Using Internal Family Systems Therapy for Overcoming Addictive Behaviour Patterns

In this course, Dr. Marc Lewis, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto, explains that viewing addiction as a “disease” is disempowering, but seeing it as a “choice” is not fully adequate either, given the interacting environmental factors that influence decision making. Rather, he introduces Internal Family Systems as a therapeutic approach which acknowledges the multiplicity of self (“voices” or “parts”) contained within our personality. He shows how conflict between these parts, along with crystallised habit patterns, can create ongoing feedback loops which drive people to addictive behaviours as a way of quieting some of the voices. Dr. Lewis discusses how the key to healing addiction lies in getting to know the voices/parts, caring for them, and compassionately improving their interactions.