Richard C. Schwartz (born 14 September 1949),[1] is an American systemic family therapist, academic, author, and creator of the
Internal Family Systems (IFS) branch of therapy.[2][3] He developed his foundational work with IFS in the 1980s[4] after noticing that his clients were made up of many different pieces of "parts" of their "Self."[5][6] He teaches that, "Our inner parts contain valuable qualities and our core Self knows how to heal, allowing us to become integrated and whole. In IFS all parts are welcome."[7]
Career
Schwartz earned his
Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy. He has taught at several institutions, including the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago [8][9] and
Northwestern University as well as
Harvard Medical School.[4][3][6]
He is the founder of the Center for Self Leadership in 2000, but in 2019, the organization changed its name to the IFS Institute.[10]
Publications
Schwartz has published over 50 articles about IFS,[11][12] and his authorship includes the following:
Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model, Second Edition
Internal Family Systems: Skills Training Manual (co-authored with Frank G. Anderson & Martha Sweezy)
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model[6]
The Mosaic Mind: Empowering the Tormented Selves of Child Abuse Survivors (co-authored with Regina A. Goulding)
You Are The One You've Been Waiting For: Bringing Courageous Love To Intimate Relationships
Many Minds, One Self: Evidence for a Radical Shift in Paradigm (co-authored with Robert R. Falconer
Handbook of Family Therapy Training and Supervision (Edited by Howard A. Liddle, Douglas C. Breunlin, and Richard C. Schwartz)