S1E4: Dr. Richard Schwartz: Natural Multiplicity

Dr. Richard Schwartz is the founder of an evidence-based psychotherapeutic model called Self-Leadership (also known as Internal Family System’s therapy or IFS) that is widely recognized as one of the most compassionate and comprehensive psychotherapies available. He is on the faculty of the department of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. IFS therapist Keith Miller speaks with IFS founder Dr. Richard Schwartz about how this systematic, mindfulness-based therapy works. Dick is well-known in the field of psychology for his work developing IFS, which is based on the idea of natural multiplicity, that is, the mind's natural ability to "split" into distinct parts, or subpersonalities which behave dynamically, like members of a family. Some parts become "managers" that protect the Self by preventing future emotional pain while other parts become "firefighters" that spring into protective action to put out the flames of emotional pain that's already occurring. Historically, psychology has viewed the mind as a unitary structure in which deviations are viewed as pathological and the goal of therapy is to resist the formation of divergent mental processes. IFS and natural multiplicity, however, leaves room to appreciate the vast and powerful capacity of the brain to process multiple channels of intelligence that orbit around a central core, or Self, which can mediate and integrate parts in greater or lesser amounts. Dis-integration of a person's parts from their conductor-like Self is the natural protective reaction to trauma, stress, and emotional pain. IFS is a strengths-based psychotherapy in that it teaches how to engage with inner dialogue with your parts with a kind of appreciative inquiry that can lead to a deep sense of peace, resolution of anxiety about conflicting impulses, thoughts, beliefs or behaviors, and a widening sense of spiritual connection beyond oneself. Keith asks Dick to comment on a section from Mary Trump's book Too Much and Never Enough, which details the author's view of the effects of child abuse or neglect. Dick is considered one of the world's foremost experts on family trauma. Pixar's animated film Inside Out (2015) is referenced during the conversation, as one of the possible catalysts for the rapid growth in demand for IFS training recently. Pixar consulted with Dr. Schwartz during production of the film.