What is Parts Work?

Working with parts brings compassion to feelings of inner chaos.

Your parts are trying to protect you...and in doing so, are keeping you stuck. 

The idea of parts has been around forever. From Buddah inviting Mara to tea (a conversation with an "inner demon") to the Christian idea of an angel and a devil on each of your shoulders, to Rumi's guests in his 13th century poem, The Guest House. In modern psychotherapy, parts work shows up in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy via metaphors like "passengers on the bus," is foundational in Internal Family Systems, and is explored eloquently in Janina Fisher's work on dissociation and post-traumatic recovery.

When we think about ourselves, we usually think in terms of concepts, labels, and identifiers such as "I am anxious" or "I'm the type of person who ____." When working with parts, we instead think of our internal world as a collection of actors all doing their best to keep us safe and protected.  

From a parts worldview, instead of being an anxious person, we have an anxious part. Instead of being "the type of person who ______", we have a part that does that action or serves that function. 

One of my favorite things about working with parts is that all of our parts are trying to protect us in some ways. In IFS this is called "positive intent." Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, wrote a book called No Bad Parts. It's one of those books you really don't need to read because the title sums it up—none of what's happening inside of us is inherently bad or wrong. (Also, support your local independent bookstore and go ahead and order a copy.) 

Working with our internal world from a parts perspective helps us to become more compassionate, more understanding, and more flexible when difficult experiences arise. 

Ready to use parts work to help you explore your inner world with more kindness and compassion?

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