taste, proprioception, feelings and bodily sensations. Everything about humans has

developed in line with the ability and range of our senses. A naked mole rat is virtually blind,

so it does not care what its mate looks like. We cannot see in the ultraviolet range so we are

oblivious to any invisible sun damage occurring to our skin.

Humans have also developed tools that measure the world in chunks our senses detect. We

categorize and label the spectrum of frequencies we perceive and, at this point in history,

society relies on the measurements picked up by our dominant senses to standardize

processes, make things work and ‘run the world’. We measure this and that with rulers and

weights. Through careful observation, scientists have fathomed there’s even more we’re not

seeing, so brilliant minds have created technology that helps us ’see’ things like DNA

through the electron microscope. Everything happens through the senses.

Once technology exists, offshoots are quickly developed to use it for pleasure. Pop culture

and entertainment can be described as a pleasure to the senses. Theoretically, one can

imagine an alien species with different biology and sense organs creating entertainment or

technology that humans have no understanding or perception of because we just don’t have

the ability or range to detect it. If life did exist in many forms in the universe, imagine the

infinite works of art or ways of perception that exist – there might even be works around us

we don’t perceive.

Through our senses we can see that whatever we do affects the world around us. We create

changes, deliberately or accidentally. Some changes we create for the sake of it, some for

function, some for pleasure or both. Either way we create.

When we create something of value we may consider ourselves creative. Indeed, creative

thinking is a skill some employers look for. Entrepreneurs don’t get very far in business

without excelling at creative thinking. But what exactly is creativity? And who decides when

a creation is of value?

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Creativity

Wikipedia defines Creativity as “a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow

valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a

musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a literary work, or

a painting).” 2

Thanks to creativity, we become aware of something new in what we sense. An artist's holy

grail might be to attain originality in their work: to create something others can see as new

and, hopefully, of value. Many people assume this creative spark or ‘talent’ is only present in

some people. However, this isn’t the case.

Creativity is a something inherent to all of us. Richard Schwartz, who first formulated the

IFS model, sees it as a quality of Self: something every one IS. As kids, no one teaches us to

express things creatively. We can observe how children naturally create in play, whether they

scrawl crayons on a wall, drag sticks across the mud to makes shapes or embody characters to

create their own stories, no child needs to know how to create. They just need to know that

it’s possible and perhaps, at first, how to use some tools.

When a child spontaneously creates, they don’t judge their creations as good or bad.

Similarly, even if we don’t create in play like children do, we have a choice in how we view a

creation and whether we see anything of value in it or not. The value of something is relative.

It depends on who’s looking at it, the context the observer is in, and their personal

preferences. A loaf of bread isn’t worth much to most of us but if we’re starving on a desert

island it becomes invaluable. Similarly, we can recall the story of the old Jewish grandmother

who scavenged for food in the trash during the second world war, but still refused to eat

anything she found unless it was kosher. When it comes to making money, value is defined in

monetary terms: Cash or the cash equivalent of various assets. Value creation in this case is

about how to turn profit given some production inputs, but this is not the scope of this

booklet. The value we’re discussing is measured in Self leadership and our goal is to promote

that. And as far as Self is concerned, everyone is creative.

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

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So where does art fit in when growing Self leadership? When do our creations, like scribbles,

become worthwhile? Why is it important to us?

Art

In our minds, art shares all of the following characteristics:

1) It is anything our senses perceive

2) It arouses something new in us

3) It exists in a creative form which allows the transmission of symbols

4) The transmission of symbols originates from the conscious or unconscious intent of

seeing or sharing a subjective and personal experience

More traditionally, we judge something as artistic when it has an effect of conveying a

quality we call ‘beautiful’ but art doesn’t have to be conventionally beautiful to provide

something of value.

Whether it is in music, painting, film or poetry, art can stir up feelings, give us spiritual

experiences and take us to the depths of human suffering or height of human vision. The arts

with most impact captivate our senses and take us to heaven or hell.

Joseph Campbell regarded artists as modern day shamans:

Moyers: "Who interprets the divinity inherent in nature for us today? Who are

our shamans?"

Campbell: "It is the function of the artist to do this. The artist is the one who

communicates myth for today ..."

Moyers: "So shamans functioned in earlier societies as artists do now. They play

a much more important role than simply being ... "

Campbell: "They played the role of the priesthood traditionally plays in our

society. 3

Shamans work with the intangible: the spirit or soul of something. Similarly, as Paul Klee

saw it, artists see the invisible in a way and in their art make the invisible visible. In order to

3 Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth (New York. Doubleday, 1988), 207.

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do that, they sit in the present moment, appreciate something invisible and create something

out of nothing.

Occasionally, we are deemed by others to be artists when we deliberately make art to share

our experience, even without technical expertise, but art doesn’t have to be shared to be of

value to the artist. In order to make the invisible visible, art employs symbols which can

mean using the usual visual motifs like flowers or patterns. Symbols, however, are also

complex signs of something else.

Symbols

When we are born, we feel the warmth of our mums and hear her heartbeat. We might even

sense her love and emotions. Love, warmth, disgust, cold, hot, feelings and so forth; they

come to mean things to us rather than just some static our senses pick up. We start to process

the world of our senses symbolically before we learn to express them through words or to

write about them. We dream in symbols.

"Symbols give rise to thought"

(Paul Ricoeur)

If symbols could talk, they would would tell us about the meaning they carry. Anything can

be a symbol, as long as we choose to see something symbolically and ascribe our meaning to

it. A line is just a mark until we ascribe meaning to it. There are some symbols we have

agreed have certain meaning: If we draw a line under something, it signifies a cessation.

Theologian Brian Gleesan said “Symbols, which differ from simple signs, function in human

life to convey not only ideas but also feelings, values, beliefs, traditions and ideals. As such,

they take persons beyond the surface of reality to its depth.”

The development of communication mirrored our cognitive development. Before the written

word developed, people communicated through symbols and signs. Ancient man created

small figurines of bounteous women to revere the feminine and fertile earth. Cave paintings

tens of thousands of years old conveyed convey ideas like warriors, strength, nature and spirit

or tracked important events like animal migration or weather changes. Perhaps cave paintings

also served to help shamans and medicine people of old in their journeying, vision quests and

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scrying. The oldest continuing art form in the world, aboriginal art, tells stories about

Dreamtime.

Aboriginal cave paintings are over 20,000 years old and the tradition that produced them is

up to three times older. Symbolic thinking and communication has prevailed far longer than

the written word or binary representations of data we use in modern society. Even now, we

find it easier to communicate some things symbolically through use of emoticons and emojis.

Symbols that have prevailed and dominate consciousness also have the power to entrance us.

The swastika is a powerful ancient symbol, reportedly over 10,000 years old and seen in

various forms all over the world. It’s original meaning is “wellbeing for all” but the Nazis

used it to bring power and glamor to their ideology and captivate the German people. It’s

unlikely that Hitler, who had a astute understanding and ability to win over some of the

German public, would have chosen a flower or a bird to represent his ideology. Germany was

struggling with economic difficulties so a flower would have symbolized a different quality

that the people weren’t quite hungry for.

A more recent use of symbols in the modern world is advertising. As it stands now, trillions

of dollars have been spent on advertising since marketers understood they could use symbols

to sell products. In 2014, just over $200 billion US dollars were spent on media advertising in

the US alone. When advertising is successful, it relies on the power of symbols to invoke our 4

imagination – entrancing us to a possibility of another reality with a product we supposedly

need.

Imagination

Something that stimulates our imagination can also be called artistic. But what is

imagination? Wikipedia describes it as “the creative ability to form images, ideas, and

sensations in the mind without direct input from the senses, such as seeing or hearing.” 5

Imagination comes from within and, like creativity, is innate to us all. We all dream or

daydream. Martin Pollekoff once said: “a dream is the only pure art form of the

4https://www.statista.com/topics/979/advertising-in-the-us/ 5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagination

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Unconscious”. Perhaps we all express ourselves creatively in our imaginations or sleep

whether we like it or not.

When faced with symbols, in order to make sense of them and think ‘symbolically’ we need

to use our imagination, or the ability to make real in the mind the unreal. For example, our

symbolic thinking assigns meaning to a red heart on a page and we may then imagine love or

compassion which we can then express through words, action or art.

Our imaginations can be provoked from within or without. Take the case of advertising: it is

something experienced as coming from outside in, stimulating our senses and using symbols

to provoke our imagination of a reality of a better life - should if we buy into a lifestyle or a

product. The Marlboro TV ads, for example, captured our senses and bombarded us with

symbols of supposed quintessential masculinity, the Marlboro Man. In doing so, the company

not only sold cigarettes all over the world but also introduced a new version of the dream guy

in many romantic novels targeted to females.

Other ‘mind technologies’ thankfully trigger imaginations to help and heal rather than sell.

Shamanic journeying is one example but a more recent modality is hypnosis. Hypnotherapists

use scripts or guided meditations to stimulate the imagination, internally enlivening our

senses and successfully putting subjects in suggestible trance states . 6

Accessing creativity, using imagination and translating mark making into art or art therapy is

another ‘mind technology’ of sorts. With regard to creativity and making art, it is effortless in

a state of Flow , the “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our 7

best”. But what happens if we cannot get into a state of Flow? It’s unlikely that we, even as

therapy practitioners, are in a state of flow when facilitating clients. Is it necessary when

using creativity to promote Self Leadership?

