“Parts work” therapy seeks to create internal harmony between our core self and all the various “parts” of our personality.
Sometimes when we experience a particularly overwhelming event, it can be very challenging to understand and make sense of the experience. While it may appear we are moving on, internally and externally, there is often a “part” of ourselves that becomes frozen, suspended in time and attached to the traumatic event. We may not notice it until a later reminder of the incident arises, and we may act in a way that recalls our feelings, beliefs and body sensations tied to the original event. Sometimes this happens even on a subconscious level, so we may not feel like we have a good understanding of where our emotional responses are coming from. Some parts of ourselves are wounded, and carry much of the pain attached to these overwhelming events. Other parts of ourselves are protective, and hope to keep the wounds from surfacing.
Engaging in this type of therapy looks like identifying your different parts and their unique contributions or “jobs”. Some of us may be able to begin to identify different parts of ourselves when we explore the different roles we play in our lives, the beliefs we hold about ourselves, or different moods we experience. Your therapist will guide you through making connections to how each part may have developed, and how we can validate that part’s efforts.
An important aspect of this type of therapy is learning to be the head of your “internal family”. You will work towards developing a renewed core sense of self and begin to foster connections, with nurturing compassion, between the self and all of your parts. Parts work also involves the healing of wounds in a trusting and supportive therapeutic environment. This means building enough safety with the self, as well as your therapist, to support these wounds in telling their stories and healing. This is a deep, emotional process that can help protective parts not have to work so hard to keep wounds from getting activated. The goal of a parts work approach to therapy is to gain access to our core self, and approach life as a whole and integrated person.
There are various specific types of therapy I draw from in parts work, including Internal Family Systems and Ego State therapy. Parts work is often helpful for working with people who have experienced early childhood trauma, but it can be effective in a wide variety of situations including anxiety, depression, dissociative disorders and addictions.