Internal Family Systems (IFS) sees consciousness as composed of various "parts" or subpersonalities, each with its own perspective, interests, memories, and viewpoint.  A core tenet of IFS is that every part has a positive intent for the person, even if its actions or effects are counterproductive or cause dysfunction. This means that there is never any reason to fight with, coerce, or try to eliminate a part; the IFS method promotes internal connection and harmony.  Parts can have either extreme roles or healthy roles. Internal Family Systems focuses on parts in extreme roles because they are in need of transformation through therapy.  IFS divides our parts into three types: managers, exiles, and firefighters.

Managers
Managers are parts with preemptive protective roles. They handle the way a person interacts with the external world to protect them from being hurt by others and try to prevent painful or traumatic feelings and experiences from flooding a person's awareness.

Exiles
Exiles are parts that are in pain, shame, fear, or trauma, usually from childhood. Managers and firefighters try to exile these parts from consciousness, to prevent this pain from coming to the surface.

Firefighters
Firefighters are parts that emerge when exiles "break out" and demand attention. These parts work to distract a person's attention from the hurt or shame experienced by the exile by leading them to engage in impulsive behaviors like overeating, drug use, violence, or having inappropriate sex. They can also distract from the pain by causing a person to focus excessively on more subtle activities such as overworking, over-medicating.