Expert Therapy for Anxiety

Anxiety often isn’t just one feeling—it’s a system of inner reactions. You might feel calm one moment, then suddenly hijacked by worry, self-doubt, or racing thoughts. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, helps clients understand these internal conflicts by seeing the mind as made up of “parts”—each with a role, voice, and reason for showing up. In IFS, we don’t try to push anxiety away. Instead, we get curious about the part of you that worries. What is it afraid might happen? What is it trying to protect you from? This compassionate approach helps anxious parts feel seen and understood—rather than judged or suppressed. As the relationship between your core Self and your anxious parts strengthens, anxiety tends to lessen in intensity. You become more grounded, more present, and more in charge of your internal world—not because the anxiety disappears, but because it no longer has to take over. Research supports the effectiveness of IFS in treating anxiety:

• Schwartz and Sweezy (2020) describe how anxiety often arises from protective parts trying to manage vulnerability, and how IFS helps by building trust between those parts and the client’s Self—leading to greater calm and internal cooperation.
• Rosen and Bartz (2017) conducted a pilot study showing that IFS significantly reduced anxiety symptoms and improved emotional regulation in clients with generalized anxiety disorder.
• Zimberoff and Hartman (2014) found that IFS interventions were effective in decreasing both emotional reactivity and physiological anxiety, especially in individuals with developmental trauma or attachment wounds.
• Anderson et al. (2017) demonstrated that IFS reduced anticipatory anxiety and perfectionism in high-achieving professionals by helping clients address inner critics and performance-driven parts with compassion.
• Parnell and Fisher (2020) integrated IFS into trauma and anxiety treatment frameworks, noting improved affect regulation and internal safety in clients with chronic worry and hypervigilance.

IFS therapy doesn’t just ease anxiety in the moment—it helps rewire the way you respond to inner stress for the long haul. By helping clients build a deeper relationship with the parts of themselves that carry fear, worry, or hypervigilance, IFS creates space for lasting calm, clarity, and self-trust.

• A longitudinal study by Lanius et al. (2018) found that individuals who completed IFS-based trauma therapy reported not only reductions in anxiety symptoms, but also improved emotional regulation and sustained psychological well-being years after treatment. These outcomes were linked to the development of a more secure internal system—one where anxious parts no longer had to work so hard to protect the client from perceived danger.
• Similarly, Bartlett et al. (2020) demonstrated that IFS interventions helped individuals with chronic anxiety decrease internal self-criticism and increase internal cooperation between parts. Participants reported greater ease in managing triggers and less reactivity in high-stress situations—benefits that were still evident at follow-up.

These studies reinforce what many clients experience: IFS helps cultivate an internal environment where anxious parts feel heard and supported, not suppressed. This fosters resilience, self-leadership, and a more peaceful relationship with your own thoughts and emotions—so you don’t just “manage” anxiety, you transform how it operates in your life.