Parts work comes from Internal Family Systems (IFS), a framework that sees an individual as made up of many different parts, such as an “inner child.” Many of our parts are protectors, motivated by fear of physical and emotional danger. Some parts are holding all of the big emotions of the events that impacted our lives. Learning about our parts and giving them what we didn’t get can offer great potential for healing.

Richard Schwartz developed IFS but has likely drawn from many indigenous traditions (across Asia, Africa, and the Americas) that see the individual as a collective of parts, and call upon these parts or upon spirits to help restore wholeness, often through ritual and shared spiritual practice. For those of us without access to healthy spiritual traditions or community healing practices, parts work offers us a lens through which to view ourselves - all of ourselves - with compassion.

What does this look like in therapy?

On one end of the spectrum, it looks like using the language, “A part of me feels scared,” instead of “I am scared.” This creates space around a feeling and this space can give us breathing room to shift things. On the other end of the spectrum, parts work can look like guided meditation into meeting parts, especially those that are keeping us stuck in patterns we want to break. We hear what they have to say, find out what they need, and offer them the validation they didn’t get when we were their age. This can lead to a deeper sense of self-trust and self-acceptance.