A fundamental principle in psychotherapy is the necessity of coping with the emotional discomfort, pain, and traumas that invariably shape our lives.
In psychodynamic theory, for example, the concept of psychological defenses plays a fundamental role in understanding how individuals cope with challenging or traumatic experiences. Our defenses are automatic, unconscious strategies that protect us from distressing thoughts, feelings, or memories.
We all rely on these defenses to help us manage our emotional lives. They act as psychological shields, helping us maintain emotional equilibrium by repressing, denying or projecting unwanted and anxiety-provoking aspects of our inner world.
In Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, the theoretical framework offers a unique perspective on how individuals protect themselves from emotional pain and overwhelming stress.
While the terminology used to describe IFS protective parts and the psychodynamic theory of defenses may differ, their underlying objectives are aligned. In both psychological frameworks, the fundamental aim is to shield individuals from overwhelming emotions, traumatic memories, and distressing experiences. This commonality underscores the universal human need for internal processes that help manage emotional turmoil and maintain psychological stability.
IFS therapy: Understanding our protector parts
IFS posits that the mind isn’t just a single static thing, but rather, it consists of various sub-personalities or parts, each with its own role and function. For instance, you might have a creative part, an overly cautious/anxious part, a playful part, a driven part, a procrastinator part, to name a few.
Certain parts within the individual’s internal system assume protective roles, referred to as protectors, with the aim of sheltering us from the relational and emotional wounds held by other parts.
Certain parts within the individual’s internal system assume protective roles, referred to as protectors, with the aim of sheltering us from the relational and emotional wounds held by other parts. These other parts (the ones that carry the old emotional wounds) are referred to as exiles due to their exclusion from the mind’s conscious awareness.
Within the framework of IFS, exiles are the parts that carry the emotional wounds and burdens of unresolved trauma. Exiles often come into being in an effort to contain and isolate the intense distress, pain and negative beliefs that arise from traumatic experiences — especially when there aren’t safe adults to help the child make sense of and process these painful experiences. From a practical standpoint, you can see how keeping the emotional pain hidden away from the mind at large might seem preferable to allowing the pain to come into consciousness and potentially derail the individual’s functioning in the world. This of course is not a solution to unresolved trauma, but it’s easy to understand why the mind would relegate overwhelming pain to exiled parts within.
The role of the protector parts is to keep the exiled parts exiled and out of consciousness, and that often means suppressing the pain held by the exiled parts.
Two categories of protector parts
In the Internal Family Systems framework, the two distinct kinds of protectors are known as managers and firefighters. One key difference between these protectors lie in their approach to handling emotions:
Managers are characterized by their proactive and strategic approach, whereas firefighters tend to be impulsive and reactive.
Let’s delve deeper into these differences.
Manager protectors
The manager parts in IFS may function like psychological defenses in psychodynamic theory by attempting to maintain control and order in the individual’s life in order to stop the intrusion of emotional pain from entering into consciousness.
1. Proactive function:
Managers take a proactive stance in the individual’s life. They are constantly at work to maintain control, order, and predictability in an effort to keep certain feelings and memories at bay.
For example, a manager part attempting to keep hidden an exile holding shame about feeling less-than at work or school might push the individual to complete a work project way ahead of time and perhaps spend far more time on it than is necessary. The manager is seeking to proactively prevent the exile from being triggered by feeling unprepared and like a failure at work.
2. Anticipatory nature:
Managers anticipate potential emotional threats and aim to prevent them from occurring in the first place. They may create rules, routines, and strict standards to avoid situations that might trigger distressing emotions.
For instance, days, weeks or months after a car accident occurs, a manager might motivate the individual to avoid the location of the accident—even if no objective threat exists—in order to avoid triggering the exile’s fear of re-living the accident and re-experiencing any unrelated past traumas held by the exile. Someone might find themselves going to great lengths to avoid the same spot on the road, even if it takes them out of the way and may cause them to be late for work.
These manager parts illustrate how we can adopt internal roles aimed at maintaining control and structure in our lives to preemptively protect ourselves from the distressing emotions and memories that we’ve had to lock away.
These manager parts illustrate how we can adopt internal roles aimed at maintaining control and structure in our lives to preemptively protect ourselves from the distressing emotions and memories that we’ve had to lock away. Manager parts work tirelessly to organize our life in ways that are designed to anticipate and avoid the pain of exiles from being provoked.
Firefighter protectors
On the other hand, the firefighter protector parts can be likened to reactive defense mechanisms. They respond rapidly by engaging in impulsive or distracting behaviors in an effort to stamp out feelings that have already been triggered. The IFS approach emphasizes that these protector parts, although well-intentioned, can become extreme or rigid and therefore lead to problematic and self-destructive consequences.
