Monica Sanford

Journal Article Draft

LST 4026 Psycho-Spiritual Approaches to Contemplative Transformation
April 29, 2014

Actualizing Buddhanature Using Internal Family Systems Therapy

The relationship between Buddhist psychology and the Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapeutic

model is notable. Both assert that what we commonly think of as our ‘self’ is actually an aggregate of

myriad parts acting from unmet desires, fears, and delusions. Both also maintain the possibility of

actualizing a healthier, wiser, more compassionate ‘self’ by changing how we understand and relate to

these internal parts. What may not be so apparent at first glance, is how the IFS notion of ‘Self,’ with a

capital ‘S,’ reconciles with the Buddhist notion of non-self or anatta. Rather than being contradictory,

Dr. Flint Sparks, psychotherapist and Zen priest, holds they are one and the same, and the Buddhist

point of view brings a more nuanced approach to Self that IFS accommodates.1 I will reference Sparks

work, but not repeat it here.

There is another Buddhist concept that has not yet been related to IFS and its idea of Self:

buddhanature or tathāgatagharba. Sally King characterizes buddhanature thus:

…we “possess” the Buddha nature, we already are Buddhalike, we already possess the
attributes of a Buddha – wisdom and compassion. …Not only will we be Buddhas in the
future, we already are Buddhas now. Buddha nature, then, is both the potential to
realize Buddhahood that is possessed by all and the already complete Buddhahood that
is ours in the present.2

Although we all already are buddhas, according to this doctrine, “[o]bviously, we do not experience

ourselves as Buddhas,”3 which presents a continuous paradox for Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists

1
Sparks, video
2
King, p. 2
3
King, p. 2

1
the world over. (Theravada Buddhists do not emphasize this doctrine.) I am a buddha, but I don’t feel

like a buddha or act like a buddha, so how precisely am I a buddha? Even if I accept this proposition on

faith, as Buddhists throughout the centuries have been encouraged to do, how do I come to feel and act

more like my buddhanature? Buddhism provides answers to this question in the form of methods that

have been largely sufficient throughout Buddhism’s existence in China, Korea, Japan and other

predominantly Mahayana Buddhist countries in Asia. Meditation and study are the primary methods of

actualization for monastics, while devotion plays a large role in the lives of laypeople.4

A new method of actualizing one’s buddhanature is now necessary as Buddhism spreads into

the North American context, where both converts and multi-generation Buddhists of various ancestries

exist in a milieu of scientific empiricism and psychological theory. In many Buddhist sanghas

(communities), devotion is de-emphasized, meditation takes pride of place even among laypeople, and

debate grows about how to translate and interpret these ancient concepts from their Asian context to

an American one. I believe that Internal Family Systems therapy, developed by Richard Schwartz in the

1990’s, is both a bridge between contemporary psychological theory and ancient Buddhist teaching and

also a tool to help practitioners, particularly westerners, access and actualize the teachings on

buddhanature.

Buddhanature & Self in IFS

According to King, as Mahayana Buddhism spread and developed in China, the Chinese became

very concerned with the question of whether or not all beings were capable of enlightenment. Two

complimentary threads were developing in Buddhist scriptural literature at this time, the

Prajñāpāramitā or Perfection of Wisdom and the Tathāgatagharba or Buddhanature literature. The

second answered this question “without equivocation: ‘All sentient beings posses the Buddha nature.’”

4
King, p. 2-3

2
King characterizes it as an “optimistic and encouraging doctrine.”5 The scriptures, or sutras, expounding

this doctrine were composed between 200 and 350 CE6 (although they are attributed, through mystical

means, to the historical Buddha, who lived around 500 BCE).

The Sanskrit word tathāgatagharba is a multiple compound. Tathā is “thus come,” gata is “thus

gone,” and together tathāgata is commonly used to refer to the Buddha. Garbha means both “womb”

and “embryo” and has connotations of both “cause” and “fruit.” The full meaning is multivalent. The

Buddha has come from samsara, the world of suffering, and gone into nirvana, the world of bliss, but

also from nirvana to samsara to teach suffering beings. These are not to be understood as physical

places or even planes of existence, but rather interpenetrating states of being. We too have this

capacity, though it is nascent. Words such as buddhadhatu (“awakened one” + “nature/cause”),

dharmadhatu (“truth/natural law” + “nature/cause”), and dharmakaya (“truth/natural law” + “body”)

are also related to this concept and often used to describe it.7

At first glance, it may seem that an assertion that all beings possess a buddhanature is at odds

with the Buddhist doctrine of non-self or anatta. Is not the buddhanature a self? These are difficult

concepts to reconcile, which is precisely their purpose, to spur the practitioner beyond the limits of

dualistic thinking. In any case, non-self was never an ontological statement that we do not exist, but a

phenomenological statement about the nature of our existence. Buddhanature, likewise, is not an

ontological statement of what exists, but rather how it does so. That is, buddhanature is a capacity or

ability, much like the ability to walk or play basketball (except more universal).

Enlightenment, or waking up to the ‘truth,’ is characterized as an experience of non-self and the

doctrine of pattica samupada. (Non-self is simply pattica samupada in reference to people.) Sparks

translates this term as “everything is contingent” and uses it as one of the three hallmarks of existence is

5
King, p. 1
6
King, p. 12
7
King, p. 4-5

3
his presentation on “The Buddha as IFS Therapist.”8 The more common translation is “dependent co-

arising,” in which all things arise due to cause and condition and cease from lack of cause and condition.

Later formulations explain this as the “interdependence” of all phenomena. Thich Nhat Hanh

characterizes it as “interbeing” and explains “When you touch one, you touch all.”9 Joko Beck explains,

“there is nothing but relationship,”10 demonstrating that all things are not discrete ‘things’ at all, but

only myriad systems.

This doctrine developed further in the Prajñāpāramitā literature into the concept of śūnyata or

“emptiness,” which Thich Nhat Hanh explains as “we are empty of a separate, independent self. We

cannot be by ourselves alone. We can only inter-be with everything else in the cosmos.”11

Unfortunately, this has often been understood negatively and nihilistically by both Asian and western

Buddhists. Much of the Tathāgatagharba literature was a correction against this negative trend and

recasts it in terms of positive qualities of one’s buddhanature, which is nonetheless bound up with

emptiness.12 The purpose of the Prajñāpāramitā literature was not nihilistic, per se, but rather to correct

dualistic thinking (through negation) and introduce direct “experience of reality As It Is. This is subject-

object nondualism.”13 When we experience reality thusly, we have actualized our buddhanature

because we are capable of acting from a place of perfect wisdom and compassion. Therefore, non-self

and buddhanature are two sides of the same coin. Further, ‘Self’ in IFS and non-self and buddhanature

are all facets of the same luminous jewel.

Schwartz describes the Self this way:

Thus it seems clear that this mindful state of self is not just a peaceful place from which
to witness the world nor just a state to which one can go to transcend the world; the

8
Sparks, video
9
Hanh, p. 45
10
Sparks, video
11
Hanh, p. 146
12
King, p. 12
13
King, p. 11

4
 Self also has healing, creative, and performance-enhancing qualities. When my clients
entered this Self state, they didn’t just passively witness their parts – they began to
actively interact with them in creative and healing ways.14

The experience of Self is characterized by ‘flow’ or losing oneself in one’s work and ‘transcendence’ or

“connection to something bigger” than oneself,15 “joy and peace,” “wonderful leadership and healing

qualities and a sense of spiritual connectedness.”16 These are also common characterizations of the

buddhanature experience. In his book, Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model, Schwarz lists

the 8 C’s of Self-leadership based on what has been described to him about the Self by his clients. There

are more qualities, but these are the most prominent: Calmness, Clarity, Curiosity, Compassion,

Confidence, Courage, Creativity, and Connectedness.17

These attributes are often shared in the descriptions of buddhanature, the primary virtues of

which are wisdom and compassion. Wisdom is insight into the world as it is, similar to clarity.

Compassion is the ability to recognize and share in suffering; it is a manifestation of love. 18 When we

actualize our buddhanature, we see that we are not separate beings, therefore we can love others and

self equally. This is Zen Master Dogen’s “intimacy with all things.”19 Likewise, we can love those parts of

ourselves still fueled by ignorance, greed, and hatred.

