Internal Family Systems Therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Topics:

● Understanding and identifying obsessive compulsive systems.
● Viewing obsessive compulsive disorder through the lens of IFS.
● Assessing the protective system and mapping its dynamics.
● The strengths and benefits of adding IFS to OCD treatment.
● The practical application of IFS to OC systems.
● The importance of Self-energy in the healing process.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is conventionally viewed as a challenging, multi-faceted syndrome in which obsessive and compulsive (OC) processes are driven by a need to avoid negative feelings such as contamination, fear, and shame. This conceptualization is valuable as far as it goes, but from an IFS perspective we might also wonder about the mechanisms of this avoidance and how to heal this cycle at its core i.e., the protectors and exiles involved. 

In the first part of this two-part workshop, we will present an IFS definition of OCD, survey the many manifestations of OCD, and offer a sound approach to IFS assessment of obsessive and compulsive systems. 

In the second part we will explore OC processes as the behaviors of protective parts who are motivated not just to avoid, but to exile negative feelings in predictable ways and how to release the protectors from their extreme states by adding the precious ingredients of Self-leadership and compassion and by healing the exiles who drive the process.