Internal Dialogue (Self-to-Part) — Internal Family Systems Therapy

The basic format of most IFS sessions: the client goes inward, finds a part, and the Self enters into dialogue with it. This dialogue unfolds in the client's imagination, and the therapist guides the process with questions. The key difference from direct access: here the therapist speaks with the client's Self, and the Self speaks with the part. The therapist holds the Self–part distinction throughout the dialogue.

Step-by-step guide

Help the client enter the inner space: "Close your eyes. Turn your attention inward"
Find the part via a trailhead or 6F
Invite the Self into dialogue: "What do you want to say to this part?"
Listen to the part's reply (the client reports it): "What does it answer?"
Keep the dialogue alive with questions: "What do you feel toward it when you hear this?"
Hold the distinction: if the client says "I" in relation to the part — clarify: "Is this the Self, or a part?"
Close: "Tell it that you are here and ready to be beside it"

When to use

As the basic format of most IFS sessions
When contact with parts is well established — when the client is able to work through the Self
To deepen Self–part relationships between sessions as a home task

Key phrases

What does the Self want to say to this critic? What do you want it to know? And what does it answer?

Follow-up questions

What does it answer?

What do you feel toward it when you hear this?

What do you want to offer it?

Alternative phrasings

Tell it you are here. What does it answer?

Warnings

⚠️ Watch for signs of blending: if the client speaks from the part — use unblending
⚠️ Some clients do not hear the part's reply at first — go more slowly through the body
⚠️ Do not let it turn into "talking about the part" — the presence in the dialogue matters, not the analysis

Source: Schwartz R.C. 1995, 2021