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Originally Posted by BeyondtheRainbow
Please leave this in the BP forum. I'm asking specifically if this treatment can help BP and am most comfortable getting answers here please.
Anyway, has anyone does this in therapy before? I think my therapist used it a little at first but at first for us is nearly 16 years ago. Today I said something that made him get up and get a book about it and he said it sounds like something that could be very helpful for me.
I'm just not used to using "types" of therapy. I did exposure therapy for PTSD 9 years ago and that's really the only therapy with a name I can come up with. Mostly we just talk.
I'm kind of excited to try this though based on what I read. And if it works it's really going to be good because we're looking at the problem that hasn't changed a whole lot in those 16 years.
Thank you!
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Hi BeyondtheRainbow. I'm glad you introduced me to this IFS therapy. I had never heard of it before, so therefore have no experience with it. Nonetheless, I was eager to read a bit more about it.
Some aspects of the description of IFS are still a little confusing to me, but what I heard from a man presenting it in a video was:
Each person has some personality "parts" that carry burdens. "Each person" truly means all people, though clearly those with some level of trauma or other psych challenges (anxiety, mood issues, anger) perhaps have more, or ones carrying stronger burdens. My interpretation was that therapy strives to alleviate the burdens.
Help to "get along" with your parts, by not labeling them as "bad". They are there for various reasons and purposes.
In the speaker's description, there seems to be a bit of a cognitive behavioral therapy element in IFS. What struck me most was the exploration of such parts and why burdens developed then exploring them in a way to alleviate them, thus making the "parts" serve more positive purposes.
I know that some traumas have affected a couple of my "parts" in ways that were initially meant to protect, but ultimately became burdens. For example, a figurative wall I put up between myself and many women. This stems from bad pain I endured as a result of negative interactions with girls and women in my youth.
Another was a type of perfectionism I developed for myself in my youth (high expectations). On one side, that can seem positive, but it can also bring burdens. I'm not entirely sure what sparked this. I think exploring it could help. Actually, I have made some progress with this, but it "seeps back" in some cases.
How the above might relate to bipolar disorder? Well, I'm sure there are links beyond just the stress that burdens bring. And maybe people prone to bipolar disorder are more likely to develop "parts" that have more challenging burdens? I can't be sure.
In any case, this topic provides a lot of food for thought.