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]
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]
Schwartz has published over 50 articles about IFS,[11][12] and his authorship includes the following: