IFS, Mindfulness, and Mental Health in 2025: Finding Peace in a Turbulent World

Seeking Comfort in Uncertain Times

I’m looking for some comfort. Some peace. This is a hard time. I’ve been very anxious as Donald Trump and Elon Musk have pushed through the door and caused havoc.

You too?

I’m guessing that I’m not alone among therapists in several ways.

Discovering Internal Family Systems

When I was in grad school, I recommitted to therapy. I’d had some decent experiences before that, but my therapist during that time introduced me to Parts and IFS. This was a revelation for me. 

It turns out that I have several parts that like to give me suggestions, or waves of emotional energy of one type or another. The therapist helped me to get to know two parts in particular. One, an exile, who was (and still is at times) terribly scared and lonely. I pictured him as a little boy under the open staircase that led down to the unfinished basement in my childhood home. He has a lot of big feelings, and probably emerged during the time of my mother’s cancer, and eventual death. I was 16 when she died. And I was 11 when she was first diagnosed. He usually shares with me how alone he feels and how scared he is. It’s hard for him to feel the connection to other people, even people who have been close to me for a long time.

Another one I got to know was tough. He was/is about 16 and carries a baseball bat. He protects the younger boy who stays under the stairs. He’s got, let’s say, a lot of energy. He would often react. Working with him was very important during my mid 20s and early 30s. He has been able to transform and is now much more adaptive than he was originally. He pushes me to fight against injustice. He has a clear sense of right and wrong. And, maybe most importantly, he is one of the main parts of me that picks me up when I’ve been knocked down. He can take a punch. Sometimes he still reacts intensely though.

Transforming Through Connection

My grad school therapist helped me get to know these two (and others). She helped me connect with them and dialogue with them. I love and respect them. They were able to come forward and share themselves with me and with each other and move my grief into a new era. They softened and were less demanding. 

But these two are not gone. They are not integrated. They have stayed with me over the years and I have gotten to know them better. Sometimes, they’ve been inactive for long stretches. 

When Parenting Awakens the Past

When my son turned 11, I started to notice my young exile—I’ll call him Buddy—again. I was able to take care of Buddy and give him most of the love and attention he needed. Buddy often feels like the world is going to complete collapse around him and leave him alone and without any guidance. He is my embodiment of anguish and emotional pain.

When my son turned 16, started to notice my tougher part—I’ll call him Jimmy—again. That was last year. Jimmy can be reactive and ready for a fight. He doesn’t like uncertainty and the unknown. He wants clear paths into the future. And at times he is rageful.

Therapeutic Tools That Help

Thankfully, I had that initial help with my grad school therapist, and the tools of IFS. I also followed IFS and Dick Schwartz and studied the model in the late 1990s. I became certified in 2001. I have used IFS in my practice and been able to teach it to students and professionals over the years. I can talk with these fine, young parts. And mostly, they listen. 

Another profound tool that has helped me connect with them and other parts is my mindfulness practice. I’ve done basic meditation on and off for about 15 years now. I’m back to doing 10 minutes a day. 

I have a more adult part of me that wants to monitor the news and keep track of what is happening so that I can act in some way if there seems like a clear path. Needless to say, when I listen to Pod Save America, or read Heather Cox Richardson, Buddy starts getting terrified and Jimmy starts getting enraged. 

Creating Community for Healing

Recommitting to my mindfulness practice, journaling, therapy, exercise, walking, all this is helping me stay on track.  

I have started to look at some of Dick Schwartz’s newer books and it occurs to me that a consultation group may be useful to me and to others who are looking to manage some of the uncontrollable stress being pushed on us by Trump and Musk.

I’ve done an introductory IFS and mindfulness workshop and added it to our offerings. It’s on our website. This workshop will serve as a prerequisite for a consultation group coming this summer.  

I’m imagining a mindfulness “book club” where we will start with a 10-minute meditation and then review a chapter of a book and finish with some consultation on a specific client situation that may connect to the chapter concepts. It will be a 1 hour, time-limited club based on whatever book we choose. Keep an eye out for the details of this consultation group and sign up for the Introduction to Internal Family Systems and Mindfulness if you’re interested in getting more familiar with IFS.