What exactly is “parts work”?

You know that feeling that you just can’t manage, despite knowing that it’s totally irrational?

You know that behavior that isn’t serving you anymore but you can’t help yourself from doing anyway?

That isn't you, it’s a part of you. 

Per Internal Family Systems (IFS) theory, our psyches aren’t a monolith, but rather made up from a handful of discrete parts. Parts have their own agendas and learned to play specific roles to manage stress of our external lives. Some of them can really be a drag, sometimes even dangerous. Often, we find that their strategies are way outdated.

This is where parts work comes in.

The slogan of IFS is “no bad parts”, which might sound contrary to what you experience.

In parts work, instead of making our parts wrong, we witness them. We validate and give them the care they’re screaming for. We help them put down the burden they’ve been carrying for years.

This is the magic of parts work. 

Every. Single. Time. When our parts feel seen and understood, they begin to trust the core you, your capital S Self to lead, and they don’t grab the wheel from you anymore. And when they trust you to lead, they see that it is finally safe to put their burdens down.

As a result, our whole life gets lighter.