The Present Moment

It is a misconception that one needs to be calm, in a state of Flow or even inspired to create

art. The present moment and all it contains the soil for creating works that have the most

valuable to you.

6 The Rorschach test is another example of a protocol relying on imagination. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test 7 As defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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Even if we doodle whilst in a telephone call or meeting, there is something in the act of doing

so that allows some attention, however small, to go inward. Something inside needs some

attention or consciousness to produce even random squiggles when doodling, however many

times one draws the same thing over and over again. In the act of creating, we automatically

drop attention into the present moment and this is what is exploited in art therapies.

All that’s necessary to kickstart the process is a decision to put pen to paper, even just to

doodle. You can see how easy this is in the exercises below, even with difficult feelings

coming up.

The gift of creativity allows us the possibility of seeing something new in the present moment

– even in states of unease, stagnation or ennui. If there is particular difficulty with seeing

something new in the present moment, then a trained therapist (especially an IFS practitioner)

is useful.

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Creative Therapies Today

Art therapists already use the power of art and creativity to help people – bringing insight,

integration, enhancing self perception, aiding emotion regulation and promoting behavior

change . So why go further and use art with another framework ? To answer why ArtIFS 8 9

might be useful we need to see how Art Therapy is used and what could be missing in its

current state.

The myriad of different artistic approaches to therapy is a testament to the power of art. To

give you an idea, you can find a few examples we’ve come across when involved in the

ArtIFS project below.

● Art

○ Painting

○ Drawing

○ Doodling

○ Collage

○ Art therapy

○ Art-related activities in other therapies

● Writing

○ Expressive

○ Writing for therapy

○ Standard writing

○ Responding to reading

● Music

○ Responding to music

○ Learning technique

○ Performing

○ Music therapy

● Dance

○ Learning technique

8 https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/arts-and-health/201608/why-art-therapy-works 9 There are many ways to tap into creativity. Our favourite and one we found most effective is, of course, IFS and ArtIFS. Again, you don’t have to take our word.

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○ Performing

○ Dance therapy

● Drama

○ Performing

○ Dramatherapy

○ Playback Theatre

○ Family Constellations

● Others

○ Creative embodied practices

○ Storytelling

○ Film

○ Photography

○ Sand play

○ Clay

○ Puppets

○ Masks

○ Stickers

○ And many, many more

Benefits, Harm and Disinterest

A thorough review of good quality studies on the effectiveness and cost benefits of art

therapy was conducted by the National Institute for Health Research in the UK. They found 10

numerous benefits to art therapy users through the following elements:

● Relationship to therapist

● Relationships with group members

● Increased understanding, especially on oneself

● A new perspective, especially on the future.

● Distraction

● Personal achievement

● Expression

10 Systematic review and economic modelling of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of art therapy among people with non-psychotic mental health disorders L Uttley et al, Health Technology Assessment. Vol 19: Issue 18, Mar 2015

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● Relaxation

● Encouragement

The report also found that art therapy could be harmful. These were the causes:

● Unskilled therapists and practitioners

● Activated emotions that were not resolved

● Sudden termination of therapy

● Increased pain or caused anxiety

Finally, these are some of the responses received when art therapy users were asked what

caused them to become disinterested or disengage from art therapy:

● “Not good at art”

● “Self Indulgent”

● “Superficial”

● “Childish”

● Client had preference for other therapies

It is important to understand why something might not work in order to develop better tools.

After a talk at the London School of Economics (LSE) , a group of clinicians and art therapy 11

users informally discussed the state of art therapy today. Whilst the economic case and

positive benefits of art to promote good health and wellbeing was emphasized, there was also

a sense that something was not quite successful. The main complaint was that some users of

art therapy were left feeling condescended to. Another is that art therapy is deemed, perhaps

with a little justification, by many serious clinicians as “too fluffy”. In addition, whilst

benefits like relaxation or distraction are no doubt useful in the context of stress relief or

giving one’s mind a break, there is uncertainty about how helpful or sustainable the methods

that only promote these are in the long term.

The art therapy users at the LSE talk also felt disappointed about the small, cramped venues

they were relegated to. Although this issue exists because of financial constraints of

government funded health care and lack of importance put on art therapy service provision, it

still leaves an unaddressed bitter taste in the mouth for those involved.

11 Art and Wellbeing: the Growing Impact of Arts on Health. London School of Economics, 23 Feb 2016

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The arts and art therapy is clearly beneficial to societal wellbeing but the experience of arts

and creative therapies varies widely and could be improved for some. The practices used in

creative therapies are numerous, the quality of venues can be lacking, and the quality of care

received depends on which practitioner or therapist you see and what methods therapists

choose to use. Unfortunately, despite strict regulation or licensing of art therapists and yearly

increases in creative therapies funding, these issues still exist.

Most strikingly, the art therapy users at the LSE talk intuitively felt that the potential and

power of art and creativity was just not exploited – although they couldn’t answer in what

way. There appears to be a need for structure and order in the art therapy world, but the

nature of the creative process is not structured or ordered by nature. We hope that the

structure and simplicity of the IFS model, applied to art, can help fill some of these needs

without adversely impacting the value of the creative process.

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Checking In

Countless creative works exist, why is our creation of any value? Why should we bother to

create our own pieces? If we cannot answer this how can we expect those with without

artistic skill or aversions to creating art to get something out of ArtIFS. Perhaps they don’t

need do but what if parts of them want to create? It might be useful to explore our own

parts in relation to creativity or creating art to have some insight.

Check to see if you have any parts that have concerns about what they think these

processes might be or lead to.

As we facilitated our own parts, our clients and workshop participants through these

processes, these are the parts of us we encountered in ourselves:

● Perfectionist parts or thought art or creations should look a certain way.

● Parts that were worried about what other people might think, feel or say to us about

our creations.

● Parts that could not focus on drawing whilst in a group of people.

● Parts that were worried about not being able to keep our work private.

● Parts that looked forward to finally creating!

● Parts that were afraid that creating or creations would be a disappointment.

● Parts that were worried that there would be nothing to draw.

Do you have any similar parts? Is there anything more?

We’ll check in with these parts later.

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ArtIFS

Art We Like and Don’t Like

Consider why any piece of music, film or artwork would speak to you. What makes you like

some things and not others? What is it about music, prose or film that captures your

attention? Why are some people drawn to only masterpieces created by famous artists, yet

others adore a painted ceramic tile created by an artisan in five minutes? Last but not least,

why do some internet memes become viral?

Creations can be evaluated in many different ways. It’s safe to say that the majority of people

don’t like death metal or cut-your-wrists emo. In Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, the

Klingons have an operatic form very few humans can enjoy. Why is that? If you already

know about IFS you might have guessed it. We all have different parts and our parts like

different things. All forms of art speak to parts of us. We have unique parts in unique

configurations and, therefore, we are drawn to and resonate with different expressions.

As well responding to what we sense directly, our parts respond to symbols and archetypes

(which can be seen as symbols shared by the collective). Of course, we are all unique in our

histories and upbringing so also have unique symbolic languages we’ve picked up or created

“symbol dialects” of our own. Blue might mean calm to one person and freedom of the skies

to someone else.

So without an understanding of internal parts and the internal family system, or appealing to

parts shared by everyone, culture, arts and even psychotherapies run the risk of being a little

hit and miss in what they aim to accomplish. This lack of specificity exists even if works

were created with high technical expertise and the person on the receiving end is open to

seeing something new. Our parts might just not get the next million dollar blockbuster if they

don’t identify with anything in the movie. We can watch a movie or see a painting and feel

no connection or resonance with it whatsoever. Vice versa, a thriller might disturb us for days

or a classical composition at a concert can suddenly and unexpectedly trigger a spiritual,

heart opening experience. A badly made sci-fi B-Movie might be on our top 10 list of

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favourites. So the intention and expertise behind a creation might not necessarily connect to

the inner parts of the viewer.

When we respond to or create art we are using imagination to make unseen concept real. As

we do that, our parts (thinking processes, body, feelings) are a filter to both our perception

and creations. Whatever we imagine, daydream or create holds information about our parts

because our parts had a hand in what was created – a clumsy metaphor would be something

like the shell of a bullet being scarred by the inner imperfections of the gun barrel. If what we

perceive happens to strongly resonate with some parts, we would have stronger reactions to

these works. For example, we may fall in love with a photo and hang it up on a wall where

we can see it daily. If we think about music as another example, it’s unlikely that anyone

reading this does not have a selection of music they like.

We don’t have to even like art or be ‘arty’ for our parts to have a say in what we respond to or

create. We don’t even have to know what we’re doing or the message we’re trying to share.

Of his paintings, Picasso said this:

"If you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my

idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but

instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what

they are."

Picasso knew how to paint to great effect but we don’t have to. This unconscious making of

marks or creative expression is the gold in art therapy. We just cannot help seeing the world

or creating through the filter of our parts. However old we are.

