AI Internal Family Systems Therapy Companion App
The Therapy Ally app can help with IFS.
What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
Internal family systems (IFS) is an evidence-based therapeutic method. The basic concept of IFS is helping you understand the different parts of yourself, such as the inner critic, the anxious protector, or the people pleaser.
Many people find that it’s a gentle approach since the focus isn’t on getting rid of those parts, but instead, building a compassionate relationship with them that helps you build a better sense of self and balance in your life.
Can I practice IFS on myself with an AI mental health app?
Therapy Ally has an Ally trained in using conversations grounded in the theory of Internal Family Systems to help people understand more about themselves. IFS proposes that everyone has multiple “parts” inside of their consciousness, each with a protective job and maybe a point of view that stops us from acheiving our desired outcomes. For instance there might be a part that plans to work out tomorrow morning with every intention of doing that. Morning comes and there is another part that wants to sleep in. These parts compete for your attention and whichever one “wins” decides the outcome of your intended activity.
Therapy Ally can help you with conversations that identify these parts, help you determine what they want and why they want it and then help you sort out the best outcome for your life, despite what each part is saying. The great thing about Therapy Ally is that it can help you do this in the moment.
Using the above example, imagine you wake up in the morning and the part that is saying “sleep in, don’t exercise” is present. Therapy Ally can help you talk through why this part is present, what it is trying to say or do and balance it’s viewpoint with the viewpoint of the “I really want to exercise” part from the night before. Since, in IFS, all parts have a protective aspect, there is never a set answer to which part should win the argument! Sometimes you need to drag yourself out of bed and sometimes you really do need the extra rest.
Therapy Ally can help you sort that out and arrive at he best decision for YOU despite the viewpoints of your parts.
When you check in with your AI companion using IFS, you can talk through what you’re working on in therapy right now and get positive insights on how you can build a better relationship with those different parts of yourself.
IFS is a powerful approach to understanding yourself that suggests that we all have different “parts” in our consciousness that have unique viewpoints and can add both positively and negatively to our lives. IFS helps you identify those parts, name them and then find out more about what their viewpoint is. Once identified, you can see which part is present in any moment and decide if you want to listen to it or if a competing part may have a better course of action for you.
While Therapy Ally doesn’t provide therapy it can help you identify the parts that are competing for your attention and help you work with them to choose the best outcomes for your life. If you are already in therapy using IFS, Therapy Ally can provide a powerful complement to your therapy by helping you identify and track your parts in real-time and then use that history to make your therapy sessions more powerful.
How Therapy Ally Uses IFS
Therapy Ally includes an Ally specifically trained in IFS-based techniques. If you are in therapy using IFS or just curious about IFS, you can use our Ally to help you identify your parts in real time and help you identify their viewpoints and desires so you can make the best decisions, in the moment, for your life no matter what the viewpoint of your parts. All parts have viewpoints that protect us and some have viewpoints that keep us stuck in patterns we might want to transcend,. Therapy Ally can help you work through this.
Your IFS Ally helps you identify, and name your parts, understand their viewpoints and why they might be present in that moment and work through your best course of action. This is incredibly powerful when doing IFS work, even between sessions, because it happens in the moment the part is present.
Why Practice IFS Through Therapy Ally
Traditional IFS with a therapist is powerful. But sometimes, you need support between sessions, or you can’t access therapy right away. Therapy Ally bridges that gap. It allows you to have a conversation whenever and wherever you need it so that you can address situations that come up in your life, in the moment.
Always available:
Talk anytime — day or night.
Private and secure:
Conversations are encrypted and stay within your control.
Evidence-based:
Rooted in real therapeutic frameworks and best practices.
Personalized:
Your Ally learns your communication style and adapts.
Complementary:
Designed to enhance, not replace, professional therapy.
What Does An AI Therapy App Conversation Looks Like?
Therapy Ally provides an approachable way to make Internal Family Systems part of your everyday life and helps you stay aware, centered, and resilient. Being able to leverage supportive and healing conversations whenever and wherever you need them provides a powerful complement to traditional IFS therapy or provides value if you cannot access IFS therapy. Once you learn it, IFS is a system that can provide value for the rest of your life, and using Therapy Ally to support you in this process allows you to have a trusted companion in your journey, all from the comfort of your home.
