I think there is a name for the core of the approaches which works, which is “parts work.”
The ICF framework seems to add some things on top of the basic parts work idea that make it similar to IFS. For instance, the process of unblending at the beginning is basically the same as what IFS calls “getting into self”. In contrast, there are many effective parts work frameworks that do the work from a blended state, such as voice dialogue. It imports the assumption from IFS that there is some “neutral self” that can be reached by continually unblending, and that this self can moderate between parts.
In addition, IFS and ICF both seem to emphasize “conversation” as a primary modality, whereas other parts work modalities (e.g. Somatic Experiencing) emphasize other modalities when working with parts, such as somatic, metaphorical, or primal. Again, there’s an assumption here about what parts are and how they should be worked with, around the primacy of particular ways of thinking and relating which is heavily (if unconsciously) influenced by the prevalance of IFS and its’ way of working.
It seems like while ICF is trying to describe a general framework, it is quite influenced by the assumptions of IFS/IDC and imports some of their quirks, even while getting rid of others.
What’s described as An ICF technique is just that, one technique among many.
ICF does not make the IFS assumption that there is some “neutral self”. It makes a prediction that when you unblend few parts from the whole, there is still a lot of power in “the whole”. It also makes the claim that in typical internal conflicts and tensions, there just a few parts which are really activated (and not, e.g., 20). Both seems experimentally verifiable (at least in phenomenological sense) - and true.
In my view there is a subtle difference between the “self” frame and “the whole”/”council” frame. The IFS way of talking about “self” seems to lead some IFS practitioners to assume that there is some “self” agent living basically at the same layer of agency as parts.
ICF also makes some normative claims, which make it different from “any type of parts work”: the normative claims are about kindness, cooperation and fairness. If you wish, I can easily describe/invent some partswork protocols which would be un-ICF and in my view risky / flawed from ICF perspective. For example, I’ve somewhat negative prior on techniques trying to do some sort of verbal dialogue in blended state, or techniques doing basically internal blackmail.
In addition, IFS and ICF both seem to emphasize “conversation” as a primary modality, whereas other parts work modalities (e.g. Somatic Experiencing) emphasize other modalities when working with parts, such as somatic, metaphorical, or primal. Again, there’s an assumption here about what parts are and how they should be worked with, around the primacy of particular ways of thinking and relating which is heavily (if unconsciously) influenced by the prevalance of IFS and its’ way of working.
Not really—the post mentions basically all these directions of variance among ICF techniques:
There are several general axes along which ICF techniques can vary, depending on the person and the circumstance:
Structuredness
More: you follow formal idealised steps
Less: you just sit and stuff happens, with no reference to any steps
Goal-directedness
More: you intend to make a decision or resolve a conflict, and you do
Less: you just want to spend some time with yourself
Legibility
More: you make your experience explicit to yourself (and the facilitator if there is one), and have a clear story when you close about what happened
Less: you’re mostly in direct physical experience, or metaphor, or visualisation; you don’t make any of this very explicit to yourself (or a facilitator); you don’t have much of a story about what happened when you close
...
There are many, many different possible ICF techniques (most of which are presumably undiscovered and could be found via experimentation). To give some examples:
Different media: drawing, writing, speaking, movement, staying silent…
Maybe the confusion is because just one technique was described explicitly in the post.
I think there is a name for the core of the approaches which works, which is “parts work.”
The ICF framework seems to add some things on top of the basic parts work idea that make it similar to IFS. For instance, the process of unblending at the beginning is basically the same as what IFS calls “getting into self”. In contrast, there are many effective parts work frameworks that do the work from a blended state, such as voice dialogue. It imports the assumption from IFS that there is some “neutral self” that can be reached by continually unblending, and that this self can moderate between parts.
In addition, IFS and ICF both seem to emphasize “conversation” as a primary modality, whereas other parts work modalities (e.g. Somatic Experiencing) emphasize other modalities when working with parts, such as somatic, metaphorical, or primal. Again, there’s an assumption here about what parts are and how they should be worked with, around the primacy of particular ways of thinking and relating which is heavily (if unconsciously) influenced by the prevalance of IFS and its’ way of working.
It seems like while ICF is trying to describe a general framework, it is quite influenced by the assumptions of IFS/IDC and imports some of their quirks, even while getting rid of others.
What’s described as An ICF technique is just that, one technique among many.
ICF does not make the IFS assumption that there is some “neutral self”. It makes a prediction that when you unblend few parts from the whole, there is still a lot of power in “the whole”. It also makes the claim that in typical internal conflicts and tensions, there just a few parts which are really activated (and not, e.g., 20). Both seems experimentally verifiable (at least in phenomenological sense) - and true.
In my view there is a subtle difference between the “self” frame and “the whole”/”council” frame. The IFS way of talking about “self” seems to lead some IFS practitioners to assume that there is some “self” agent living basically at the same layer of agency as parts.
ICF also makes some normative claims, which make it different from “any type of parts work”: the normative claims are about kindness, cooperation and fairness. If you wish, I can easily describe/invent some partswork protocols which would be un-ICF and in my view risky / flawed from ICF perspective. For example, I’ve somewhat negative prior on techniques trying to do some sort of verbal dialogue in blended state, or techniques doing basically internal blackmail.
Not really—the post mentions basically all these directions of variance among ICF techniques:
Maybe the confusion is because just one technique was described explicitly in the post.