Quite simply, art can resonate/trigger our own parts or allows the Self in us (our creativity) to

see something new. Our parts also change and develop over time and as they do our ‘tastes’

in what we like and dislike change too. Some of us might even assign weight to what our

parts like/dislike and look for love by searching for people with similar tastes. We have an

innate understanding for why it matters

Through an understanding of parts and IFS, we’ve found a new way to exploit our innate

imagination, symbolic thinking (unique parts filters), unconscious mark making and inherent

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creativity to promote Self leadership. Clients don’t need to be able draw, know anything

about symbols or even consider themselves to be creative. In being curious about what we

perceive and what we create we can connect to and build relationships with our parts in much

the same way as through talking in an IFS session, much like exploring a trailhead – only this

time we’re applying it to what goes in through our senses and comes out of our consciousness

onto an artistic medium. Creative expression opens up a whole new stream of communication

from our parts to the Self in us or our therapist.

Furthermore, seeing art through the lens of IFS and creating work in processes that follow the

steps of IFS opens up a whole new way of understanding the depth of a person’s internal

system.

The table below is a first glance comparison of ‘mind technologies’ and how they relate to

symbolism, our senses, imagination and the Internal Family System. In the best case, we can

help promote Self Leadership in ourselves and our clients through an understanding of this

and ArtIFS.

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Table 1:

A comparison of technologies using creativity

Use of

Symbols

?

Flow of

who

directs the

senses

Agenda/Effect on parts Allows

communicatio

n of non

verbal parts

Use of

Client

Imaginatio

n?

Whose vision is

the imagined?

Self Leadership

Entertainmen

t

Y

Outside in, Entertain/distract/disturb N N Other Depends on intent of creator

- mostly no change

Religious art Y

Outside in, Inspire/convert N Y Other? variable

Propaganda

(in any form -

news, popular

culture, in

religion etc)

Y

Outside in Influence/ bring parts on

board to a certain

idealogy. Usually scares

managers/exiles

N Y Other Decrease

IFS Therapy Variable Inside out Parts are heard,

promote harmony in

the inner system

variable Y Client Increase in 8 Cs

Advertising Y Outside in Managers want to buy! N Y Other No change / decrease

Coloring in N Outside in Quieten the parts

temporarily

variable variable Other Calm, creativity

Creating

artworks in

any form

Variable Inside out variable Y Y Client variable

Art IFS Y Inside Out Parts are heard,

promote harmony in

the inner system

Y Y Client Increase in 8 Cs

Art therapy

on the whole

Variable

-

Depende

nt on

exercise

Variable -

Dependent

on exercise

Variable Y Y Client variable

Jungian

Therapy

Y Inside

out???

Variable N Y Client Y

Hypnosis ? Outside in ? N Y Client ?

21

ArtIFS and Art Therapy

In the the previous chapter we noted some responses of disappointed and disinterested art

therapy users. Some felt they were “not good at art” and “self indulgent” to do Art Therapy.

Some thought that Art Therapy was “superficial” or “childish” . The IFS aficionados among 12

readers will no doubtedly infer that these were points raised by internal parts of users. Whilst

one can explore these parts in art Therapy, why do even receptive/enthusiastic users still

leave Art Therapy feeling these things despite strict regulation of art therapies?

The missing link could be an understanding of Self and the Internal Family System. Clearly,

the concerns of these parts have not been answered either due to lack of skill on the part of

the therapist or the methods used did not serve needs of that particular client. Perhaps the

treatment wasn’t suitable, clients weren’t ready or treatment too short (due to termination or

users quitting). Either way, an understanding of parts, Self Leadership and IFS steps might

have made the creative methods used and therapy even more specific to clients, at the very

least reducing any the risk of dissatisfaction or harm. Even issues raised due to therapy

conducted in cramped venues can be addressed through IFS/ArtIFS. External conditions need

not be a bar to increasing Self Leadership.

The simplicity of ArtIFS also means very little cost to service providers. We don’t need to

use easels, paints or even a room, although one could in the right context. ArtIFS is possible

using sticks in the mud, as kids playing might do. As in art therapy, the beauty and artistic

impact of work is not important. Neither is the creation insofar as the significance it holds. By

using creative expression in line with IFS principles and steps, as practitioners, we are

flexible and specific to what our clients’ parts (even if in a group) needs. Promoting Self

Leadership and harmony in the internal system of each participant is the missing ingredient

that Art Therapy lacks.

In other words, Art Therapies have exploiting symbolic creation and even symbolic creations

by parts but ArtIFS as a framework fills some gaps and also goes a little further. It exploits

the power of symbolic perception or creation through an thorough understanding of our parts,

concurrently promoting Self Leadership. We can hear from our parts in a new way; see how

12 Some exercises and Art Therapy sessions might indeed be superficial, especially if there is an intuition that there was a lot to be curious about but the therapist did not help facilitate that curiosity.

22

parts are experienced other parts; notice inter-part relationships and what happens to the inner

experience as a result of Self-to-Parts connection. With ArtIFS, in being able to hear parts in

a new way and facilitate all the IFS steps through art creation we are better able to help our

parts in whatever way they prefer.

Moreover, ArtIFS encompasses the understanding of how and why any creative method is

useful to our parts and in doing so, we can reverse engineer and develop methods that are 13

useful to our clients, whether individual or group.

Self Leadership in ArtIFS

During an ArtIFS session, even during drawing, live therapy happens within the client even if

no words are exchanged. As we create something, Self leadership is promoted in more than

one way. First, clients make choices on what to pay attention to and decide what they want to

externalize. Secondly, in order to externalize it they automatically separate from it in order to

sense its qualities. Curiosity not only appears in the form of verbal questions, like in vanilla

IFS, but through a split second (or longer) connection with parts to see what else the part is

about.

We don’t know how parts get translated to a piece of paper. In our own experience,

sometimes it feels as if Self facilitates the part blending with the hand or body to express

itself directly. There appears to be a form of “checking” or inner clarification that takes place

with a part on a low level of consciousness. It happens fast and the part doesn’t need to step

back “as much” in order to unblend enough to allow marks to be made.

If it happened in words, Self might say something like this:

“Dear Part, is this a hard line?”

Now Self can clarify the feeling of the line with the part. A sense of “that’s it” or “not quite”

is held during this internal, non verbal exchange.

“It feels softer? Okay, let’s try to make Hand represent that on the page.”

13 Many writers, actors and other artists have commented how creating work has been an emotional process and that they’ve achieved healing in some way.

23

This might be different from person to person. We are all inevitably bound to the

confinements of our own inner realities. All we know is that there is no need to know any of

this or have a keen awareness of the internal system for something to appear on the page and

for it to be used in a therapeutic way.

In writing or speech, qualities can easily be ‘lost in translation’ or hard to define. If we were

to describe consciousness, for example, English just doesn’t have the words or nuances that a

language like Sanskrit might have. Short of learning new languages we can use the power of

art to see the invisible. Using art introduces more possibility for open avenues of

communication from non verbal parts and parts that just wouldn’t otherwise be talked about.

“Does it feel like a hard line or soft line?”, “Does my arm want to move erratically when I

pay attention here?” and so on. Therapists leave all the creation choices to their clients. The

process is almost somatic and, in our own experience and that of some of our clients, the

body can even feel different without any words having being exchanged or people moving

about. It doesn’t have to be somatic, of course. Clients with strong intellectual parts often

create works that look very different from clients that are dominated by emotional parts.

For some reason, once protectors are ready to allow exiles to communicate even a little bit,

some protectors have an easier to time letting parts express themselves on a page than

verbally to another human being. Other humans have their own parts which might not be

safe. But perhaps protectors also trust that Self can contain these parts if they’re on the page.

It’s almost as if they understand that parts haven’t taken over or overwhelmed the system

because the hand is ‘channelling’ them. During the process of drawing, we often feel a sense

of individual parts feeling heard. In IFS terms, this could only happen if Self is present.

When processing or reflecting on the drawing afterwards, there is more opportunities for Self

leadership. Seeing our creation and inner landscape on the page automatically promotes a

more holistic view, at least to some extent. There is something special about seeing your

internal system in this way. It’s almost as if parts naturally step back to let Self see the entire

landscape, all at once in the present moment. This helps consolidate our experience of our

parts, reframe our view of our own internal system and it lets us see our parts as clearly parts

of a larger system. In doing so, there is a natural unification of sorts and inner harmony is

promoted. Seeing parts coexist on a piece of paper gives parts hope of them being able to live

together in our internal system as well.

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During processing, we can also practice Self leadership when faced with the unknown.

Usually, if clients don’t use words or clear symbols, it isn’t obvious to either client or

therapist what it all means on the page. With Self energy and patience from a therapist, we

come closer to understanding even the most cryptic things. In some of our own sessions, parts

that have never been able to express themselves before have felt a huge sense of relief when

finally seen and understood. Imagine being an emotional part in a system where the part

listening only understands or communicates using words. It would be the equivalent of being

a mute! We believe finding forms of communicating with parts is a part of Self leadership,

and artistic expression seem to be a very important and heretofore largely overlooked form of

communication.

Finally, regular sessions also facilitate a connection with one’s parts between sessions. We

can see our creations and any parts contained therein between sessions, should we need help

remembering.

Like regular IFS sessions, clients feedback that they look forward to ArtIFS. We develop

compassion towards our parts and grow to love our creations, even if previously parts might

have judged our creations as terrible art. The judgemental parts might still feel that way, but

they might be okay with us secretly loving our art if we don’t show them to anyone.

Processing

So once we’ve gone inwards and created our piece, what then?

