9 IFS Parts Examples to Help Your Healing Journey
Takeaway: Your inner world is made up of many different parts, each with its own story, emotions, and purpose. Understanding these parts through Internal Family Systems (IFS) can help you move from self-criticism to self-compassion — and guide you toward lasting healing and wholeness. If you’re ready to explore this journey with support, Janae Kim Psychotherapy offers a compassionate space to help you reconnect with your true self.
Have you ever noticed how different “parts” of you show up in certain situations? Maybe there’s a part of you that works tirelessly to keep everyone happy, while another part feels small, unseen, and quietly exhausted. These inner voices or feelings might seem confusing at first, but they all have a purpose — and understanding them can be a powerful step on your healing journey.
Internal family systems therapy (IFS) is a therapy model that views the mind as being made up of several parts and that, like a family, each of these parts interacts with each other. This models helps you connect with these parts, offering them the compassion and curiosity they’ve been waiting for. Whether you’re navigating old wounds, struggling with self-criticism, or longing for deeper emotional and spiritual peace, the internal family systems model can guide you toward lasting healing from the inside out.
At Janae Kim Psychotherapy, I offer a compassionate space for highly sensitive people, those seeking Christian counseling, and anyone who feels ready to release old patterns and experience inner wholeness. Together, we’ll work to gently meet your parts — not to push them away, but to understand their roles and create room for more clarity and self-compassion.
In this article, I’ll share examples of common IFS parts to help you begin recognizing your own inner system. You might be surprised by how familiar some of these sound — and how healing it can be to know you’re not broken, just beautifully complex.
9 Internal Family Systems Parts Examples for Healing
In IFS therapy, we recognize that your internal family is made up of distinct parts—Managers, Firefighters, Exiles, and the Core Self. As we explore these parts below, remember, each one, no matter how challenging, developed to protect you in some way.
Managers (Protective Parts)
Managers are the parts of us that work hard — often behind the scenes — to keep life under control and protect us from emotional pain. Their job is to prevent vulnerability, mistakes, and discomfort by managing your thoughts, behaviors, and even relationships. While these parts often carry a heavy burden, they developed with the best of intentions: to keep you safe.
Here are a few common Manager parts you might recognize:
1. The Perfectionist
This part strives for flawlessness, believing that if you can just get everything right, you’ll avoid criticism or rejection. It often pushes you beyond your limits, but underneath its high standards is a deep longing for acceptance and safety. This part might say: "If I don’t make mistakes, no one can hurt me."
2. The Critic
The Critic uses harsh self-talk in an attempt to motivate or “protect” you from making mistakes or being judged by others, for example: "If I point out my flaws first, others won’t have to." While its words can be painful, this part is often deeply concerned with your safety and worth.
3. The People-Pleaser
The People-Pleaser works hard to maintain harmony by putting others’ needs first, sometimes suppressing your own feelings in the process. This part often learned that connection and belonging depended on keeping the peace, even if it meant self-sacrifice. This might look like: "If I make everyone happy, I’ll belong."
Managers aren’t "bad"—they’re devoted guardians. But when they run the show unchecked, life can feel rigid or joyless. In IFS therapy, we gently help these parts trust that you’re safe even when they loosen their grip.
Firefighters (Reactive Protectors)
When emotional pain feels too overwhelming, these parts leap into action—often impulsively—to douse the flames of distress. They operate on urgency, using whatever means necessary to distract, numb, or deflect the hurt. While their methods can be intense, they’re simply trying to protect your internal system from what feels unbearable.
Here are some common Firefighter parts:
4. The Addict
This part seeks relief through substances, food, shopping, or other behaviors that provide temporary escape. It’s often reacting to extreme beliefs like, "I can’t handle this," or "No one understands my pain." It isn’t trying to harm you — it’s often working hard to soothe the parts of you that feel too tender or too overwhelmed to face. Healing begins when we listen to the hurt beneath the craving.
5. The Anger Part
This part uses outbursts, sharp words, or even silence to create distance and push others away before they can hurt you. It often carries the belief that vulnerability equals danger, and its fiery energy is meant to shield your heart.
