‘Parts work’ and how it can transform your life.

Not sure what to do or feeling conflicted? Parts work could be your solution.

There are times in everyone’s life when we feel uncertainty and have split, or opposing, ideas and feelings. Parts work therapy could very well help resolve these feelings.  

Have you ever uttered the statement, “…well a part of me feels ____, but the other part feels ____,” or something similar? Have you noticed that although you are one individual, there are many facets or “parts” of you that show up in various situations differently?

In the early 1980s, Dr. Richard Schwartz was one of the first trauma therapists who developed a non-judgmental psychotherapeutic approach aimed at recognizing, honoring, and ultimately connecting to our own individual parts, or as some earlier psychologists called subpersonalities or ego states. Schwarts named this approach Internal Family Systems (IFS), and other therapists like Tom Holmes, Ph.D have since utilized parts work with much success to help individuals to heal traumas and emotional wounds more effectively than traditional talk therapy alone is able to achieve.

So what makes this approach so beneficial? 

When incorporating IFS or parts work, a therapist can help a client: 

1. Identify the parts of themselves that are showing up at a given time in a way that is disruptive or distressing for the client, i.e. if a part of the client is feeling angry, scared, sad, etc. in a certain situation.

2. Notice how they feel toward these parts, perhaps wishing these parts didn’t exist or conversely, having more understanding or even compassion about why the part feels a certain way.

3. Figure out what role the part is playing in protecting the whole self; the parts always have an origin or function.

4. Communicate with and validate their parts as a way of fostering self-compassion.

What is the impact of parts work?

Parts work has a very profound impact on clients and their understanding of themselves, the origins of their distress, and why their whole brain-body system may be fragmented as a way of protecting the self from feeling too much emotional pain. 

A more peaceful state of mind and sense of self is cultivated when clients can better connect to, and understand their own parts and the functions of these parts. Real healing happens the more an individual can separate from their parts enough to notice them without feeling dominated or overpowered by them. 

How can therapy help ease anxious feelings? 

In my own therapeutic framework, I like to combine Brainspotting, another form of focused mindfulness neuro-experiential work, with parts work as a way to more efficiently process emotional wounds/traumas. These two approaches work well at helping a client go deeper into their subconscious world, allowing for more empathic understanding, integration, and internal harmony.

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