What can we be curious about? Remember there could be parts that want to interpret, make

assumptions or value judgements (good, bad, useful etc) about what you see. Be aware of any

parts getting caught up in finding meanings for everything or becoming art aficionados. This

is about promoting Self leadership and about the connection of Self with parts and Self led

connections between parts.

You can start by asking the client (or yourself) something like “what was going through you

as you drew your image?” This question automatically gets the client to separate from parts

slightly to regard their internal system. As in regular IFS, the focus in on the client; they

should be talking/processing for most of the time!

25

Quite simply, you’re sensing (through any sense organ) what’s in the art and your client.

With regard to their creation, you’re seeing contrasts and changes in the ‘ground’ (what the

piece is created on). There are quite a few things you can be curious about but it’s not your

job to notice everything. You won’t have time anyway. If you’re facilitating, you’re holding

or aiding curiosity in your client until they naturally do it themselves. Hold curiosity about

the piece in relation to the inner landscape and possible parts in the client.

Most of the points below relate to drawing because we’ve found it the simplest and quickest

way for parts to communicate symbolically. If you build up to using paints, 3D or time based

pieces like film or music etc, then there are more qualities you can notice. Be aware that with

growing complexity of art media, parts can get caught up in artistic decision-making during

creation of a piece and you might lose track of why you’re doing ArtIFS 14

Therefore, we would suggest drawing to start off with. It’s easy, gives a lot and we are still

using it. So much so that we carry around a little notepad with blank pages and pens wherever

we go.

General Q & A

This is an informal Q&A on some questions that have occurred.

Why did we use drawing?

At first we decided to use the simplest tools (pen/pencil and paper) because they were most

accessible. We eventually realized that our managers and protectors preferred it.There is a

huge vulnerability to drawing – using paints just made it scarier. The cost, potential waste

and spills were avoided. There is no investment (psychologically) to using pen and paper.

Our own protectors felt more comfortable and less condescended to than using finger

painting, for example. With growing Self Leadership, some of us were curious about

charcoals, then paints when we felt more able to. One of our clients used pencil shavings

because they happened to lie next to the paper. The same client naturally decided to use

colors, then paints through his own choice when he was ready. Anything can be used.

14 With regard to ArtIFS trailhead exercises, where no drawing happens, any creation or art form can be used of course.

26

It’s also usually a better idea to start using one color. Once our parts are familiar with the

process and feel they can express more in color, without being caught up in complex decision

making about what colors to use, then feel free to explore color too.

As practitioners though, we need to be careful that the tools we use do not trigger our clients’

exiles - finger painting, for example, has strong associations with toddler years and might

bring up similar aged parts or protectors of those parts. Either way, it’s important to be

mindful of what clients feel drawn to or are curious to use. This is about promoting Self

Leadership in them after all.

Why and when to use meditation?

This is talked about in the Exercises chapter, subsection “Going Inwards.”

Meditation is not always necessary if clients are used to the process or have enough presence

to be with their parts in drawing. Going inwards might be necessary, say, in order to calm

down a bit after rushing to get to a session. It allows the space for us to notice our parts and

start to be open to exploring them. If parts are already actively in awareness or even blended,

then one can always start straight into the creating phase.

How long the meditation is also depends on the client/group mental states. If in doubt, have a

meditation but remember, you don’t have to be relaxed/calm or ‘have self energy’ to do this

work. The point is not to get into a relaxed or trance-like state because that might actually

sedate rather than prepare parts!

When to finish drawing/creating?

There is a sort of complete feeling that comes about when the parts have expressed what they

need to. It’s a good idea to start with shorter durations (10 to 15 minutes) and give clients an

option to carry on drawing should they wish to. If clients can tolerate longer durations, then

increase the time. With some clients, there is a chance that some arty parts might get

enjoyment out of creating art: changing the focus from letting Self connect with parts to using

the session as an art activity. So be aware of that possibility.

27

In ArtIFS sessions with our parts, once our parts were used to the exercise, we lengthened the

allocated drawing time to 30 minutes. Finish when clients are ready to finish.

Another thing to watch out for: In the first few sessions there might be discomfort to stay

with the unknown, and parts that say “I can’t think of what to draw next” or “there’s nothing

else to draw” will naturally present themselves. Let them (or clients) know that this is normal

and to draw those parts if necessary.

Why the IFS steps?

They’re tried, tested and they work! As the saying goes, If it ain't broke… Like IFS, the steps

don’t necessary all follow in one line. You can have several snapshot/discovery sessions and

then BOOM! A surprise unburdening and integration of a part that was hanging around doing

its own thing and is now ready. Self Leadership is the key.

Difference between individual work and group work

When facilitating a group we would suggest always using a prior meditation and processing

stage.

What questions to ask clients?

There is a huge range of questions and verbal communication one can use, just like in IFS. If

it’s safe to use in IFS Therapy, you can use it in ArtIFS. Additionally, we can questions that

promote curiosity and other Self qualities in the client about their own representation of their

inner system on the page and promote connection to their parts as they answer questions in

the present moment. This promotes Self Leadership throughout the process and allows even

more information to come up. Soon, clients start becoming curious about their own creations

and art, asking themselves “hmm... who/what made me do that? Let me check it out in myself

now”.

In summary, ask questions that promote:

● Curiosity towards what happened inside whilst drawing.

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● Curiosity towards what parts communicate in drawing. Facilitate a Self-to-parts

connection in the present moment and that answers might come from parts that think

they know ‘the story’ already.

● Curiosity in the client about what’s happening inside as they process their drawing.

● Connection between Self-to-parts and between parts now

● Other Self qualities too!

Embodied work has the most impact

Clients might draw from parts that want to be ‘arty’ or create ‘good work’, parts that want to

figure things out etc. You can avoid this by using carefully worded meditations. Remind

clients to stay curious: drawing what they notice and once they’ve added all they notice on

the page, to see what else is there inside.

What We Have Discovered

Individual and group ArtIFS work with all IFS steps possible

This framework can be used with individuals and groups. With a group, a set of tried and

tested questions that allow protectors to be heard and to choose to step aside, should they

want to, is best. Participants hold curiosity for each other (in pairs or small groups) if they

can. If not, or if time does not allow it, then processing happens with oneself on paper, whilst

in the group. This can be deep work, so it’s important to not push anything through protectors

prematurely and make sure group participants have support options in place after workshops

should they need it.

You can do ArtIFS without therapist if there is enough knowledge of IFS

We have used this framework ourselves, even to this day, as and when required. During

difficult times, we’ve used it daily without the help of a separate therapist. Of course, it helps

if one is already familiar working with IFS but clients have used the Snapshot exercise on

their own when they’ve needed to.

ArtIFS is simple, flexible and has a lot of scope

The simplicity of the exercises, flexibility in what tools can be used and translation to group

settings means that ArtIFS can be used in many different contexts. We’ve tailored the steps to

29

workshops with themes (e.g. Depression or Self Discovery) and to facilitate partswork in

groups with different needs.

Use as and when required

There is no hard and fast rule about using only ArtIFS or IFS. Again, encourage the Self

Leadership in clients in the way their system prefers.

A feeling of accomplishment – “Meaningful creation in life as well as art” 15

When clients learn to appreciate their creations for what they are – meaningful and even

wondrous communications from their parts, whatever the technical artistic quality of the

work -- this perspective sometimes shifts into life creations too.

Time to ‘integrate’ may be necessary

Often, even in IFS therapy, parts need a break to allow new information or connections to

settle. This can also be the case with ArtIFS. Don’t be discouraged if some parts are not ready

to communicate. There could be a reason for that.

Parts seen that would not be seen otherwise

We’ve been astounded by the parts that have presented in ArtIFS. Sometimes, these are non

verbal parts, with presentations that are impossible to put into words unless you first see it on

the paper. Parts that can talk also show themselves, of course. Some of these parts prefer

expressing themselves symbolically at first and we discover new information about them

which, in retrospect, would not have been picked up through talking. Some parts appear only

because we’ve been willing to embody them and express them through the pen. It’s almost as

parts are able to trust us and Self more as a result of passing their ‘test’.

ArtIFS does not bypass protectors. The “childish”/”self indulgent” parts can have a

voice too

These parts don’t need to step aside unless they want to and protectors seem to be more

comfortable with pens/pencils as those implements are used all the time; parts are used to it.

If there are protectors that feel tentative, worried or even scared, they can go on paper and

express themselves any way they want to or even write words if they want to.

15 Actual feedback from a client.

30

Parts can hide but also show themselves

Some parts desperately want to express themselves but they are afraid to or there are

protectors afraid to reveal them. A compromise sometimes happens. On the page, the former

parts can obscure themselves or hide in some scribble, for example, coming out when they

want to or protectors are ready to reveal them either during processing or in later sessions.

This is a courageous thing to do for the parts involved!

Parts shift in parallel, even if not directly worked on.

We’ve noticed that as we draw something and work with a part simultaneously, other parts

might shift like gumballs shifting in a jar. We see this, for example, when the same part is

drawn several times in different ways in a session in different ways, whilst working on

another part. Parts are connected in unseen ways.

