IFS encourages us to look at our relationships with others and contextualize them.

We are all subject to our responses to the harm and trauma we experience. The differences between us are few.

Bridging sociology and IFS has many positive possibilities.

Sociologically locating one’s Self gives us a path toward healing.

Dr. Richard C. Schwartz’s work developing the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapeutic practice has become increasingly popular (e.g., Schwartz, 2021). Celebrities like Alanis Morissette, Jonathan Van Ness, and Sarah McLachlan have publicly praised the approach, citing its unique abilities to heal trauma and build connection, clarity, and compassion. Numerous clinicians, therapists, and life coaches have offered their own versions of IFS, with specificities around various topics such as motherhood (Close, 2026), eating (Catanzaro, 2026), and addictions (Sykes et al., 2023).

After reading dozens of IFS iterations, I found myself connecting deeply with these approaches—not only because IFS is a groundbreaking trauma-informed set of practices, but also due to its inherently sociological elements.

In this first post in a series of three, I offer sociological support for IFS by discussing opposition to “bad” or “evil” framings of human behavior and psychology. In doing so, this collective series aims to offer support for IFS and expands into a deeper understanding of its parameters as related to the field of sociology.

No Such Thing as Evil

In my 20 years of teaching (Worthen, 2022), I have encouraged my students to see the sociological constructions of deviance—including how certain individuals are at greater risk of being labeled as "deviant" based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, etc—and how each of us is deviant in at least some time, location, and/or culture. While I conceptualize this framework through the lens of empathy, Schwartz grounds his (similar) work in the “no bad parts” motto.

Both approaches recognize that there is no such thing as “bad” or “evil” parts or people. We are all subject to our responses to the harm and trauma we experience. The differences between us are few. What is essential is that we learn how we engage with our inner selves and heal amidst the difficulties that we will all face as human beings.

During my initial read of No Bad Parts (Schwartz, 2021), I found myself penning sociological concepts and ideas in the margins. One was a........

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