Parts Therapy

Parts Therapy & IFS New York

Healing through compassion, curiosity, and internal harmony

Humans are complex, multi-layered beings — and therapy should reflect that depth. Parts Therapy, originally developed by clinical hypnotherapist Charles Whitfield and later expanded upon by John and Helen Watkins, laid the foundation for many modern integrative approaches, including Internal Family Systems (IFS). It is one of the earliest methods to recognize that the human mind is naturally made up of distinct inner “parts” — subpersonalities that hold different emotions, roles, and beliefs — along with a central Self that represents our innate wisdom, compassion, and wholeness.

At Holistic Psychotherapy NY, I use an updated, trauma-informed approach to Parts Therapy that integrates neuroscience, somatic awareness, and attachment psychology. This work helps clients safely explore their inner landscape, resolve internal conflicts, and release old emotional burdens — leading to greater self-understanding, emotional balance, and mind-body integration.

What Is Parts Therapy & Internal family systems?

Parts Therapy views the mind as a system of interconnected inner aspects — each with its own purpose and perspective. You might have an inner critic that strives for perfection, a caretaker that prioritizes others’ needs, or a protector that shuts down feelings to stay safe. Beneath these parts lies the core Self — a calm, centered, compassionate state that can listen to each part without judgment and guide the system toward healing.

Unlike traditional talk therapy, Parts Therapy focuses on developing a relationship between your Self and your parts. By listening rather than silencing, you uncover why each part exists, what it needs, and how to help it release outdated roles that may no longer serve you.

Who would benefit from Parts Therapy

Parts Therapy is especially effective for individuals who:

  • Feel pulled in different directions by conflicting emotions or desires.

  • Struggle with anxiety, self-doubt, or inner criticism.

  • Experience emotional reactivity, perfectionism, or burnout.

  • Carry unresolved trauma, grief, or shame.

  • Feel disconnected from their body or intuition.

  • Have difficulty trusting or expressing emotions in relationships.

  • Have tried talk therapy but sense there’s something deeper within them waiting to be heard.

It’s ideal for thoughtful, introspective clients who want to go beyond symptom management to understand why they feel what they feel — and to reconnect with their authentic Self.

How this therapy works

Parts Therapy is a structured yet deeply intuitive process. Together, we explore your inner world through mindful awareness and gentle dialogue:

  1. Identifying Inner Parts
    We begin by recognizing and naming the different parts within you — protective, wounded, critical, or adaptive — and exploring how they’ve functioned over time.

  2. Creating Inner Safety
    The process emphasizes regulation and safety. Before approaching vulnerable parts, we strengthen grounding, breathing, and body awareness to help your nervous system stay calm and supported.

  3. Listening with Compassion
    Rather than judging or pushing parts away, we invite understanding. You learn to dialogue with your parts, ask what they need, and listen with curiosity instead of control.

  4. Healing and Unburdening
    As trust builds, parts begin to release the fears, emotions, or beliefs they’ve been holding. This brings profound relief and clarity.

  5. Integration and Self-Leadership
    Over time, your Self — the wise, grounded core within — naturally emerges as the leader of your internal system, creating balance, harmony, and resilience.

This is not a quick fix, but a gentle process of reintegration — a return to inner coherence after years of fragmentation.

What Internal Family Systems & Parts therapy Helps With

Parts Therapy is a versatile, trauma-informed approach that supports both psychological and physiological healing. It’s effective for:

  • Trauma and Complex PTSD

  • Anxiety and panic disorders

  • Depression and mood imbalances

  • Emotional dysregulation and dissociation

  • Chronic stress, burnout, or perfectionism

  • Inner conflict and self-sabotage

  • Relationship and attachment wounds

  • Grief, shame, and guilt

  • Low self-esteem or identity confusion

Because it works at the intersection of mind, body, and emotion, Parts Therapy integrates beautifully with EMDR+, Somatic Experiencing, mindfulness, and attachment-based therapies — supporting both emotional processing and nervous system regulation.

Who Parts therapy & IFS Helps

Parts Therapy is particularly supportive for:

  • High-achieving professionals managing chronic stress and self-pressure.