Therapists can work on their own internal systems

When working with a client, therapists can do their own ArtIFS exercises if there is enough

Self Energy in the client to tolerate parts that come up. Do let clients know previously that

they can interrupt drawing at any point to ask questions or if something comes up. We’ve

noticed that when we do work on our own exercise, usually if some clients get stuck, they

pause and when seeing us stay with own own stuff, stay present with what’s happening

internally and then get back to drawing. Our own therapist parts that worry about our client’s

experience can step back.

More things we’ve noticed:

● Deep work is possible even in initial exercises

● Perspectives can shift during drawing

● Expression of parts and styles change over time and session.

● Clients often surprise us with their creativity

● People don’t have to see their parts as parts to do deep work

● No prior IFS knowledge is required, but it can help - one can subtly introduce vaguely

part-ish language in meditation

● Art Therapists are surprised by this concept

● We gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the arts.

● Creativity also brings in playfulness

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Why Use ArtIFS with IFS?

We’ve discussed some of these elsewhere in the booklet but here’s a reminder:

● ArtIFS creations are a more concrete proof of parts for parts of us that doubt the

existence of parts or multiplicity.

● Creations serve as memory aids, especially if we make notes too.

● ArtIFS creations help with checking in with a part.

● We discover all kinds of things about parts, their experiences and their connections.

● Nonverbal parts or other parts don’t have to speak to feel heard!

● We and some of our parts can see inner part relationships better.

● Therapists can be ‘selfish’ - although this can be considered a bonus rather than

always happens.

● Parts might better SEE other parts better which allows for a more Self led perspective;

it can be less threatening to see something previously very scary as a scribble on the

page.

● Parts roles are clearer; especially in relation to other parts. We see protectors in

relation to firefighters and exiles.

● Burdens are more obvious.

● In personal experience, unburdening by oneself is easier with ArtIFS than without.

● Non verbal qualities, that English does not have words for, are more easily seen by

therapist

● Clients use their own curiosity to further journey during art creation which promotes

greater Self leadership.

● Verbal self therapy is harder for many people! ArtIFS might be easier for them (like

us)

● Protectors don’t mind other parts ‘creating art’ as much they might mind them

speaking

● Our own clients and groups have found it helpful.

Potential Pitfalls

Here are some pitfalls we anticipate:

● ArtIFS needs to be embodied, rather than imagined.

● Therapists forgetting to promote Self Leadership in client

● Not using the right tools for the client

32

● Not addressing art critique parts in therapist and client.

● Giving unwelcome/ unnecessary/ harmful interpretations. ArtIFS is not about

interpreting!

● Forgetting that this can be deep work.

● Assuming others have the same symbolic language than you.

● Not knowing when to stop using ArtIFS! You wouldn’t force someone to do IFS so

don’t force them to do ArtIFS.

● The usual IFS pitfalls

● Thinking Art means just drawing.

● Being overly enthusiastic about ArtIFS creations and pressuring clients to share work.

● Forgetting to be a hope merchant!

33

Using 2D media:

● Form

● Line

● Size

● Shape

● Shading, patterns, repetition,

● Strength of lines/shading

● Energy/Atmosphere

● Color (if used)

● Space - filled in, taken up or

unused, blank spaces

● Motifs

● Styles (cartoon like styles, flowing,

jarring)

● Tone (lightness/darkness)

● What is outside the page

● Boundaries

● Added words (see more below)

● Texture

● Using 3 dimensionality (thick

paint, collage, clay, sand, the

human body etc) – all the above

PLUS volume, size, texture etc.

● Using Sound (music, drumming

etc) – melody, beats, resonance,

dissonance, emotion etc

● Using Words (prose, poetry,

speech etc) - rhythm, speed, 2D

appearance of letters, meaning of

actual words, time etc.

● Nature (Air, fire, earth, water,

wind, space) – objects affected,

location etc

● Time progression (film, dance,

writing etc) – changes in any of

the 2D qualities above, speed etc.

● Being curious about medium

chosen by client

● And more!

Other elements applicable to all media:

● Time progression/Narratives (past,

present, future)

● Location - Foreground, middle

ground, background, depth (what’s

in front, behind, above, below, if

things are coming out of the page

etc.)

● Setting - where and when

● Mental/Intellectual or abstract parts

involved.

● Ideas

● Body parts

● Thoughts

● Feelings

● Energy

● Spiritual parts

● External things

● And more!

34

More perspective on what might be happening:

● Parts can draw directly on paper

● Parts’ experience are drawn.

● Bodies being drawn and what’s happening in/around bodies

● Parts can be drawn.

● Writing from parts.

● Parts being drawn by other parts / Parts labeled by other parts (or neutral labels)

● Parts appearance/experience or perspective changing (with more Self Energy, for

example)

● Parts with different ages drawing differently.

● Parts expressing themselves in different ways through the medium.

● Seeing through a part. E.g. Differences in emotional Vs intellectual perspectives

● And more!

The beauty of seeing things like this is that we can easily create simpler, further exercises that

might perhaps be more superficial but useful for relaxation or community building purposes.

35

A Graphical Overview of ArtIFS

Feel free to peruse the exercises at this point in order to solidify this concept. Meditation here

means “Going Inwards” or an actual meditation to facilitate going inwards.

Figure 1: An overview of the ArtIFS steps over a number of sessions. There is no rule about

doing steps in a certain order. Dotted lines indicate helpful but non essential components.

36

Figure 2: A comparison between an ArtIFS session with an individual or a group. Dotted

lines indicate helpful but non essential components.

Transferring to Other Art Forms

Figure 3: Qualities artforms need in order to be used in artIFS steps.

Any art forms that can hold the structure and time frames of IFS steps can be used in ArtIFS.

We’ve found drawing the easiest and quickest way to do all the steps and allows for snapshot,

37

before or after retrieval and comic-strip style unburdening and integration exercises. Music,

for example, can be used in unburdenings but it will be harder to create a snapshot exercise

unless we have separate chunks of music that represent a separate part of one’s internal

experience. Is it possible to create a sound landscape, with different parts, for a snapshot

exercise in music? Probably. Should one try? If our creativity calls us to, why not? Indeed,

more than one art form can be used through the steps.

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Exercises

This section contains basic exercises we’ve found to work to facilitate the various steps of the

IFS model. What we have understood to be the key to unlocking the power of creativity with

IFS is the not the exercises themselves, but instead the steps they represent. We can

summarise the types of exercises we’ve used into seven different types that roughly

represents the steps in the IFS model:

1. Going Inwards: Deciding to take the time

2. Snapshot: Leaving interpretation for later

3. Focusing In: Choosing to focus on something

4. Witnessing: Deciding to hear an important story

5. Retrieval: Transitioning to a place of safety

6. Unburdening: Letting go of the old

7. Integration: Living the new

The essence of each step is more important than the details of the suggested exercises. We’ve

attempted to define in words the essence of each step below, so that you can create your own

exercises on the basis of this essence. Sometimes, the types above flow into each other. For

example, witnessing can easily flow into retrieval depending on the exercise used, but we feel

the essence of the creative step still remains distinct.

We’d recommend you to not take any of this at face value but instead experiment with

yourself and others and see what your experience is. We thought we discovered many new

things – until we discussed them with others who had been using art and IFS for longer

periods of time than we had! Many of our conclusions, experiences and thoughts were the

same as others who had worked creatively with the IFS model, in spite of us exploring,

discovering and trying to understand independently of each other. The truth tends to be

relived and retold over and over again. Let us allow ourselves to be inspired to explore, ask

questions, be curious and live.

39

40

Going Inwards

Going inwards represents what we see as the most basic principle of any spiritual, emotional

or mental exercise in abstract thinking. It is a decision to, for a while, be introspective and

focus on something intangible. Although a simple concept and we do it unconsciously, it is

sometimes difficult to do. It is like sleeping. We can decide to sleep, or not to sleep, but we

cannot “will” ourselves fall asleep. It happens naturally when we arrange our contexts to

support the activity: we turn off the lights, we lay down somewhere comfortable and safe

enough, and somewhere, we decide to “wait” for sleep to come. For most people, it usually

does. Going inwards is a similar exercise: we arrange to be undisturbed, we make sure to

have a reasonable amount of time for the activity we wish to focus on, and we employ tools

with us to help us with our thinking (paper and pen, a laptop, a stress ball, a whiteboard, etc).

Somehow, we then “think” about the thing we want to consider, and if conditions are right, lo

and behold, our minds start to interact with our thing of consideration. This works for most

people, most of the time. If you have ever suffered from concentration difficulties or periods

of stress you will know that this, just as falling asleep, does not always work.

Why does the mind sometimes decide to fall asleep and sometimes not? Why does it

sometimes decide to focus brilliantly and turn a problem inside-out, examining it with clarity

from every angle, and at other times, fail miserable to focus on anything but the most

mundane expression of our surroundings? Like the blinking of a cursor on the screen or a

never-ending flicker of a light bulb.

Sorry, we have no idea. The only thing we do know and rediscovered when working on this

project is that all we can do when starting to work on any exercise is to decide to do it. We

may not be able to guarantee that we will fall asleep, but if we omit to set the conditions for

sleep right, it’s quite certain we really won’t fall asleep. It is the same with ArtIFS. This

Going Inwards stage represents the preparations we’ve found helpful to construct a context

where creative work with IFS is encouraged.

The key concept of this stage is: Decide to do something and mark it symbolically. Exercise 1

and 2 below are exactly about this. We look forward to discovering more effective and

creative ways to do this.

