Hello again, I'm Gabrielle Kawashima, a licensed therapist specializing in working with trauma and the owner of Even Here Therapy. One of the impacts of traumatic experiences on our lives is the way that it can fragment our sense of self. This leaves behind a complex mess of emotions, memories, and beliefs.
A therapeutic approach known as parts work, allows for us to work with the fragments of ourselves to allow us to understand ourselves more, learn how to provide ourselves with support, and heal in a transformational way.
If you think you may have experienced trauma and want to learn a bit more, check out this page for a bit more information.
Understanding Parts Work
Parts work can refer to a few different modalities including Ego States therapy and Internal Family Systems therapy. These approaches take the perspective of family systems and apply it inward on ourselves. If you've ever said the phrase, "a part of me feels one way and another part of me feels another", there really is something to that. Parts work takes the perspective that inside of each of us are many different parts that can represent different aspects of ourselves. Each of these parts has it's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. And no, it doesn't mean that you automatically have Dissociative Identity Disorder. In parts work, you work with a therapist to help you in understanding our parts, communicating with them, and rebuilding your relationships with them.
So, how do we develop parts?
When we experience something traumatic (too much, too fast, or not enough) a type of fragmentation happens inside, and it's intended to keep us surviving. Our brains perceive emotional threats (like rejection or abandonment) as life-threatening and their primary goal is survival. So whether we're talking about physical or emotional threats, we respond this way inside of ourselves.
Typically, one part holds on to the pain or the wound or the difficult emotions and beliefs. Because it would feel too overwhelming for us to feel that way all the time, we develop additional parts who are intended to help us make sure that we don't feel that way again. Some parts will look ahead to anticipate situations that could bring up the wound again and make sure that we're living in a way that will minimize the amount of discomfort we experience again. Other parts will step in when something from that wound is touched on, and their job is to shut it down as quickly as possible. All of this is intended to help us feel as safe as possible.
However, often times because these parts are fragmented and separated, they can at times cause their own difficulties without them being aware of it. Parts work offers us a way of practicing self-compassion in our relationships with ourselves, our relationships with our parts. Building our relationships with our parts allows us to have a better understanding of ourselves and helps utilize the knowledge and experience of all of our parts to work towards greater goals together.
How Parts Work Works
Dr. Richard Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, talks about the concept of the "Self". The "Self" is something we all have at our core, it's a compassionate and curious space that has the wisdom and capacity to heal the wounded parts. I often use the example of babies when describing the energy of "Self" to clients. Babies are fully present, curious, and loving. We all have a period of time before we're wounded by life, where were are just connected to our sense of self.
As humans, we tend to avoid discomfort and pain. Thus, we tend to be more disconnected from the parts of us that are wounded. Especially since we develop other parts whose purpose is to make sure that we feel those wounds as little as possible. We can also think about this as a type of self-abandonment. In order to heal, we have to be able to learn how to tolerate and understand our pain. Which means that we have to earn the trust of our protective parts too.
The first step is to start getting curious about our parts and how they show up, a kind of compassionate inquiry. Some techniques that can be used in parts work are creating an internal dialogue, guided imagery, somatic experiencing, and externalizing parts.
Brainspotting and Parts Work
One of my favorite ways to integrate parts work into therapy is through Brainspotting Therapy. During trauma treatment, a deeper type of processing can be so vital to the healing process. It's been my experience as a trauma therapist that parts often present themselves as clients are Brainspotting. As we know, trauma is often held in both our minds and in our physical bodies and in the process of brainspotting therapy we gain access to the stuck points with more direct access. Clients are often able to get in touch with their parts more directly in Brainspotting as well as create the kind of space needed for them to unburden.
Sometimes, parts can block the process of trauma healing because of fears that the old wounds will be too painful or too much. Brainspotting can also allow for parts to observe the deeper processing to build trust that they can tolerate difficult emotions while watching the intensity of the wounds decrease.
Through trauma recovery and the use of parts work, individuals can gradually begin to re-integrate and build connections between fragmented parts, fostering self-compassion, and a deeper sense of authenticity. By cultivating and understanding and accepting relationship with their parts, clients can release self-judgements and shame.
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If you live in the state of California and are interested in experiencing parts work in therapy, reach out today to schedule a free 15-minute consultation call. It's been a privilege to watch the impacts that this kind of therapy can have on healing.
Take care out there.
Hi there. I’m Gabrielle Kawashima, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Brainspotting Therapist. I have a passion for working with childhood and complex trauma, people who've learned to prioritize others over themselves (helpers), and working with emergency and first responders. If you’re interested in working with me, click below to set up a free consultation (:
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