  • Empaths and caregivers who tend to neglect their own needs.

  • Survivors of trauma seeking a gentle, non-retraumatizing path to healing.

  • Individuals navigating transitions such as loss, identity shifts, or relationship change.

  • Those who feel “stuck” despite insight and previous therapy.

It offers a way to access not just coping, but transformation — from the inside out.

Getting Started with EMDR & Parts Therapy

Whether you're navigating career pressure in New York, relationship struggles in Montana, or personal transitions in Massachusetts, IFS therapy can help you reconnect to your core Self and move forward with renewed clarity and purpose. In my trauma-sensitive, integrative practice, IFS therapy may be combined with modalities such as EMDR, Somatic Therapy, Mindfulness, and Attachment-Based Therapy to support deep emotional healing and nervous system regulation. I offer IFS-informed therapy virtually for New York, Montana, and Massachusetts, as well as virtually for clients seeking support across state lines. If you’re tired of fighting with yourself, overwhelmed by inner conflict, or simply curious about a new way of relating to your emotions, Internal Family Systems therapy offers a path to healing, harmony, and wholeness.

what if i’m not ready to begin Parts therapy?

Readiness grows in the soil of safety

Parts Therapy invites a tender kind of honesty — one that asks you to turn toward your inner world with compassion instead of control. But for many, the idea of meeting the hidden or protective parts within can feel overwhelming. You might sense the pull to do this work yet also feel the instinct to hold back. That hesitation is not resistance — it’s wisdom.

If your body or emotions feel unsteady, that’s simply your system asking for safety first. You do not need to rush into deep exploration before you’re ready. Healing begins the moment you start listening to yourself, even if what you hear is “not yet.”

At Holistic Psychotherapy NY, the readiness phase is as important as the therapy itself. Before diving into Parts work, we often begin by stabilizing the nervous system, practicing grounding, and cultivating trust — with me, with your body, and with your Self.

Gentle Ways to Begin Preparing

1. Learn the language of parts.
Start noticing when you say things like, “Part of me wants to rest, part of me wants to keep going.” These everyday moments are clues that your system is already speaking to you.

2. Strengthen body awareness.
Before you can connect with your inner world, it helps to feel anchored in your physical one. Practice noticing sensations — warmth, tightness, or breath — without judgment.

3. Create micro-moments of safety.
Safety isn’t built all at once; it’s collected through small experiences of calm and connection. A warm shower, a pet’s presence, music that steadies your breathing — these moments teach your nervous system that safety exists.

4. Develop compassion for your protectors.
If parts of you feel skeptical, guarded, or shut down, honor them. Their job has always been to keep you safe. Readiness comes when those protectors begin to trust that healing won’t harm.

5. Ground in present-moment practices.
Mindfulness, breath awareness, and grounding exercises help regulate the body, preparing it for deeper emotional exploration later.

6. Start with supportive or psychoeducational sessions.
Some clients begin with gentle preparatory sessions that focus on education, regulation, or resourcing — learning the theory before meeting the parts.

Recommended Resources for Building Readiness

1. No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model — Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D.
The foundational text on IFS, introducing the idea that every part of us — even the ones that cause pain — holds wisdom and potential for healing.

2. The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook — Kristin Neff, Ph.D., & Christopher Germer, Ph.D.
Gentle, structured exercises that strengthen the kindness and presence necessary for inner work.

3. Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory — Deb Dana, LCSW
A practical guide to understanding your body’s cues of safety, connection, and activation — essential preparation for somatic and parts work.

4. Self-Therapy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Healing with the Internal Family Systems Model — Jay Earley, Ph.D.
A clear, accessible introduction to exploring your inner system at your own pace.

5. The Wisdom of Your Body: Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection through Embodied Living — Hillary L. McBride, Ph.D.
A compassionate invitation to reconnect with the body as a safe and sacred place for healing.

A Note on Readiness

There is no deadline for healing. Some people begin Parts Therapy when they feel strong and stable; others start while still unsure. What matters most is not timing, but safety. The work will wait until you’re ready — and readiness often begins in the smallest acts of care: breathing deeply, slowing down, listening inward.