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Exercise 1: Three Minutes of Silence

The simplicity of this exercise is given away by its title: Set a timer for three minutes and

then wait in stillness until it beeps. We don’t set any other requirements for these three

minutes, which makes it possible to do also in restless or frustrated states of mind. We’ve

found this act of waiting is enough to prepare the mind and let its various parts know that

“something is about to happen”. This usually suffices for starting simple creative exercises.

Exercise 2: Drawing Before Drawing

Meta-talk is talking about talking. Meta-dance is dancing about dancing. Imagine if you were

about to dance, but you couldn’t quite get to it. Couldn’t it be helpful to dance a bit to

describe the difficulty you’re having starting to dance? We’ve found it is indeed helpful to

draw before drawing. If creativity is low or we simply find it impossible to know what to put

on a piece of paper, it is often helpful to make a drawing about the impossibility of it. After

such a drawing, creativity usually flows quite well. This consistently works surprisingly well,

which humour our self-reflective parts.

An analogy in IFS terms is the work we do with protectors. Parts can be exiled for many

years and it is quite “impossible” to get to know them, until we start discussing the

impossible instead. Then, all of a sudden, floodgates open. It is almost as if the impossibility

lies in the resistance to it and not in the impossibility itself.

In short: If you or a client have problems with drawing, try having them draw about the

problems with drawing.

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Snapshot

We first started using snapshots to figure out what was going on inside of us. The human

mind is a busy bee indeed and unfortunately our attention is limited to only a select few

things. When focusing inwards, we find we can only keep track of a few inner voices at any

one time. When sitting in silence, we often notice this activity by the comings and goings of

different emotions and thought streams. Perhaps these streams are consecutive and they are

simply bouncing around our attention spans like hockey pucks on the ice rink. Armed with

the knowledge of the IFS model, we feel encouraged to guess that, in fact, they are not at all

consecutive. They are all speaking at once, in parallel, and the only reason we experience

them as consecutive is because our attention spans are limited to the ones who scream the

loudest. Considering this for a moment can easily paint a frightening image to parts of us

feeling adverse to chaos.

How do we make sense of the chaos? The short answer is: We don't. The longer answer is

that we can become aware of a larger part of that chaotic unconscious and that is what the

Snapshot stage is about.

The trick is to direct our attention away from the potential meaning of what we are doing and

anchor it instead on the process of what is happening. It is not easy to draw on a piece of

paper without stopping to think about what it could mean. To the benefit of our societies and

most of our vital life functions, most of us have been schooled to have inquisitive, critical and

judgmental mindsets. In the Snapshot stage, it is time to ask those ever-helpful parts of us to

take a power nap or take this opportunity to express themselves if they don’t want to step

back. We want to be creating, not interpreting. The goal here is to hear widely and deeply,

not start to ask questions at the first unknown or questionable object. We are sure that after

some internal discussion with and deliberation by your analytical parts, they will agree to

give you this space as long as they understand it's not dangerous and really won't lead to

anything shaming.

Because of the openness of our minds that results from not constantly questioning during our

drawing, we are able to give expression to parts of us that may not have felt comfortable or

confident enough to step forward in the conscious light of our inquisitive parts. Afterwards,

when we do allow our interpretive parts to come into the picture, we are able to see more and

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gain a fuller understanding our inner systems than we would have if we would’ve let our

analytical parts take charge and done the exercise using their staccato bit-by-bit approach.

Exercise 3: Leaving Interpretation for Later

Spend three to five minutes going inwards. There’s no need to focus on anything in particular

– actually it’s better if nothing in particular is being focused on. It might be helpful to discuss

this in advance with any self-therapy, self-development or other types of achieving parts you

may have to ensure they don’t take over the process and try to make this exercise about

anything in particular. Then draw on a piece of paper for 10-15 minutes.

The simplicity of this exercise is the challenge. Be attentive to what happens internally as the

drawing proceeds. Is there a part that judges what is being drawn? Draw it on the paper,

perhaps as two eyes looking at the paper, wondering what will appear or where it comes

from. Is there a part that thinks that nothing will appear? Is there a part thinking “Oh, what a

stupid exercise this is! Nothing will come of it!” Draw it! How does it look like? And so on.

Suddenly feeling bored, thinking about a piece of music, or sex? Feeling anger? Draw that

too. Afraid of someone else judging your image? Draw that part also. Bring awareness to

your body while drawing: Is there a tension or pain somewhere that calls to your attention? A

tightness around your head? Make sure it’s represented on the paper.

Even if you only draw one large judgmental face, hating the exercise, it’s perfect. You have

managed to put down on paper some kind of representation of what you have inside of you.

Some kind of representation: this is not an artistic exercise. The point is not to make an

accurate representation of what is going on inside of you: Nobody else watching your work

needs to be inspired to feel or think anything in particular. It is the job of artists to inspire

emotions in others and this exercise is not about that.

The exercise is simple: Allow all of you to be there with you and be open and allowing

enough to give whatever is coming up space on the paper in front of you. Whenever you

notice a part, draw it, allow it to represent itself on the paper just as it does in your mind.

When the time is up, stop drawing and take a look at your paper. Do you know which part, or

what problem, thoughts or emotions, each part of the drawing belongs to? Go through each

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mark, squiggle, symbol or piece of your drawing. Are there any parts of the drawing you do

not know the meaning of? Are there any parts of the drawing you’re extra curious about? Use

these as guideposts for further exploration: Simply focus on the piece you’re wondering

about and see what comes up inside. If there’s a lot of things coming up, different parts

thinking different things, or it doesn’t feel straight-forward, then see the Focusing In

exercises below.

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Focusing In

After doing snapshots for some time, we discovered the need to pick parts of previous

snapshots and do what we thought of as “focused snapshots”. Sometimes, an exploration of a

part of a snapshot could take a full hour, with plenty of parts feeling and thinking something

about the topic. We not only found it very useful to focus a drawing session on part of a

snapshot, but quickly found that we could find many other ways of working with parts around

a specific topic or thing.

Exercise 4: Fleshing Something Out

Take a previous snapshot and look at the part of the snapshot you’re wondering about. Take a

new piece of paper and draw the part of the snapshot you want to investigate on it. This is just

to mark the paper as dedicated to exploring that part of a previous snapshot. You can make

the part of the snapshot you want to examine as big or as small you’d like on the new paper,

we often drew it in a corner or placed as a title would be on a book (in the middle).

Then spend three to five minutes going inwards and ten to fifteen minutes drawing. When

you draw, make sure to draw anything relating to the topic of focus and any other part that

shows up during the process. In our experience, there are often parts that “already know”

what the issue is about (even if they haven’t told us yet what they think), and these parts will

want to disregard parts that “don’t fit in” with the theory. If you notice this, just allow those

parts to be there and give some space on the paper. Perhaps as a professor with a thick book

in hand?

After you’ve finished drawing, make sure you go through what you’ve drawn and see if you

know what each part of the drawing represents. The drawings do not necessarily have to

represent a part of you, it can be events, feelings, other people, or any other thing that parts of

you are aware of or have a memory of.

Finally, look at the miniature version of the part of the snapshot you were focusing on. Then

look at all the different parts of the drawing you’ve made. Ask inside: Is it all there? Is there

anyone inside that has an opinion, feeling or concern that isn’t represented on the paper yet?

If there is, find a way to represent it – even if it’s just a question mark for “maybe, I have

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some feeling but I don’t know what it is”. Allow yourself any level of ambiguity you need to

ensure all parts are represented on the paper.

After you feel the drawing is complete look at the different elements on the paper. Do you

understand this better now? Look at the original snapshot. Armed with this new knowledge,

do you know anything new about why this part appeared the original snapshot the way it did?

Stay curious. Explore!

Exercise 5: Clove-Mapping

Just as a part of the snapshot can be an object of focus for an ArtIFS exercise, so can a part of

yourself be.

Before starting, ask the part (1) Is it OK if you focus on it for a while? Is it willing to talk to

you? (If not, ask if you can draw about why not.) (2) Ask inside: Is it OK in general to focus

on this part, right now? (If not, see if you can draw about why not.) (3) Ask the part how it

would like to be represented on the paper. Make sure it’s not another part giving you his or

her view of the part.

Just as for Exercise 4, draw a representation of the part on the paper. Go inwards for three to

five minutes, then spend ten to fifteen minutes drawing about this part. Although anything

goes,for Clove-Mapping to be effective, it’s helpful to focus on relationships.

Ask the part: Do you have any friends? Is there anyone you don’t like particularly much? Can

you show me a representation of where you live? Does anyone else live there with you? What

do you do for me? Is there anyone helping you with that work? Is there anyone working

against you?

Try to discern what relationships to other parts are important to this part. Draw these parts

also, and draw the relationships between the parts. It doesn’t have to be complex, some

representations of different parts with lines between them representing their relationships are

enough. Smiley faces associated with lines going back and forth can be useful here – use your

imagination!

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Exercise 6: Council Meeting

Sometimes we don’t know what’s going on or what’s what or even where it is. This can be in

life generally (then perhaps the Exercise 3: Leaving Interpretation for Later is more suitable)

or with regards to a specific relationship or situation. The State of Things exercise is aimed at

gathering different parts’ take on what’s what and where it is so that we can benefit from the

conjoint wisdom of the whole team inside of us.

