IFS Therapy Exercise
from Move Toward

This free printable PDF exercise introduces you to the Move Toward framework — giving you practical tools to begin working with your parts today, whether you're a therapist, a client, or someone on your own healing path.

More about this free resource

Finding high-quality, free Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy exercises — ones grounded in genuine clinical training and accessible to non-therapists — is surprisingly difficult. This free PDF exercise, excerpted from Jenna Riemersma's Move Toward: A Simplified IFS Therapy Tool to Welcome All Parts of You, offers exactly that: a practical, printable IFS Therapy tool usable in therapy, in self-guided journaling, or in small group settings.

What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?

Internal Family Systems therapy is an evidence-based model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz that views the mind as a system of distinct "parts," each with its own perspective, protective role, and positive intent. At the center is the Self — a core essence of calm, curiosity, and compassion that never gets damaged by trauma or difficult experiences. IFS therapy works by helping the Self form a healing relationship with all parts, including the ones that cause the most pain or behave the most destructively.

What Makes the Notice, Know, Need Tool Unique?

While the full IFS Therapy model involves a rich and nuanced process, Jenna Riemersma developed the "Notice, Know, Need" shorthand to give both therapists and everyday people a repeatable, three-step entry point. Rather than requiring deep familiarity with IFS Therapy language, the NKN process translates the essence of parts work into something anyone can practice — in a therapy session, a difficult moment, or quiet reflection. IFS lead trainers have called it one of the most clinically useful simplifications of the model available.

IFS Therapy Exercises for Therapists vs. General Readers

Most IFS Therapy worksheets and exercises are written for one audience — either trained clinicians or general readers — but rarely both. Move Toward bridges that gap intentionally. IFS therapists will find the Notice, Know, Need framework a clean, shareable tool for clients who get overwhelmed by IFS Therapy terminology. Therapy clients and general readers will find it a genuinely transformative self-inquiry practice that doesn't require a therapist to be useful.

Using IFS Therapy with the Inner Critic, Anxiety, and People-Pleasing

The free exercises in this PDF are especially well-suited for working with some of the most common presenting parts: the inner critic, anxiety, people-pleasing, emotional numbness, and the wall around the heart. Each of these is understood in IFS Therapy not as a character flaw or disorder, but as a protector part doing its best — and each responds beautifully to the Notice, Know, Need approach.

Get the Full Move Toward Book

This free exercise is a sample from the complete Move Toward book, which is filled with real-life stories, exercises, and reflection questions designed for journaling, therapy sessions, and small group exploration. Available from PESI Publishing in paperback, Kindle, and audio editions.

At the heart of Move Toward is Jenna Riemersma's original three-word shorthand — a distillation of Internal Family Systems therapy into a simple, repeatable process anyone can use, in session or in daily life.

Who This Resource Is For

Unlike most clinical manuals, Move Toward was written for everyone — not just therapists. The free exercise is equally useful whether you're a seasoned IFS practitioner or someone who just heard the words "internal family systems therapy" for the first time.