Parts Work

Experienced Parts Work and
Ego State Therapists
Serving Arizona & Florida

What is Parts Work?

Parts work is based on the concept that within each person, there are multiple aspects or subpersonalities (i.e., ‘parts’) that interact with one another. Parts work can be traced back to early Freudian psychology where Freud asserted that each of us has three main parts that drive our lives; the id, the ego and the superego. Another psychology pioneer, Karl Jung, believed that the individual psyche was not self-contained and instead was connected to the “collective unconscious,” which was influenced by archetypal personalities seen in myths and legends.

An great example of how "parts" show up on a regular basis is that you may have a "part" of you that knows you will feel good if you get out of bed when the alarm sounds and go to the gym, but also. have another "part" that really wants to stay in bed and hit the snooze alarm a few more times. Or, you may have a "part" that knows a relationship is unhealthy for you, but battles with another "part" that wants to remain in the relationship because it's better than being lonely.

When the tendencies, needs, and drives of these different parts clash, these inner conflicts can create psychological problems. Parts work aims to help people resolve these inner conflicts and help people develop a healthier relationship with themself.

Therapeutic Modalities that Use Parts Work

Internal family systems (IFS) is one of the most well-known types of parts work therapy. In IFS, the internal parts are often depicted as an “internal family” (i.e., an inner child and inner critic that mimics a critical parent). In IFS, it’s believed that the roles, goals, and tendencies of these internal parts can create inner conflicts that lead to psychological problems and disorders.

Ego state therapy identifies earlier aspects of self that developed for adaptive purposes but have become problematic when they drive our behavior in our present day lives. Ego state therapy uses parts work in a similar way as IFS to help people heal these earlier parts or help them recognize that the present-day system no longer needs their help. Gestalt therapy also uses parts work, including having people act out inner conflicts through role plays to start a dialogue and work towards a resolution. You can even find parts of work theories in modern Jungian, Transactional Analysis, psychodynamic therapy, and popular concepts like the “wise mind” in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). (DBT).

BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION

What Can I Expect During Parts Work?

Parts therapy involves a variety of different techniques and can look different depending on the specific approach being used. In many cases, parts work is a component of therapy but is used in combination with other techniques. Because of this, there is no specific or universal method used in parts therapy.

A parts work therapy session may involve:

Accessing a part: Your therapist may ask you to ‘access’ or identify different parts of themselves by locating the part in their body or describing the sensations and feelings associated with that part to become more aware of it.
Role plays: Role plays may be used in parts therapy to help people initiate a conversation with a part or between multiple parts of the self. For example, a person may be asked to role play a conversation between their inner child and inner critic. Roles plays can help identify and resolve inner conflicts between parts.

Visualization: Visualization may be used in parts work to help people imagine and create a different kind of internal dynamic. For example, someone might be asked to visualize a younger part, describe it, and then visualize specific actions or activities that could help it heal and grow.
Externalization: Some parts therapists have clients externalize specific parts by naming it or giving it physical characteristics to represent it. This might be used in a role play, spoken conversation or even written dialogue with this part or between parts.

Why Parts Work?

Parts work can also help people identify and use their strengths in a more intentional way. For example, the inner critic can learn to delegate the right kinds of tasks to this part instead of wasting time and energy replaying each past mistake. In this way, parts work can help unconscious processes become conscious ones, which gives people the chance to feel more in control of themselves and their lives.