Step 1:
Choose your focus
Select an area: like anxiety, motivation, or negative thinking.
Step 2:
Talk with your Ally
Your CBT Ally guides you through prompts, reflections, and reframes — helping you see things clearly and practice new responses.
Step 3:
Reflect and grow
You can revisit your insights anytime. Over time, Therapy Ally helps you notice patterns, celebrate wins, and keep building healthier habits.
Is IFS Right for You?
If the idea that within you there are “parts” that compete for your attention and that these parts have different points of view that both protect you and move you forward. As they say in IFS, there are no “bad” parts.
If you want a compassionate approach that is not about “fixing” you but is focused on self-understanding and personal leadership of your life.
If you are ok with an approach that suggests you go inward for answers to your questions and is a process that takes time and patience with the support of Therapy Ally.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Therapy Ally is a great place to start when you’re looking for an effective AI mental health companion. It offers many features that stand out against other AI mental health solutions, such as:
Personalized and adaptable support based on your needs
Evidence-based therapeutic approaches, such as IFS, CBT, DBT, and ACT
Conversational support that’s available 24/7
Ability to use it offline
High security and privacy standards, so you know your conversations are encrypted
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When you use an app like Therapy Ally, you’re given an AI companion or Ally who you can check in with whenever you need to. Think of it like having a natural back-and-forth conversation where the app listens and gives you support and guidance based on your needs.
It’s a great tool that complements traditional therapy when you want to have an extra resource to check in, talk through things, or get some tips based on what you’re working on in therapy right now.
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AI mental health apps can help with anxiety, depression, and several other mental health conditions. Therapy Ally uses evidence-based therapeutic methods to provide helpful support for different needs, tailors conversations to you, and can complement what you’re working on in therapy right now.
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On average, AI mental health apps cost between $10-60 per month. With Therapy Ally, we offer a free trial perio you can get started with and several paid subscriptions when you need more personalized support.
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Not every AI mental health app is free to use. The cost depends on the provider and the type of app. You can use Therapy Ally for free with our free tier, and there are also paid subscription options if you want deeper, more personalized support.
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Our team at Therapy Ally takes your security and privacy seriously. All your conversations in the app are encrypted, never shared, and never stored externally, so you can use it confidently knowing your information is kept private.
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Yes, you can use mental health apps alongside professional therapy. We built Therapy Ally to help fill in gaps between your traditional therapy sessions.
Sometimes you just need an outlet to voice your thoughts or get a boost as you’re managing daily stresses. When you want to talk things through right now rather than waiting for your next therapy session, your Ally will be a great support option to help you find calm or get a positive boost during the day.
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You shouldn’t use AI mental health apps to replace seeing a therapist. AI mental health apps are a great support tool that can complement what you’re working on during therapy, but you’ll miss out on the well-rounded emotional approach that a licensed therapist brings using the app alone.
Therefore, it’s best to use both. You can attend regular therapy sessions to talk things through and start building new skills for success. Then, in between sessions, check in with an AI companion like Therapy Ally whenever you need support or want to revisit skills you’re working on in therapy.
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Therapy Ally is capable of providing support for many different mental health concerns, such as:
Depression
Anxiety
Stress
Loneliness
Loss of a loved one
Bipolar disorder
Schizophrenia
And more
Your Ally will tailor support based on your needs using evidence-based treatment approaches like IFS, CBT, DBT, or ACT. It’s a great tool to be able to check in, get guidance, and maintain the progress you’re making during therapy.
You can find Therapy Ally on the Apple App Store or Google Play to try it for yourself and see how it can support your mental health journey.
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An AI mental health app is a tool built specifically to provide therapeutic support. Therapy Ally was built from the ground up and trained on evidence-based therapeutic approaches to provide adaptable mental health support based on your needs. It’s a great support tool for mental health because that’s what it was made to do.
Alternatively, ChatGPT is more of a general AI tool. It’s great at answering general questions and handling common tasks, but it doesn’t have any training to provide evidence-based mental health support, so you’ll find it falls short in that regard.