We come into the world completely dependent upon our caregivers for our survival. As infants, we have a natural instinct and drive to survive and to come into homeostasis. We signal our needs to caregivers (as young children as well), but unfortunately, many of us experience misattunement (and some of us experience trauma, emotional and/or physical harm). These wounded aspects become our “exiles,” carrying the raw pain (what IFS calls “burdens”) of these early experiences. I see these burdens (the painful beliefs, emotions, memories, and sensations that exiled parts carry) as neural pathways that got grooved in: they are constructs, schemas, implicit memories, encoded attachment patterns, and more.

To maintain functioning and protect these vulnerable exiles and their burdens, our psyche develops sophisticated, adaptive systems. Freud called these defense mechanisms. Richard Schwartz (the IFS model) calls them “protectors.” These protectors, like exiles, are simply neural pathways that have been etched into our nervous system.

In IFS there are two types of protectors. The “managers” emerge as the primary defensive structure — using executive function, planning, social conformity, and rational control to keep the system stable. (Freud’s Superego.) Operating from the prefrontal cortex and left brain, they maintain homeostasis through routines, rules, duties, achievement, and boundaries. They work to prevent exile activation and keep us functioning in daily life.

However, when triggers activate our exiled parts’ pain (burdens), our survival feels threatened (activating sympathetic nervous system arousal — fight/flight/freeze responses). This is where “firefighters” emerge (operating from the limbic system, midbrain, and right brain — Freud’s Id). These parts engage in impulsive, reactive behaviors to numb, escape, or release the overwhelming pain. While these behaviors might bring a sense of safety and relief, they’re most always at a cost to us and those in our orbit.

Both protector types — the rational managers and reactive firefighters — are attempting to help us survive. They operate on different time scales with different mechanisms: managers through prevention and control, firefighters through emergency response and crisis management. However, when we approach all parts with curiosity and compassion (what IFS calls “Self”), recognizing their protective, adaptive intentions, they step back and allow us to heal the exiled parts’ pain (burdens).