As an Ego-State Therapist, Here’s My Beef with the “IFS Specialist” and Lottery.

Written by Maggie Dickens, LPC-S | Online Parts Work Therapy in Texas and Florida https://catharticcounseling.com | 5 Minute Read

The Brand Trap: Your Healing Isn’t a Commodity

Parts Work and ego-state therapy is the compassionate process of healing the inner child and unburdening your internal system is transformative. However, the brand name IFS (Internal Family Systems) has become associated with an expensive, limited certification model that prioritizes brand affiliation over ethical clinical access. For a therapist seeking Level 1 training, the process of paying nearly $4,000 USD and signing up for an enrollment list can still feel like trying to win a ticket to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. Your healing should not rely on your therapist winning a popularity contest in order to call themselves and IFS specialist.

The Certification Trap: The MLM-like Therapy Certification Model

The concept that the mind is naturally multiple is not a new invention. However, the modern certification model can create an MLM-like therapy certification system that funnels money up, limiting the number of clinicians who can offer effective care to anxious women in Texas and Florida.

This is an ethical dilemma: The struggle for an official, Level 1, IFS Institute certification is often misplaced because the core principles of Parts Work are universal.

IFS Specialist vs. Ego-State & Parts Work Specialist: Principles Over Trademark

I am not critical of the IFS model itself; I use and love the concepts. But Parts Work is not owned by one brand.

• Ego-State Therapy (developed by John and Helen Watkins) is a separate, foundational psychodynamic approach that works with the same premise: the personality is composed of separate parts (or “ego states”) that adapt and respond differently in various situations.
• My extensive training with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) grounded me in Ego-State Therapy and Parts Work long before IFS became a widespread trend.
• Janina Fisher’s Approach is another highly respected trauma-informed therapy that integrates somatic psychotherapy with parts work concepts, emphasizing that the body holds and expresses the fragmented parts that developed as survival responses to trauma. Her method aims to help survivors befriend these parts and restore the connection to their core Self.

The difference is the trademark. The principles (Self, Managers, Exiles, Protectors) are universal, not proprietary. My method offers the same core healing without the brand ego (and cost). And yes, IFS institute states that I am unable, “in good faith” able to call myself an IFS Specialist due to not going through their specific organization (see their stance here).

The Systemic Critique: Why Western Therapy Brands Miss the Plot

As a systems-based therapist, I recognize that this issue goes beyond a single institute. It’s the Western medical model’s tendency to co-opt and commodify ancient wisdom.

Co-opting Sacred Knowledge: The “Problematic White Guy” Phenomenon

The concept of humans having parts is not new; it is deeply rooted in Indigenous and spiritual traditions spanning millennia. For example, the Hohodene people of the Northwest Amazon describe an all-encompassing multiplicity of living entities intertwined in one spiritual body. Furthermore, Aboriginal spirituality in Australia emphasizes a holistic interconnectedness, where a person’s core well-being is tied to their ancestors and the world—a clear precursor to the idea of an “internal system”.

I am grateful for the research that Dr. Richard Schwartz and others have done to bring this to the Western lens, but I am not grateful for the “cult-ish” PR and following that ignore the ethical need to credit these origins (more than a few by-lines). Schwartz himself has admitted that IFS parts often feel like “sacred inner beings” or “spirit-like,” endorsing the spiritual nature that many non-Western practices have always understood.

Why Your Healing Doesn’t Require a Name-Brand Therapist

You do not need to seek out a “Certified Level 3 IFS Specialist Therapist” to heal your little adult part.

• The Little Adult Part—the part of you that is hyper-independent and always seeking the “perfect” solution—needs a therapist grounded in principles, not certifications.
• Healing is Relational, Not a Quick Fix. Yes, one session with Ego-State Parts Work and hypnosis can make massive strides, but life is relational, complex, and dynamic. That’s why I struggle with promises that one session can cure all.

If you are looking for powerful, ethically grounded Parts Work combined with other tools, I highly recommend a therapist like Chelsea McDonald (in person) in Houston, who is Ego-State trained and pairs this approach with the tool of EMDR, Brain spotting, and Reiki.

Resources for Ethical, Systems-Focused Healing

• Online Therapy Services for High-Achieving Women
• Feminist Therapy: Healing Beyond the Patriarchal Lens
• Why I Don’t Believe in the Therapy “Quick Fix” and How It Fails You
• How Inner Child Work Supports Your Childfree Journey

The Power Is In the Work, Not The Trademark

I am pro-client awareness and fit. I am against the cult-ish approach some therapists and therapy modality creators have in modern counseling (more on that in this blog here Read our ethical deep dive into trendy, cultish therapy modalities losing the plot..

The healing power is in the work, the relationship, and the principles of Self-leadership, not the trademark. You deserve a therapist who sees you as a whole person, not a symptom to be fixed with a proprietary tool.

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