Although society leads us to believe our minds or unitary, they are, in fact, made up of myriad

interactive parts. Despite the fact that they may be driving our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, perceptions,

words, and deeds, we may not be conscious of them at any given moment. Sometimes we feel entirely

at the mercy of these inner personalities, as if we are merely observing our own life.20 Schwartz

describes our experience of parts as “…emotions and thoughts [that] emanate from inner

14
Schwartz, Intro, p. 29
15
Schwartz, Intro, p. 12
16
Schwartz, Intro, p. 19
17
Schwartz, Intro, p. 34
18
Hanh, p. 187-188
19
Sparks, video
20
Schwartz, Intro, p. 55-57

5
personalities…”21 “…that have been forced into extreme roles by the events in our lives…”22 A part is “a

discrete autonomous metal system that has an idiosyncratic range of emotion, style of expression, set of

abilities, desires, and view of the world,” which is why it is often called a ‘sub-personality’ and frequently

dealt with in therapy as almost a separate individual.23

In Buddhism, it becomes clear that these parts are acting in response to karma, or the past

causes and conditions of our lives that have planted seeds of delusion, attachment, and aversion, the

‘three poisons’ of Buddhism. These are sometimes called ‘defilements’ and the Tathāgatagharba

literature uses many metaphors to communication the relationship between buddhanature and the

defilements: like grain beneath a husk, treasure buried in the earth, a statue wrapped in rags, etc.24 We

originally think of these defilements as ‘problems’ to be rid of, but when we see them with

buddhanature, we see that they are not problems at all. The earth does not damage the gem in any way.

Defilements can also be transformed. Greed can become generosity. Hatred can become loving-

kindness. Delusion can become wisdom. Sparks calls delusion “experiences organized out of

vulnerability.” When we feel vulnerable we create protectors and things to be protected. Wisdom of

emptiness and non-self shows us that there is truly nothing that protects and nothing to be protected,

only karma (the literal meaning of which is ‘action’) in reaction to cause and condition. When we dwell

in this insight, we dwell in buddhanature, intimate with and connected to all things. When we become

intimate with our experience, we see how our mind works and can cultivate an appropriate response,25

what IFS calls being ‘Self-Led.’

One of the primary goals of IFS therapy is to become ‘Self-Led,’ thus the name of Schwartz’s

institute, the Center for Self-Leadership. Being Self-Led allows us to interact differently in both our

21
Schwartz, Intro, p. 9
22
Schwartz, Intro, p. 10
23
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 34
24
King, p. 12
25
Sparks, video

6
internal and external relationships. Sparks, quoting Peter Hershock, states that likewise “Buddhist

teachings are for revising and transforming our relationships.”26 There is a feeling of authenticity that we

can sense in people who are Self-Led that puts us at ease and allows us to likewise be more authentic.27

The Self-Led person has no agenda, but nevertheless sees the wisest course. Therefore, in order to help

others become Self-Led, therapists have a responsibility to also become Self-Led. It is this renewed

relationship with the Self that gives IFS therapy the power to transform lives.

Ideally, your Self is present for every activity and interaction, and the appropriate parts
are close by, offering suggestions, blending their emotions or abilities with your Self, or
sometimes even fully taking over your body. In this ideal scenario, when a part does
take over, it’s with permission of the Self rather than being an automatic reaction to
step in and protect. It can be great fun to fully embody playful parts, and it can also be
healing at times to give grieving parts full expression. Thus a Self-led person is not
detached from the world, with emotions always in abeyance. Instead such a person
drinks deeply from the bittersweet fountain of life while simultaneously maintaining a
center of equanimity.28

In Buddhist language, Sparks calls this the “practice of turning toward” or engaged mindfulness with

what Chӧgyam Trungpa, a Tibetan teacher and founder of the tradition of Shambhala Buddhism, talks

extensively about as the feeling of tenderness and sadness that happens when we open ourselves, much

like Schwartz’s “bittersweet fountain.” Being tender allows us also to be brave and cultivate a fearless

relationship with the sad and painful parts of ourselves and others.29 The Self-led person, or the person

who has actualized their buddhanature, transforms her relationships to herself and others.30

IFS Language as a Bridge for Understanding Buddhanature

As this short summary demonstrates, buddhanature is a tricky concept, often described

metaphorically and by way of its emotional and cognitive characteristics. It was difficult for the Chinese