6. The Overworker
The overworker insists on constant busyness, productivity, and achievement as a way to avoid sitting with painful emotions. Beneath its drive is usually a fear of stillness — and the belief that stopping might bring you face-to-face with old wounds. It confuses "doing" with "being okay," often whispering, "Keep going—if you stop, everything will fall apart."
Firefighters aren’t reckless—they’re desperate. In the IFS model, we help these parts trust that your internal system can handle pain without their extreme measures. You deserve relief that doesn’t leave you feeling stranded or ashamed.
Exiles (Wounded Younger Parts)
Exiled parts are the parts of you that carry emotional wounds, unmet needs, and tender memories — often hidden deep within. Exiles are often hidden away in your complex system, guarded by protectors like Managers and Firefighters. Though they hold painful memories, they also hold the key to profound healing when met with compassion.
Here are a few examples of exiles in IFS:
7. The Abandoned Child
The abandoned child often carries deep loneliness and the ache of rejection, holding onto the belief that connection and safety are always just out of reach. This part is related to feelings of neglected, abandonment, or loss in childhood. It may whisper, "No one will stay," or panic when relationships feel uncertain. In internal family systems (IFS) work, we help this part learn that connection can be safe—and that your adult self won’t abandon it.
8. The Shamed Part
This part holds the weight of humiliation, criticism, or unworthiness — often shaped by past experiences where it felt small, flawed, or “not enough.” It believes, "I’m fundamentally flawed," and hides to avoid exposure. Healing begins when this part is met with empathy rather than judgment and we reassure this part: "What happened to you wasn’t your fault."
9. The Grieving Part
This part carries unresolved sorrow or loss, often from relationships, life transitions, or missed opportunities. By welcoming this part into awareness, rather than pushing it away, you allow grief to move through you rather than control you.
Exiles aren’t burdens; they’re the youngest, most authentic layers of your heart. When we listen to these own parts with patience—perhaps for the first time—their pain can finally transform.
The Core Self: Your Inner Compass for Healing
In the IFS model, your Core Self isn’t just another "part"—it’s the steady, compassionate essence of you that exists beneath all the protective roles and wounded emotions. Unlike the different parts that take on roles like protecting, distracting, or carrying pain, your Core Self is steady, wise, and deeply connected to your inner and outer world.
The goal of IFS isn’t to get rid of your parts, but rather to help your parts trust and follow the gentle leadership of your Core Self. When your parts feel seen, understood, and unburdened, your Core Self can naturally guide your internal system with clarity, courage, and care.
Qualities of the Core Self often show up as what IFS calls the 8 C’s:
Calm even in chaos.
Clarity by seeing yourself and situations without distortion
Curiosity about your parts, not judgment.
Compassion for yourself and others.
Confidence and trust in your inner wisdom.
Courage to face what once felt unbearable.
Creativity in problem-solving.
Connectedness to others, your faith, or purpose.
When you lead from your Core Self, healing no longer comes from fixing or forcing change — it comes from welcoming every part of you, even the ones that feel stuck or afraid, with loving presence. This inner relationship creates space for growth, peace, and lasting transformation.
If you’ve ever longed for a sense of wholeness and ease, know that your Core Self has always been there, quietly waiting for the chance to lead.
Coming Home to Your Core Self
Understanding your inner world is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward lasting healing. When you begin to recognize your parts — not as problems to fix, but as protectors with a positive intent — your relationship with yourself transforms. You stop battling your emotions, and instead, lead them with compassion and clarity.
In a world that often asks you to focus solely on the external world, IFS therapy invites you inward; toward the parts of you that have been waiting to be seen, heard, and healed. This journey is not always easy, but it is deeply worth it. As you build trust with your own system, you’ll begin to experience more ease, balance, and connection to your core self — the calm, confident presence that exists within you, no matter what.
Where All Parts of You Are Welcome
Whether you're carrying old wounds, exploring IFS therapy, navigating life as a highly sensitive person, or seeking a faith-based approach to mental health, I offer a safe, compassionate space where all parts of you are welcome. Together, we’ll gently uncover what’s been holding you back —not by ‘fixing’ you, but by helping you come home to all parts of yourself.
If this speaks to you, I invite you to reach out. Let’s begin your healing journey — together.
