🕯️ IFS and Repression

Repression in IFS isn’t a defect of memory—it’s protection through forgetting. It’s how the system hides unbearable pain behind closed internal doors until there’s enough safety to open them.

• A managerial part may push memories down to keep life functioning.

• A numbing part may dull sensation so nothing leaks through.

• A skeptical part may insist, “It couldn’t have been that bad,” to preserve stability.

IFS approaches repression with reverence, not force.

• “Who’s keeping these memories tucked away?”

• “What are they protecting me from feeling?”

When Self approaches gently, the gatekeepers relax—not because they’re convinced, but because they feel safe at last. The system remembers at its own pace, releasing only what it’s ready to hold.

In IFS, repression isn’t denial—it’s devotion. It’s the system’s way of saying, not yet, but someday, when we’re safe enough.