After deciding on a topic of focus, draw or imagine a representation of what you’d like parts

to give input on. It can be a complex decision such as “Should I quit my job, divorce my

spouse and move to a different country next week?”, or it can be an undefined feeling of

uncertainty or nagging in our minds that we’d like to understand better. No matter what “it”

is, as you focus on it, ask inside: Who would like to say something about this? As parts show

up, make a note of them on the paper. Draw them as faces or give them some symbolic

expression so you can keep track of them.

Then look at each figure on the paper and ask them in turn “What do you think?” Try to feel

whether the voice answering is really represented by the symbol you drew earlier. Is it

someone else replying? Try to find the voice in your drawing. If the voice is not represented

in the drawing, create a symbolic expression of this voice and note down what it is saying

next to its place on the paper. Talking bubbles usually work well. For long-winded or

analytical parts, separate documents or post-its can be used, as long as you can clearly link

them to a part in your drawing.

Continue asking parts individually for their opinions on the topic you’ve chosen until

everyone’s opinion has been collected. If you use this exercise as part of a decision-making

process, make sure you ask each part what it thinks the decision should be. If you use it as an

information-gathering process, perhaps to define what you think or feel about something or

someone, then make sure each part has expressed what it thinks or feels about it.

In front of you, you should now have a paper or a few papers with symbolic expressions of

each part that wanted to express itself about a topic. Next to each part, you should have a note

of what it thinks or feels, and what it wants in relation to this topic. Armed with this

overview, you can now more easily make a more wide-angle decision that represents you in

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the long run. You may notice some parts are more passionate about a topic than others, or

you may make a decision and immediately feel you can’t stick to it. Come back to your

drawing: is there a part not represented here? Is there an opinion that has not been heard?

In our experience, the more important the decision, the harder it will be to get invisible

discussion moderators to step back. These are the parts of us that we’re usually blended with

when we think we’re not blended with any part or we feel like we’re in Self. These parts will

treat the decision as open-ended, they will display compassion towards other parts and if

we’re aware of them, they will generally behave and produce good decisions for us. If we

think we’re in Self, however, they tend to derail the discussions, suppress or minimise

opinions of other parts, or make some parts feel too uncomfortable to step forward. When

trying to promote open discussion, it is best to admit we’re in some part and be confident in

our parts and realise they are a part of the decision-making process and will run it. If we try

too hard to be in Self, we tend to be able to convince ourselves that we are, and then

unblending becomes difficult and the trajectory becomes inflexible.

No matter what appears or how much we feel we know, it’s important to keep humble to

maintain the feeling of safety needed for open discussion.

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Witnessing

When we tried to witness parts using drawing we realised that what seemed to matter the

most was the intention to hear an important story from that part. The part chooses the story,

how to express it and tell it and who may participate. All we do when witnessing is ensuring

the part is allowed the space to express itself clearly and freely. Then it is up to us to

understand and interpret that and feed back to the part that we’ve understood its story and

why it needed to tell us before letting go of any burdens coming from it.

It is often tricky to understand parts’ stories. Partially, we believe, because parts’

understanding of an event is that of a child and our interpretation mechanism is that of an

adult. It is very difficult for a young part to explain the experience of smothering, for

example. There may be no distinct memory relating to it and when asked for a specific time it

happened the part may show memories from early childhood to recent interactions with the

caretaker. How could a four-year-old express such a complex social structure, except by

somehow signalling guilt and intense frustration, perhaps?

We’ve found witnessing by the use of drawing greatly facilitates understanding of such

complex and hard-to-tell stories. When doing the witnessing by drawing, the part has a

chance to express the same or a similar thing in different ways and have us look at all the

different ways all at once (since they’re all on the same paper). We’ve found that truly

hearing complex stories often requires the holistic understanding of an adult.

Most traumatic events do not need to develop into traumatic experiences if the necessary

support is readily available. An important factor of what makes an event traumatic is that it

was “too much”. “Too much” can be the result of several parallel happenings that each do not

seem to be the “cause” of the part’s distress. It is not often a young part can tell us “Listen, all

these events are not directly interrelated, it was just them happening together that was too

hard on me.” Our youngest parts may not even have the luxury of using words at all.

The part can only convey the perspective it has, but to comprehend the magnitude of what

happened to the part with our adult minds requires a more holistic understanding of what

happened. This holistic understanding can be more easily constructed if we have a way of

viewing all the little pieces the part is telling us and relate them to each other.

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Exercise 7: Re-telling a Story Using Drawing

The “Focusing In” exercises are easy to apply to other parts of the IFS model. When we tried

to witness a part using drawing, we found the most important factor was our intention to hear

its story. After getting permission from protectors, we can focus on a part and ask it to tell us

something it feels is important. As we help it express that using drawing, we can truly notice

how rich the experiential way of witnessing is. The process of drawing is just as important as

what is being drawn when witnessing, as the part is conveying its story during the drawing –

not only in the final picture.

This is very simple to explain and do: simply focus on a part and letting it tell its story

through our hands on a piece of paper. In spite of, or perhaps because of this, we’ve found

this to be a powerful exercise.

Exercise 8: The Story of a Story

This exercise is very similar to Fleshing Something Out. Take part of a drawing used for

witnessing, then ask the part to expand on what it was trying to tell you with that part of the

drawing.

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Retrieval

In the IFS model, retrieval is the act of bringing a part back to the present. What does it mean

to bring a part back to the present? Time doesn’t quite seem to exist for parts, so it can’t be

about magically making many years elapse for the part. To us, it seems like it’s a question of

updating the part on key information that the part may feel is important in order to determine

whether it’s safe to unburden and change. In our minds, the parts starts out in one place and

ends up in another after retrieval. The meaning of this symbolic transition is what we’ve

found to be important: It’s now safe, there’s more resources available for caring for the part’s

needs, etc.

Exercise 9: Pre and Post

This exercise is about highlighting the differences in context between then and where the part

can be now. We’ve found it helps complete the witnessing exercise by focusing on context

and also cement truly how different things can be now.

The idea is simple: Ask the part to express where it is now on a piece of paper. Then ask the

part to move from that place to a new and safe place in the present. As the part is discovering

this new place, allow it to express how it feels about the place and how the place looks like

on a different piece of paper. You can also use the same paper, divide it in two, and draw the

old place on one side and the new on the other, or one on the back side and one on front.

Make sure to give expression to details in both places. Anything missed in the witnessing can

be expressed in the description of the place and context the part was in. When noting down

details for the new place in the present, details will help anchor the part there and also help

you get to know the part better by understanding what it appreciates about the place.

This can be done at once, or it can be done over time. As the parts continue to live in the new

place, you can fill in details about where the part is now and new things it discovers and likes

about the present.

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Unburdening

To some of our intellectual parts, unburdening never really made sense. What is it, really?

This is not a critique of the IFS model – shamanic journeys to clean the spirit and retrieve

parts of our souls have been around for as long as humans have been. In Neurolinguistic

Programming, mental imagery is thought to be a way of communicating with the

subconscious mind, causing shifts in consciousness that help provide guidance for our parts

to strive in alignment towards more positive goals. Are unburdenings any different than a

mental anchor for the mind? An objective that our parts can wrap themselves around and

cling to so that we, after some time of clinging, can notice that we’ve changed.

Another question we’ve been asking ourselves is how instantaneous unburdenings really are.

Is it really possible to rid ourselves of decade old psychic burdens in an instant? It takes years

to build physical fitness and it takes time to let the body decay from physical fitness into

obesity or unhealthy states. Given that the mind and the body are tightly interlinked, why

would we be able to produce instantaneous change in the mind when it’s not possible in the

body? Is it just a neurotic’s shortcut to saying “Look, now it’s all OK”?

Regardless of these considerations, the exercise of unburdening does seem to do something

that is helpful to parts – especially over time. Unburdenings in IFS is often a time limited

exercise. It happens in a session and is then often forgotten. The exercises below are meant to

be helpful tools to work with unburdenings over time and help unburdening parts in systems

with strong skeptics who, perhaps, prevent instantaneous healing.

Exercise 10: Play Pretend

We’ve found that parts are not always ready to unburden. A great tool to use in this case is

the imagination of the part: ask it how the unburdening process would look like if it did

unburden! Assure it you’re not going to actually do it, it’s just a make-believe exercise to

stretch our imagination a bit. Usually this is fine, so as it tells you, draw that on a piece of

paper.

It may show you a sequence of events of how it would drop black muck from different

places, or gradually becoming lighter. Or it may show you dropping attitudes, or some result

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of the unburdening. All of that is fine, let it express itself about how its unburdening could

look like.

In spite of its innocuous nature, we’ve found this to be one of the most powerful unburdening

exercises we’ve come across, producing deep, long-lasting effects over several months of

time. At the same time, it is non-threatening to protectors, nothing needs to happen “right

away” or, indeed, nothing needs to happen at all – yet the exercise puts inner work in motion.

As time passes, we can refer back to these pretend-unburdening exercises, and your

self-development parts may tell you that “oh, that part of the unburdening we did already, so

probably this and this is still left”. Somehow, doing this exercise produces signposts, or a

goal, for the mind, in spite of being a pretend unburdening.

