From Black and Blue Pens to Glitter and Glue: Healing Through IFS
In 2013, I enrolled in a Master's program for Organizational Leadership. One of the first classes I took was about creativity. We had to draw, paint, color, etc., and tell the class something about ourselves. I looked around my house and discovered that I had no art supplies. No colored markers. No glue sticks.
I had black and blue pens, and that's it.
Fast forward to today, and my home is filled with color. Craft supplies are overflowing out of hot pink dressers. The top of my craft table is covered with scraps of paper and googly eyes.
Not only is my life full of color, it is also full of healing. For some reason, art and creativity felt way too vulnerable. What if I wasn't good? What if I was so bad it was embarrassing? What would people think? Who do I think I am to be creative?
Those are the voices that were in my head for a long, long time. It was only a few years ago that I started to wonder--whose voices are these? They didn't feel like me, exactly. But they felt familiar.
Enter Internal Family Systems (IFS).
I was listening to a podcast, and the founder of IFS was the guest. He took one of the podcast hosts through an exercise where he asked her to look inward and identify a part of herself that needed attention. Her part was her "General Manager."
I had to pull the car over because my own General Manager, inside my body, was screaming, "You finally found me!" I used the techniques that he described in the podcast to talk with my General Manager, and I learned so much that day about her and her role in my system.
And that she and my Artist Part did NOT get along. They were in what IFS calls a Polarization. My General Manager wanted us to work and get things done! And my Artist Part wanted to be creative and add color. Whoah.
This all made so much sense to me that I dove into learning all I could about IFS. I enrolled in classes, started practicing with others, and read everything and anything I could get my hands on. I have completed my training and am now an IFS Informed practitioner. Along the way, I also became a certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation.
IFS, at its core, says that we all have parts — like little inner family members — that each hold their own thoughts, feelings, and roles. Some parts protect us from pain, some carry old wounds, and some, like my Artist Part, hold our joy, creativity, and aliveness. When we learn to listen to these parts with compassion, they begin to trust us — and that’s where real healing and transformation begin.
If you’ve ever wondered why you feel pulled in different directions, or why one part of you wants to rest while another pushes you to keep going — IFS might change everything for you, too.
✨ I created a free guide to help you explore your own parts — gently, at your own pace. Find it here: https://our-parts-at-work.kit.com/769baac3cb
Because every part of you deserves to be heard — and maybe even to make a little art. 🎨💫