Parts work therapy (aka Internal Family Systems)
What is ‘Parts Work’ therapy?
Parts work comes from the philosophy on Internal Family Systems (IFS), popularized by Richard Schwartz. IFS is a powerful, evidence-based modality of psychotherapy.
The basic concept is that we all have parts of ourselves that are in relationship to each other, like a family would be.
Each part has a different job, personality and story. You may experience this like a voice in your head. For example, a manager part might say “you must check everything off your to-do list before you can relax today” or a firefighter part might say “screw the to-do list, let’s binge on Netflix instead”.
Often, these parts are stuck in outdated roles that were adaptive and necessary in your past, but are no longer serving you. For example, it may have been helpful to check everything off your to-do list when you were unsupported and needed to make ends meet. But now, it may be preventing you from being present and relaxed.
Here is a short video of Richard Schwartz discussing Internal Family Systems therapy.
What happens in a parts work therapy session?
Parts work sessions are more experiential, less like a typical ‘talk therapy’ session. A lot of insight can be gained by connecting to parts directly (as opposed to just talking about the parts) but it can be strange or uncomfortable to step out of the rational and tap into a more imaginative space.
Typically, we’ll begin by catching up and understanding if any parts were present for you in your week, or are present in the session.
Then, we’ll work to focus on that that part, separating from it so we can see and understand it more clearly. Sometimes, we’ll do this with your eyes closed and be open to anything visual or somatic that comes forward — for example, “this part looks like a red blob” or “my head is starting to pound as I focus on this part”
From there, I will guide you in understanding the part more deeply, communicating with it and forming a new relationship to it. Sometimes, that looks like having a dialogue with the part like “what is this part afraid of?” or “what does this part want to say to you?”
By connecting to a part, we’ll hope to discover new ways of relating to it and thus develop more inner trust and integration between the parts — as if making peace between the members of a family.
Feel free to reach out for a free consultation to ask questions about what may happen in a session.
What’s the goal of parts work therapy?
There are different goals based on the internal family of the client but here are some examples of outcomes:
Healing wounded parts. There may be parts that are holding immense amounts of feelings - like grief, rage, fear, etc. These ‘exile’ parts need to be seen, listened to and supported to process the feelings they hold. By giving these parts space, we can relieve them of the burden they’ve been carrying which will result in a lighter version of you.
Improve ‘self leadership’. An important player in the internal family is the ‘Self’, which you may call your higher self, your wise self, your inner parent, or whatever phrase feels right to you. The Self is the leader of the internal family and is inherently secure, confident and calm. However, the Self can get lost amongst the noise of the other parts. Sometimes our work will be rediscovering the Self and helping it connect with your parts.
Restore balance amongst the parts system. If there’s a part that is over-activated and taking control too often (for example: a perfectionist part, a lazy part, etc) we may work to make this part less polarized. Even though these parts are causing harm, we assume their intentions are good and that they are simply using a maladaptive strategy. We bring empathy to this part then understand what it parts need to take on a different role. Sometimes a part has been doing a role for a very long time — so it can be a process to help it find a new way of being.
Who is parts work therapy right for?
Everyone! Truly, I’ve found IFS to be effective for such a wide variety of clients and goals.
Parts work tends to work really well for these groups:
Rational thinkers, intellectualizers — we’re still doing plenty of analyzing of our inner world, but then adding the layer of experiential work. This does require some willingness and courage to step outside the box!
People with a stubborn behavior or pattern — if talk therapy hasn’t been able to shift a behavior you’d like to change, parts work can be helpful. It’s a different perspective and approach in, which has its basis in empathy and understanding rather than changing something “bad”. A few examples of this may be: disordered eating, substance use, anxiety thoughts, panic attacks — and so many more.
Kids — kids tends to naturally understand themselves in parts. For young kids, playing with toys can often be an exploration of their parts. For example, a part that relates to a superhero and a part that relates to the victim.
Teens — teens also tend to naturally understand parts language. With such big feelings (that are often contradicting), they can relate to multiple parts pulling them in different directions. Read more about IFS for teens here.
Interested in trying parts work? Reach out for a free consultation.
I’d love to hear your impressions of parts work and answer further questions about my perspective and approach to it.