26
Sparks, video
27
Schwartz, Intro, p. 31
28
Schwartz, Intro, p. 81
29
Trungpa, p. 49-50
30
Sparks, video

7
to grasp in the third century and perhaps even more difficult for your average American, raised in a

culture of ‘rugged individualism’ and reification of singular ‘self’ as the primary agent acting in and

moving through a world that is separate from that self. Schwartz dedicates several pages in his book

Internal Family Systems Therapy simply introducing and defending the idea of the multiplicity of the

mind and applying systems thinking to our internal experience.31 Schwartz believes that the unitary view

of personality has led to many misunderstandings, pathologizing humans through over-identification of

who they are with their most extreme parts. This weakens the role of the client in their own healing and

robs therapists of worthwhile tools for working with the inner self-system.32

In contrast, multiplicity allows the client and therapist to view the mind as pluralistic, able to

“hold unity and diversity in balance, to value the many within the one, to resolve conflict without

imposing synthesis or expelling groups, and to celebrate difference.”33 If we are inherently made up of

many parts, then the most extreme parts do not define who we are as people and leave room for wiser

and more healing parts (the Self) to emerge and care for the self-system. Schwartz also provides specific

names for these parts: exiles, managers, and firefighters.

Exiles are the parts that have been abandoned, shut out, or sent away. They are often the

‘weakest’ and most vulnerable. They carry our pain from the past and fear of the future. These parts

have been exiled because they somehow disrupt the self-system because they are “extreme and

desperate, looking for opportunities to break out of their prison and tell their stories.” Exiles can cause

nightmares, panic attacks, flashbacks, angry outbursts, and depression.34

Other parts exist to keep the exiles exiled and maintain the self-system. These are called

‘managers’ and often take the form of the critic, task-master, or ego. “Managers live in fear of the

31
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 11-16
32
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 11
33
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 15
34
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 47

8
escape of exiles,” Schwartz says.35 They have strategies to avoid situations that might trigger an exile.

The interesting thing is that managers often hate their work and would rather be doing something else.

They are primarily protectors, in that they protect the system from the exiles and protect the exiles from

re-injury. Unfortunately, managers often operate with mistaken beliefs about how to accomplish this

and, because they lack the grounded stability of the Self, they are overburdened with responsibility they

cannot handle.36

Sometimes managers cannot keep the exiles contained, either because they are overburdened

or because external circumstances trigger an exile to escape. When this happens, firefighters appear.

These are often some of the most extreme and destructive parts of a self-system. “They do whatever

they believe necessary to help the person dissociate from or douse dreaded, exiled feelings, with little

regard for the consequences or methods.”37 Firefighters fuel addictions, violence, and even suicidal

behaviors.

It may sounds as though exiles, managers, and firefighters are all destructive and, like

defilements, something to rid ourselves of. However, the process of IFS helps us see that all parts have

good intentions. They all exist in response to causes and conditions in our lives (karma) and came into

being at some point because we needed them to survive. It is important to understand why our parts

have assumed the roles they have and honor their good intentions for protecting and balancing the

system. When we do that, our parts can transform from fierce protectors to wise advisors, for example.

Our desperate exiles can become the sensitive, creative, and playful parts they long to be. Getting into

power struggles with our parts or pitting one part against another is counter-productive because it

prolongs polarizations between protectors and exiles (and among protectors themselves).38 Just as we

need good relationships with our families and coworkers, we need good relationships with our parts.

35
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 48
36
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 49
37
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 50
38
Schwartz, Intro, p. 74-77

9
The health of each part depends on that relationship, on whether or not it is based on a sincere desire to

understand our parts as full-fledge personalities and have compassion for them.39

This language of Self and parts, systems, wounds, and protectors, can provide a simple and clear

way of understanding how the karma of our individual life creates our experience of ourselves and the

world. Our parts did not develop in a vacuum. They developed in interdependence with the world. They

are likewise interdependent with one another. When we dwell in buddhanature, in Self, our parts are

not a problem. They can transform into their wisdom-aspects and continue to serve the system. I assert

that IFS language is more accessible to Americans steeped in western psychological jargon than the

esoteric terms of the Tathāgatagharba and Prajñāpāramitā literature and can be used to help build a

bridge of understanding.

