In my previous post, I talked about the start of a new part of my healing journey: https://strengthinmystory.com/healing-or-better-off-broken/. This part of the journey has involved healing in action, while trying to date, as well as parts work. Parts work is not super simple to understand. So I want to dive into what it even is, before we talk at depths on what this can look like.
What is Parts Work?
Parts work is something that is technically a part of a kind of therapy known as IFS or Internal Family Systems. This does not mean family in the way that it is typically thought of (not as in people you are related to). This is therapeutically referring to the many parts that make up our inner sense of self.
You may hear the word parts and be unsure of what that means. Think about when you are contemplating a decision and you are torn between two things and you say “well part of me feels like I should….but this other part of me feels like”. Often one of those feelings take the lead and make the decision. Or perhaps you have a little voice in your head that is telling you that you are not good enough or smart enough. These are both examples of parts at work.
When doing this form of therapy, the key is to acknowledge what all the feelings/parts are telling you to find a greater sense of balance for your inner self.
My Experience Thus Far
I have been pretty open about my therapeutic experiences via this blog. For the past three years, I have been engaged in EMDR. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This is a form of therapy that is known to be effective for trauma and PTSD. I am engaging in IFS to help me in navigating the long term impacts of narcissistic domestic violence.
For me, parts work, has been taking individual looks at different emotions that I feel. In the experience that I have had my therapist and I do a process involving:
- Naming the emotion or part
- Visualizing the emotion or part (what does it look like/sound like)
- Gaining a greater insight on the emotion/part
- Seeing their purpose–these emotions serve a purpose to help you in some way
- Gathering a greater insight of yourself as a whole and how these emotions contribute
My plan is to talk through some of my experiences in working with IFS and parts work in my future blog posts. However, I felt like it was best to introduce everyone to the concept before diving fully in.
If you are looking for more information on this form of therapy in the meantime, my therapist has recommended the following two books as being for the patient perspective (instead of the therapist perspective).
- No Bad Parts (Dick Schwartz)
- You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For (Dick Schwartz)
