Internal family systems and Eating Disorders: Understanding the connection
Eating disorders are complex and deeply personal. Beneath the surface of behaviors like restriction, bingeing, or purging often lie tangled emotions, past wounds, and conflicting inner voices. While many therapeutic approaches aim to reduce symptoms, one model—Internal Family Systems (IFS)—goes deeper, offering a compassionate and transformative lens through which to understand and heal the internal system of the person in distress.
IFS sees eating disorder behaviors not as problems to be fixed, but as protective strategies developed by parts of the self. When applied to eating disorders, IFS allows for healing at the root, helping individuals understand and care for the parts of themselves that are trying to survive.
What Is Internal Family Systems Therapy?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a non-pathologizing, evidence-based therapeutic model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. IFS is grounded in the idea that the mind is made up of multiple parts, each with its own perspective, goals, and fears.
IFS includes three key concepts:
Parts – Everyone has internal “parts” that take on roles. No part is inherently bad; even harmful behaviors have protective intentions.
Self – At the core of every person is the Self, which is inherently calm, compassionate, and capable of healing.
System – These parts form an internal system that functions best when led by Self, not fear, shame, or trauma.
Rather than trying to get rid of parts or fix behaviors, IFS focuses on befriending and understanding parts—especially those driving eating disorder behaviors.
The Role of Parts in Eating Disorders
1. Manager Parts
These are proactive parts that attempt to control emotions and prevent pain. In eating disorders, manager parts may:
Enforce food rules and restriction
Demand exercise or perfectionism
Criticize the body or shame food choices
Their intent is to maintain control, avoid vulnerability, and preserve safety—especially in chaotic or invalidating environments.
2. Firefighter Parts
These parts react when pain breaks through the manager’s defenses. Their job is to numb, distract, or soothe overwhelming emotion. Firefighters in eating disorders may drive:
Binge eating
Purging
Substance use
Dissociation or self-harm
Firefighters often operate out of desperation, trying to shut down distressing thoughts or emotional pain quickly.
3. Exiled Parts
These are the most vulnerable parts, often holding memories of trauma, shame, rejection, or grief. They are exiled by the system to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But they carry core beliefs like:
“I’m not lovable”
“I’m too much”
“I have to be perfect to be safe”
The eating disorder may function to keep these exiled parts at bay.
“An eating disorder is often a collaboration between protective parts, trying to manage the pain of an exile they don’t trust anyone to help heal.”
— Richard Schwartz, PhD
Why IFS Is Especially Effective in Eating Disorder Treatment
1. It Promotes Compassion Instead of Judgment
IFS helps individuals understand that no part of them is “bad.” Even the eating disorder part is trying to help, in the only way it knows how. This reduces shame and self-hatred, two common drivers of relapse.
2. It Allows for Internal Dialogue
Clients learn to speak with their parts instead of being overwhelmed by them. This separation enables insight:
“Why does my restrictive part think I need to lose weight?”
“What is my bingeing part trying to protect me from?”
This internal communication fosters agency, safety, and healing.
3. It Supports Trauma-Informed Healing
IFS is widely used with complex trauma. It allows exiled parts that carry abandonment, abuse, or attachment wounds to be met by the Self—not by judgment, logic, or avoidance.
Because eating disorders are often intertwined with trauma, IFS addresses both behavior and origin.
4. It Encourages Lasting Integration
Rather than trying to suppress symptoms, IFS encourages parts to take on new roles once they no longer need to protect. For example:
A restricting part becomes a boundary-setting part
A bingeing part becomes a comfort-seeking part in healthier ways
Healing is about transformation, not eradication.
A Glimpse Into an IFS Session for Eating Disorders
A therapist might say:
“Can you notice the part of you that feels the need to restrict right now?”
“What is it afraid would happen if it didn’t take control?”
“Can we ask that part what it’s protecting?”
Rather than analyzing or challenging behaviors, the therapist facilitates inner connection and dialogue, helping the client access their Self energy—the calm, curious center that can help parts heal.
IFS and the Recovery Journey
Recovery from an eating disorder is rarely linear. IFS honors that:
Some parts may be ready for change, while others are deeply fearful
Recovery is about building internal trust, not simply following external rules
Progress may mean being with pain that has been avoided for years
The IFS model doesn’t push parts aside—it invites them in, listens deeply, and asks, “What do you need?”
This approach can feel radically different from symptom-based care—but for many, it’s what finally makes healing possible.
Research and Evidence
While research is still emerging, IFS has shown promise in treating:
Trauma and PTSD (e.g., Bessel van der Kolk, 2021)
Depression and anxiety
Complex relational wounds
Eating disorders in both individual and group settings
Studies by Mahrer et al. (2020) suggest that IFS can reduce internal conflict and support sustainable emotional change in people with eating disorders, especially when combined with nutrition and medical care.
Final Thoughts
Internal Family Systems offers a powerful shift: from controlling the eating disorder to curiously exploring its purpose. When parts are understood, honored, and unburdened, the person can access their core Self—capable of compassion, confidence, and care.
Eating disorder recovery isn’t just about stopping behaviors. It’s about healing the inner system that believed those behaviors were necessary for survival.
IFS invites each part of you to the table—not to silence them, but to finally be heard, held, and healed.
References
Schwartz, R. C. (2001). Internal Family Systems Therapy. Guilford Press.
Schwartz, R. C., & Sweezy, M. (2019). Internal Family Systems Therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Mahrer, N. E., Gold, J. I., & Ramsey, J. (2020). Internal Family Systems as a treatment modality for adolescents with disordered eating. Journal of Eating Disorders, 8(1), 23.
Van der Kolk, B. (2021). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
Anderson, F. S. (2017). Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems. PESI Publishing.
