Using the Inside Out Pixar Movie to Understand Internal Family Systems (IFS) in Child Therapy

Blog Post by Abby Elkins

Abby Elkins is a Master’s level student intern at Mosaic Creative Counseling in Tallahassee, Florida. She is currently pursuing a combined Education Specialist and Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Florida State University. She is passionate about using creative modalities such as art, movement, and nature with a wide variety of people of all ages and stages of life.

When working with children in therapy, it is crucial to find creative ways to help them express and understand their emotions. One innovative approach that resonates well with kids is using the characters from Disney-Pixar’s movie Inside Out or Inside Out 2 to explain the concept of Internal Family Systems (IFS). The film’s characters—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust, Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy and Boredom—beautifully illustrate how our emotional world works, making it easier for young clients to grasp the complexities of their feelings. Let’s dive into how these characters can help children make sense of their emotions and how this understanding can be a powerful tool in therapy.

What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?

Internal Family Systems is a therapeutic approach that views each of us as a Higher Self that is made up of different “parts,” each with its own unique perspective, feelings, and desires. These parts interact with each other, sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict. The goal of IFS is to help individuals understand, acknowledge, and integrate these parts to achieve a more balanced inner life. For children, explaining this concept can be tricky, but using the Inside Out characters makes it accessible and relatable.

The Inside Out Characters as Emotional “Parts”

In the movie, each character represents a different emotion that plays a role in the main character Riley’s life. This setup mirrors the idea of IFS, where we all have different parts of ourselves that influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Here’s a closer look at how each Inside Out character can be used to help children understand their internal world:

• Joy: Representing the part of us that seeks happiness, optimism, and positivity. In therapy, helping a child connect with their “Joy” part can encourage them to identify the moments when they feel genuinely happy or when they try to stay upbeat in tough situations.

• Sadness: Often seen as a negative emotion, Sadness is actually an essential part of our emotional landscape. Children may struggle to express or even accept their sadness. By using Sadness as a character, therapists can help kids see that it’s okay to feel down sometimes and that this emotion can even bring people closer to those they love.

• Anger: This fiery part is a powerful emotion that can often lead to impulsive or reactive behavior, especially in children. The Anger character helps kids identify moments when they feel frustrated or overwhelmed. It also opens up a conversation about how anger, though intense, is a normal emotion that can be managed in healthy ways.

• Fear: He plays a protective role in our lives by keeping us cautious and aware of potential dangers. For children, Fear might be related to things like starting a new school, making friends, or dealing with a change at home. By acknowledging their “Fear” part, kids can learn to see it as a helpful guide rather than something to avoid.

• Disgust: This part helps us stay away from things that could be harmful or unpleasant, whether that’s physical discomfort or social rejection. In therapy, exploring the Disgust character with children can help them understand their boundaries, preferences, and the need to protect themselves from hurtful situations.

• Anxiety: She plays an important role in helping us plan for the unknown. Her overall goal is to protect us from and unknown pain that could be avoided. It can be crucial in counseling with children and teens to help them get curious about what their anxiety is trying to protect them from? This helps children and teens shift from viewing their anxiety as “the problem,” to viewing their anxiety as an alarm trying to help us see a potential problem.

• Envy: A subtle part that often focuses on what others have and what we don’t, Envy is also very common in childhood and teenage years. Rooted in the emotion of envy is a deep desire to belong. In therapy, it is important for kids to explore the part of them that just wants to fit in and belong to a group.

• Embarrassment: He takes up a lot of space but longs to disappear. Embarrassment is a part of all of us, but in childhood, our embarrassment part can tell us the world is over and our social life will never recover. This part of us is trying to help protect us from rejection. All kids can learn to tolerate their embarrassed part, who is simply just longing to find a loyal group of friends who accept all parts of us.

• Boredom: AKA: Ennui from Inside Out 2. Boredom is a part of all of us that can either sink us into doomscrolling or push us into creativity and adventure. Child therapists or Adolescent Counselors can help kids understand that boredom is a part that is longing for more. Instead of scrolling social media, or nagging parents about their boredom, this part is inviting kids to find a creative outlet, seek out an adventure, or pursue a challenge.

Using the Inside Out Characters in Therapy

The beauty of using Inside Out in therapy is that it gives children a visual and relatable way to talk about their feelings. Here are a few ways therapists can incorporate these characters into sessions:

1. Creating Dialogue with the Parts: Therapists can ask children to imagine conversations between their different emotional parts. For example, “What does your Anger want to say to your Joy right now?” This exercise helps kids see that their emotions have different needs and perspectives, which can reduce internal conflict.

2. Drawing or Art Projects: Encouraging children to draw their own versions of the Inside Out characters can be a great way to externalize their emotions. They might add details that make their characters unique to their own experiences, like giving their Sadness a special hobby or their Fear a safe hiding place.

3. Role-Playing: Role-playing can be a powerful tool for helping children act out scenarios where different emotions take control. This helps them gain insight into how their feelings influence their behavior and how they might respond differently when another emotion is in charge.

4. Connecting Emotions to Real-Life Experiences: Therapists can guide children to reflect on times in their lives when each character was most active. For instance, “Can you remember a time when Fear was driving the bus in your mind?” This kind of reflection helps children see how their past experiences shape their current emotional responses.

Empowering Children to Understand Themselves

By using Inside Out characters to explain Internal Family Systems, therapists give children the tools to understand and manage their emotions in a meaningful way. This approach not only makes therapy more engaging but also empowers kids to see that all of their feelings have value and purpose. When children learn to recognize and appreciate each part of their emotional world, they’re better equipped to handle life’s challenges with resilience and self-awareness.

Final Thoughts

Working with children means meeting them where they are, and for many, that place is through stories, characters, and imagination. By blending the powerful concepts of Internal Family Systems with the relatable characters from Inside Out, therapists can create a space where children feel understood and supported. This approach helps children realize that their emotions are not problems to be solved but parts of themselves to be heard, respected, and guided towards a healthier, happier life.

Light Within Counseling in Roseville, CA, gives a special thanks to Abby from Mosaic Creative Counseling in Tallahassee, FL.

If you’re in the Tallahassee or Florida area and are interested in incorporating playful interventions like these into your child’s sessions, feel free to reach out to our team at Mosaic Creative Counseling. We specialize in combining evidence-based modalities like IFS with creative interventions like play therapy, art therapy, or music therapy.