An old and wise IFS therapist once said that it’s not possible to “unremember” a memory. He

said this to be encouraging, not produce doom and gloom: Perhaps even the most playful,

unreal and imaginary memories still carry power inside our minds, especially if we make the

trouble of making tangible representations of them with our bodies.

Of course, armed with this new knowledge, parts who really do not want to unburden at all,

may choose to not show themselves now – but if you’re read this far it’s quite too late to go

back.

Exercise 11: Unburdening Sequence

Sometimes more direct measures are appropriate. If a part is ready to unburden, the

roundabout ways of imagination isn’t necessary: we can ask the part to do it instead of asking

it to imagine what it would be like. Amusingly enough to some of our analytical parts, this

works well and this exercise is usually much more embodied and emotional than the previous

one.

Ask the part who is ready to unburden to let go of its burdens. As you experience this, draw

this as a sequence on a piece of paper. Start with the most burdened version of the part, then

as significant progress is made during the unburdening, draw the part again. Then continue

re-drawing the part until you’ve drawn it without any burdens.

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The end result will look something like a comic strip. As we’re drawing on paper, there’s no

need to finish it all at once. It’s possible to finish two images on week, then come back and

finish the rest later, or work on the previous images some more. In this way we can keep the

unburdening “alive” in the mind while providing excuses to check in on the part frequently.

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Integration

Integration is inverse of unburdening. Instead of getting rid of things the part no longer wants

or thinks it needs to hold, this is about anchoring qualities in the part that it wants to invite in.

Just as with unburdening processes, we’ve found it can be truly helpful to let this take some

time. The below exercises are meant to help with the integration of the part, in its new

environment, with its new qualities, by spreading out the work with it over time while

keeping the focus on the positive.

Exercise 12: Goal Image

This step is about creating an image of how the part will look like once all its positive

qualities have are lived. It can be done after an unburdening process has been completed, or

before. If you did the Play Pretend exercise with your part, you may have gotten some

material for this exercise already.

For this exercise, simply draw the part as it would be if it would fully live those positive

qualities. Make sure you know what the qualities are that the parts would live. You can be as

explicit and detailed you’d like and it’s helpful to revisit this drawing over time and fill in

details. This drawing can be used as a reference when checking in with a part, or if the part

returns to a non-ideal state, you can use the image to remind your judgmental or

self-developing parts how the parts look like when it’s at its best.

Over time, new versions of this goal image can be created for each part or existing ones can

be complemented with more detail or new drawings.

Exercise 13: Integration Sequence

Similarly to the Unburdening Sequence, this exercise is generally more embodied than the

previous one. The goal of this exercise is to help the part start to live its new qualities through

the process of drawing.

Ask the part who is ready to let back in lost qualities to do that. As you experience this, draw

this as a sequence on a piece of paper. Start with the current version of the part, then as more

and more positive qualities are drawn into the part, draw the part again. Then continue

re-drawing the part until you’ve drawn it fully embodying its positive qualities.

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The end result will look like something of a comic strip. As we’re drawing on paper, there’s

no need to finish it all at once. It’s possible to finish two images on week, then come back

and finish the rest later, or work on the previous images some more. In this way we can keep

charging the part with positive qualities while ensuring we check in on it on a regular basis.

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Case Studies

We anticipate countless arenas where ArtIFS would prove valuable. As of today, already a

year into development, we’ve used ArtIFS in a few of those areas; both with individuals,

groups and in different contexts.

The Case of the Black Spot

Shaun Tan’s Summer Rabbit is a very evocative piece so I used it in a “Using Art as a 16

Trailhead” session. One of S.’s responses, a deep visceral dread, was triggered by something

that might easily be ignored by other people. It was a triangular area, at the bottom right hand

of the painting, of the floor in shade. It was something my parts would have dismissed as an

insignificant part of the painting. What was it about that particular area that triggered that

feeling? S. replied that it made him feel like the ground was giving way to something dark

and very deep. To him, at first sight it didn’t look like the ground in shade but a vertical,

black cliff-like surface dropping down into oblivion. Before I could say anything, S.

emphasised he just didn’t want to look at or explore it and I could intuit there were strong

emotions underneath the surface. S. very bravely said he just could not see himself being able

to stay with it.

In a couple later ArtIFS snapshot sessions, S. started drawing minuscule areas that were

black. Perhaps a black spot on the page. Another session, a tiny area near the corner of the

page – again, something that could be very easily missed if not enquired about. I myself only

noticed it at the end of one particular session. S. smiled and exclaimed “I thought you

wouldn’t notice it but it’s difficult to hide it from you!”

As time ended, I thought aloud “I wonder what message that part has for you” and noticed S.

getting a little curious too. In the next session, S. told me that the part was something that

brought something that he could only describe as ‘reality’ to the situation. Except that there

was a feeling content to it that he didn’t have the words for and that the part’s presence had

had a negative impact on his life so far.

16 See http://www.shauntan.net/images/books/Summer/summer%20rabbit%20s.jpg

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S.’s ArtIFS (I use it here as a noun) had repeating themes. With each repetition in ArtIFS,

something about the part had changed. Not only that, these changes happened in association

with other parts. This is not surprising in systems thinking - if one part changes, then the

system shifts as a response. These changes can be more visible in ArtIFS, and ArtIFS perhaps

even helps the process along by allowing ‘work’ more than one part in a snapshot exercise.

S’s dread part settled with increasing Self Leadership and soon the ‘reality’ black spot joined

with a blue spot (another recurring ArtIFS theme for S. that symbolized something to do with

creativity). In another session, S. focused in on them more closely in his drawing.. . the

merging had resulted in a beautifully faceted crystalline shape of many colors, patterns and a

black part facet too. I enquired more and, a part of me was taken by surprise at this, S. said

that the black part was now a wise part. Even more astounding was that his other parts were

seeing that too. We hadn’t spoken much about those parts at all.

This says a lot about S.’s ability to maintain some Self Leadership. He is able to be with his

parts in a way he wasn’t able to prior to the start of ArtIFS sessions. Added to that, S. only

had IFS in the form of ArtIFS sessions. That such a shift happened as a result of his own

partswork in ArtIFS was jaw dropping to some of my parts that questioned the value of

ArtIFS.

Problem Solving

ArtIFS has been useful in situations where a lot of parts are involved and stuck in a

decision-making, ruminative loop. Often, these parts blend with us, one after another,

especially when buckling under the pressure of a big decision that needs to be made.

Managers might find it hard to give up control and paralysis also becomes likely. When the

internal system is stuck in a stalemate, it’s useful to see all relevant parts involved, their

concerns, motivations and needs, as well as their relationships to other parts, mapped out on

the page. ArtIFS provides a bird’s eye view, increasing Self leadership in the process. Often,

as discussed before, parts are hidden, completely unknown or just not able to communicate

verbally. Once the roles of parts are clarified, and thanks to the increase in Self leadership,

the artist/therapist can further facilitate an internal negotiation of parts involved.

In this example, after a brief catchup F. eagerly proceeds straight into the drawing (with a

little facilitation about what to focus on prior to and during the drawing). The meditation isn’t

necessary this time because F. has been struggling with this recently. The involved parts are

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around and he has a really good understanding of the possible solutions available even if

none of the options his parts have come up with feel good. In the finished picture, he has

mapped out his parts that feel stuck in his current situation. Three options are available: two

are evaluated as ‘very good’ by intellectual parts only and the other option is sticking with the

status quo which feels, on the whole, like resignation. All options feel unsatisfactory.

When the drawing is finished, F. cannot yet identify some parts though he knows how he

feels/thinks about each solution. To facilitate further exploration, I kickstart F.’s curiosity

about the different aspects of the image until F. naturally starts to identify and connect with

his parts. We both see that in the drawing F.’s has externalized his parts’ views on the

options, several parts’ worries about how they’ll fit into each solution and even what his parts

might need in order to “live with” some options. I facilitate further unblending from parts and

help F. stay curious about what’s on the page. Once he can relate to his parts from Self, F.

starts to spontaneous connect to his parts on the page from a place of compassion and build a

relationship with them. Pointing to areas in the image, I ask questions like: How does x part

feel about this option? How do you feel towards that part? What’s this thing around that

part? And so forth.

Even though these parts were blending with F. beforehand, the picture has revealed several

previously unknown parts. Most of the parts involved have no prior relationship with Self.

Before the session, they were caught up in the action of blending with F., jostling to make

themselves heard and force through a decision. Once Self has connected with them, his

system can now negotiate together. At the end of the session, F is awed at how much calmer

he’s feeling and comments on how he looks forward to ArtIFS. He feedbacks that some

options are now looking more realistic than others. Either way, he knows he will be okay – he

just needs to sit with his new parts and address their concerns.

A month after this particular session, F has made a significant decision. Thanks to that

session, he has decided to take the option that some months ago was deemed completely

unacceptable to most of his parts, despite the financial and professional rewards that solution

presented. F. is going to move back to his country to accept a job offer. His parts now feel

much better about moving because their concerns have been heard and addressed. The exiles

they were protecting were connected to and helped thanks to ArtIFS sessions. Whilst a part of

both of us is sad at the prospect of these enjoyable ArtIFS sessions ending, others are happy

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that F. is making a decision that feels right to his inner system. Furthermore, F. tells me that

something persistently made him come to his first ArtIFS meeting, despite having almost

missed it due to fallen over and hurting his back.

F.’s problem solving picture

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