1. Reactive function:
Firefighter parts jump into action when overwhelming emotions threaten the individual’s equilibrium. They operate reactively in response to emotional distress or threats that have been triggered and are about to, or have already, entered into consciousness.
Firefighter parts can respond so quickly and automatically that we may not even realize why they have mobilized. At times, we might observe ourselves behaving in ways that seem dramatically out of character, perplexing, or even self-defeating. Yet, it’s crucial to understand that these actions by our firefighter parts often stem from the motive to safeguard us from being inundated and overwhelmed by the emotions we’ve concealed.
2. Immediate relief:
Firefighters prioritize immediate relief from emotional distress above all else. They focus on quickly alleviating shame, helplessness, fear, self-loathing…often without considering the long-term consequences of their actions.
Firefighters in Internal Family Systems exhibit a fierce protective stance because they perceive an imminent threat to our emotional well-being. This urgency and intensity is aimed at stopping (sometimes at any cost) the re-traumatizing emergence of memories and emotions that are held by the exiles.
Firefighters in Internal Family Systems exhibit a fierce protective stance because they perceive an imminent threat to our emotional well-being. This urgency and intensity is aimed at stopping (sometimes at any cost) the re-traumatizing emergence of memories and emotions that are held by the exiles.
~~~
We all have protector parts. Some of these parts might be so prevalent in our lives that we don’t even recognize them as such. Some might be extreme in their attempts to quell the emotional pain held in the underlying exiled parts. It’s important to identify the ways in which you manage emotions and how your different protective parts work on your behalf.
Let’s look at a brief example of a manager and firefighter protector.
The perfectionist manager
If you’ve always held yourself to high standards and tended toward perfectionism, according to the Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective, this tendency can be attributed to a dominant inner part known as the perfectionist manager.
The primary intention of this perfectionist part is protective in nature. It strives for flawless performance and control across various aspects of your life. It often sets exceptionally high standards and imposes rigid rules upon you, all in an effort to prevent any perceived imperfections or failures.
The underlying belief driving the perfectionistic manager might be something like, “As long as I’m perfect, I won’t face rejection,” or “By avoiding failure, I’ll secure acceptance and love.” Its ultimate goal is to protect you from the rejection, humiliation or shame held in exiled parts that might be triggered if you make mistakes or fall short of expectations.
The self-medicating firefighter
This particular part arises as a response when overwhelming emotions, painful memories, or unmet needs have broken through into conscious awareness. Its primary function is to provide immediate relief from this pain by seeking soothing and distraction through various means.
The self-medicating firefighter can manifest in various ways. For some individuals, it may take the form of substance abuse in an attempt to numb painful emotions or buffer the intrusion of traumatic memories. For others, it may involve compulsive behaviors like binge eating, gambling, porn/sexual acting-out, or excessive spending, as a way to quickly find comfort.
From an IFS perspective, this protective part is driven by the intention to provide relief from the turmoil within. However, these coping mechanisms often lead to negative consequences in the long run, creating a cycle of continued pain and suffering.
~~~
IFS: Starting parts work
Mapping out your protector parts can be helpful in gaining insight into patterns of behavior that may have been very confusing and frustrating to you. First and foremost, this process offers a deeper level of self-awareness. By identifying and understanding the specific protector parts that operate within your inner system of parts, you can gain insight into how these parts have been working hard to help and serve you.
Throughout your life, your protectors have been tirelessly working to assist and safeguard you.
Working with your protector parts also has the potential to foster self-compassion; you can come to realize how these parts emerged in your life with the intention of helping you navigate the pain you’ve endured, even if their methods are sometimes confusing or come at a cost to self and others. Throughout your life, your protectors have been tirelessly working to assist and safeguard you.
Your protector parts are the gatekeepers of your deepest vulnerabilities. Identifying and mapping out parts can help you chart a course toward healing. With time you’ll begin to recognize the distinct types and roles these protectors play in your life. You’ll gain insight into the circumstances that trigger them and the deep-seated exiled emotions, such as inadequacy, shame, or fear of rejection that they labor to contain.
It’s important to note that this inner journey is unique to each individual, and while it offers the potential for transformation, it also requires patience, commitment, and a willingness to hold space for the complexities of your inner landscape of parts.
~~~
Rich Nicastro, PhD., is a licensed clinical psychologist based in Austin, Texas. He has over twenty-five years of experience working with individuals and couples and offers teletherapy to clients throughout the United States.
Article references
Safran, J.D. (2012). Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Therapies. APA.
Schwartz, R.C. (2021). No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. Sounds True.
Schwartz, R.C., & Sweezy, M. (2020). Internal Family Systems Therapy. 2nd edition. Guilford.