IFS Processes as Tools for Actualizing Buddhanature

In addition to providing a new language to serve as a bridge between western psychology and

Buddhist theology, IFS also provides processes that can help Buddhist practitioners directly access and

actualize their Buddhanature. In this sense, IFS is upaya or skillful means.40 The first process is the

original process of IFS therapy. IFS also offers processes for conflict managements and transformation

and how to use IFS in intimate relationships.41 These will not be dealt with in this paper, but are certainly

worthy of study by Buddhists (and others) interested in this model. This discussion centers on those

processes most helpful in bringing us into direct contact with our own buddhanature.

The first step of IFS therapy is to become grounded. This is very similar to what Buddhist

meditators do when practicing śamatha. According to Thich Nhat Hanh, “The first function of meditation

– shamatha [sic] – is to stop.”42 We stop, focus on our breath, and become aware of ourselves. Then we

39
Schwartz, Intro, p. 73
40
Sparks, video
41
Schwartz, You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For
42
Hanh, p. 25

10
turn inward, which is similar to the process of vipassana meditation. Vipassana is known as “looking

deeply” and helps us understand our “habit energies,”43 or parts. Paul Ginter, in relating mindfulness

meditation (śamatha and vipassana) to IFS, states that “Although this practice appears to be very

simple, it can be challenging to alter habitual patterns of the mind dwelling in the past or future.”44 If

Buddhism already possesses such tools, one might wonder why IFS is necessary. It is useful because of

the very challenge that Ginter describes. Mindfulness can heal, with time, just as a horse left to wander

in a field will eventually find water, but IFS can guide the healing by bringing the horse directly to the

water.

Once one becomes grounded and turns inward, one waits for a part to present itself. During

śamatha, we remain focused on the breath, allowing thoughts and emotions to come and go. During

vipassana, we choose a focal point of investigation. In this case, IFS helps us personify that focal point as

a part of our self-system, complete with desires, aversions, and delusions of its own. When this part’s

thought crosses our mind, we can see it as belonging to the part, follow it to the part, and investigate its

origin using the IFS process.

There are two main processes when working with parts. The first involves working with

protector parts such as managers and firefighters. This process is summarized in the 5 F’s. We start by

focusing on the part in order to see how it manifests. What sensations, thoughts, emotions, behaviors,

or desires does it possess?45 Then we find the part in our body and ask it to remain where it is while we

become aware of it. Third, we feel curiosity and care for the part and the part feels care coming from

our Self. It is important during this process to remain ‘unblended,’ that is, grounded in our

buddhanature and slightly detached from the part. If we start to feel anger, resentment, fear, or sadness

towards the part, this is a clue that another part has come to the forefront of our minds. It has feelings

43
Hanh, p. 24-25
44
Ginter, p. 7
45
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 95

11
about the first part and wishes to prevent us from getting to know it. Asking ourselves how we feel

about the part is a “key diagnostic question” to determine if we are grounded in our buddhanature or

not.46 If another protector part is activated, we gently ask that part to “step back” until we feel calm and

curious towards the original part again.47 This process helps us learn to differentiate between parts,

which are subject to delusion, attachment, and aversion, and buddhanature, which is not. When we feel

open and curious towards the part, we be-friend it by inviting it to share its experience with the Self. We

want to discover how the part came to be, what its purpose is, what it is trying to accomplish, and what

it wants us to know. Finally, we learn about the part’s fears. Protector parts often act from fear. They

believe that if they aren’t continually vigilant in maintaining the self-system, something bad will happen.

It is important to get to know what our parts fear so we can negotiate with that part and reassure it that

the Self, our buddhanature, is wise and capable of caring for the system directly. That way, the part is

heard, reassured, can relax, and eventually transform.

Trungpa calls this getting in touch with “the genuine heart of sadness.” He writes:

Through the practice of sitting still and following your breath as it goes out and
dissolves, you are connecting with your heart. By simply letting yourself be, as you are,
you develop genuine sympathy towards yourself.48

Our buddhanature is capable of being with all parts and of accepting all parts as they are. From this

ground, the Self has no agenda. Although it feels deep compassion for the suffering of its parts, it does

not need to force any part to behave in a certain way. As the part comes under the regard of our Self,

our buddhanature, it naturally relaxes and allows the Self to guide it into a new role. When we find

ourselves trying to force a part into compliance, to make the metaphorical horse drink, this is a sign that

another part has come forward and our work begins anew. Buddhanature has infinite energy for such

46
Rogers, Frank. “Tending Our Parts,” in class handout, spring 2014.
47
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 98
48
Trungpa, p. 42

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work. (I do not mean to suggest that we all out to simply sit on our cushions until every part is healed!

