Recently acknowledged by the national registry and evidence-based programs and practices (NREPP). Internal parts have good intentions but often take on destructive and protective roles. Exiles maintain painful emotions and memories, but they desire to be cared for by others. When these exiles are triggered, they break free and attempt to tell others their story, seeking to be comforted and often is destructive ways (Turns et. al., 2021).
IFS and Sandtray Therapy
IFS and sandtray therapy are experiential approaches that help clients articulate their internal worlds through visual representation. They allow clients to determine problematic parts and spatially show how these parts interact and blend (Turns et al., 2021).
The Nine-Step Process
There is a nine-step process in implementing sandtray and IFS.
- The therapist explains the three “parts” to the client.
- Identify the “parts”.
- Select sandtray miniatures. The therapist should provide a variety of well-thought-out figurines for the client to choose from. Photos of images may also be requested from the client.
- Arrange the miniatures in the sandtray, allowing the client full autonomy of placement and narration. The therapist only instructs that the sandtray represents what is going on inside the client’s mind.
- Identify each part, its role, why it has that job, and how it is overfunctioning. This step may take several sessions, as each part needs ample attention to understand its purpose.
- Identify blended parts. The client places miniatures in relation to each other to determine which parts are present with the self and need to be released from their responsibilities.
- Identify homework. The therapist and client choose one part to work on changing between sessions.
- Assess change. Each session begins with the miniatures placed as before, followed by a discussion about whether any parts have changed or remained the same.
- Ask if the parts have changed. The client clarifies what parts have changed and why.
This combination of models has shown to significantly help couples and children/adolescents, but not with individual adults (Turns et. al., 2021).
Even in reading this study I feel I am more able to visualize the usefulness of IFS. The reading describes implementing IFS in ones imagination, but for many people, myself included, the use of physical objects may be more attainable and less frustrating. If I had access to a sandtray, I would most definitely use this combination of IFS and sandtray. One issue with its real-world application is providing a selection of miniatures that would be fitting for clients of different ages/genders/cultures.
References
Turns, B., Springer, P., Eddy, B. P., & Sibley, D. S. (2021). “Your Exile is Showing”: Integrating Sandtray with Internal Family Systems Therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 49(1), 74–90. https://doi-org.umassglobal.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/01926187.2020.1851617