This is agenda-driven itself and not motivated from buddhanature.)

The second type of parts work involves restoring exiles. These are the wounded parts of our

system that have been cast out because we are afraid of their pain. We must start with protectors to

ensure that the managers and firefighters that so frequently keep the exiles exiled are able to relax and

allow direct contact with these tender places of our psyche. We first develop a caring connection with

the exile, just as we did with the protectors. This allows us to witness the origin of the pain, often from a

childhood incident. These parts are “frozen in time,” trapped in the moment of their injury by delusional

beliefs such as worthlessness and shame.49 However, we have the ability to ‘re-parent’ these exiles,

giving them the care they needed in the past in this present moment. We listen to what they need and

even ‘guide’ them to a place of safety, often employing imaginative imagery. When they are in a safe

place, we assist them in ‘unburdening,’ releasing past pains and letting them metaphorically depart or

transform. We ‘invite new life’ by bringing to the exile the qualities it needs in order to be revitalized.

Finally, we integrate the exile with the system so that it feels connected to the Self and welcomed

among the other parts.50 While this process can be highly imaginative, filled with metaphor and

dreamscape, it can also have tangible aspects in the world. We may be spurred to dig out keepsakes,

visit special places, and change our daily patterns. In fact, this process will almost certainly and should

have some tangible repercussions in the outward world.

I turn once again to Trungpa to help relate this process to Buddhist teaching, as his language is

similarly imaginative and metaphorical. About the “dawning of the Great Eastern Sun” he writes: “The

way of the Great Eastern Sun is based on seeing that there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance

49
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 105
50
Schwartz, IFS Therapy, p. 108-109

13
in this world – which is the innate wakefulness of human beings,” our buddhanature.51 When the Great

Eastern Sun dawns, it brings radiance to the darkest parts of our beings, to our protectors and exiles

alike. He contrasts this to “The setting-sun point of view based on fear. We are constantly afraid of

ourselves. We feel that we can’t actually hold ourselves upright.”52 This is the fear of our protectors.

They are afraid that if exiles overtake the self-system we will no longer be able to survive. The Great

Eastern Sun, our buddhanature, dispels that fear and heals our exiles, but only when we consciously

bring it into contact with our parts. IFS is a process for doing just that.

Conclusion

Since learning about IFS, I have come into greater understanding of the Buddhist teachings on

buddhanature. More importantly, however, I have come into direct contact with MY buddhanature.

Through the contemplative exercises used by our instructor, Dr. Frank Rogers, in class, I have touched

my buddhanature and allowed it to touch the parts of me in need of healing. The teachings of Chӧgyam

Trungpa, so long too ‘wishy-washy’ for me to quite grasp, have been reframed in a concrete model that

has allowed me to appreciate them anew. Dependent co-origination, non-self, emptiness, karma, and

the three poisons are no longer separate concepts, but an integrated system for understanding how I

perceive the world, poorly mediated by language, but ripe with the potential for enlightenment. I

believe that all Buddhists (an all beings!) could benefit from studying this therapeutic system and

applying it in their own lives.

51
Trungpa, p. 55
52
Trungpa, p. 56

14
Bibliography

Ginter, Paul. 1996 “IFS and Mindfulness Meditation.” The Best of Self to Self, reprinted from the Self to
Self newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1996. Sheboygan, WI: Internal Family Systems Association.
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Liberation. New York: Broadway Books.
Schwartz, Richard C. 1995. Internal family systems therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, Richard C. 2001. Introduction to the internal family systems model. Oak Park, Ill: Trailheads.
Schwartz, Richard C. 2008. You are the one you've been waiting for: bringing courageous love to intimate
relationships. Oak Park, Ill: Trailheads.
Sparks, Flint. 2011. “The Buddha as an IFS Therapist,” plenary of the 2011 IFS Conference on IFS and
Spirituality. Video retrieved from http://selfleadership.org/2011-plenary-1.html
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