Parts therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach in which a client is guided by the therapist to engage with a particular ‘part’, or parts, of their mind. The therapist then helps to negotiate change with the part allowing the client to adopt new behaviours.
What is a Part?
Within the concept of parts therapy, our minds are comprised of different parts which are responsible for our different psychological processes, beliefs and behaviours. Parts do a job, which typically they get on with automatically without any issues. However, in therapy we encounter parts which are creating a problem. Example of this might be a part that encourages:
- Someone to engage in risky behaviour.
- Self-sabotage.
- Avoiding challenges where there is a risk of failure.
- Procrastination.
- Internal conflict.
- Perfectionism.
A common way in which you spot someone who is psychologically set up to think in terms of parts is when they say:
“There is a part of me that thinks…”
The experience of an inner critical voice is another example which indicates that someone thinks in terms of parts. An example of this mental model which involves more than one part is the Angel and Devil parts combination. This is often experienced by people when making a decision.
- The angel (or good) part of their mind wants them to do what is best overall. This could mean it is the right thing to do for health or wellbeing of finances.
- The devil (or bad) part of their mind however wants them to do what is most enjoyable. This could be eating something which is unhealthy or buying something expensive and unnecessary.
As they make the decision they may switch between the two parts of themselves. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which a parts model may be expressed or experienced. Other include inner critical voices,
Assumptions we make about Parts in Parts Therapy
Before a therapist uses parts therapy, there are a set of assumptions and principals which are useful for them to take on board.
- Meeting a need – The part, regardless of what behaviour is occurring, is attempting to fulfil a legitimate need within the client. Typical needs are around requirements of stimulation or safety. Problems arise because the method of fulling the need does not work in the wider context of life.
- Good intent – The part only wants what is best for the person. Unfortunately, the part may not be aware that in the wider context of the person life what they are doing is doing more harm than good.
- Parts are open to change – As long as a part can satisfactorily still meet the need they are fulfilling then they can change behaviour. For the therapist this means that the part generally needs to be brought into contact with the larger context of the client’s life so that more appropriate ways of meeting need can be found.
- The mind has the answer – It is believed that with access to the wider mind the client will have the answer. An adult client is an expert upon themselves and has a vast experience and knowledge of their life. As such they are best placed to find a new way of meeting the need in a way which works better in their overall life. This can be done consciously or unconsciously.
As noted above, a part may have a good intention and be meeting a need and yet be causing an ongoing problem. This is usually due to a mismatch between how the part is meeting the need and the life the client is attempting to live. Occasionally it may be that the need being met is no longer relevant. But why does this mismatch happen in the first place?
Why do problems develop with parts?
There are a couple of common reasons for the parts desire to meet a need causing problems in the client’s life. These are:
- The part developed at an earlier life stage – A classic example of this is when a part is developed in childhood. In childhood we have limited resources of freedom, money and life experience. When children we come up with ways of meeting our needs which work sufficiently to survive childhood, but don’t always translate well into adulthood.
- Lack of flexibility – A strategy may have developed that is good enough most of the time. A good example of this is the ‘Push on through’ strategy. In this the person has learnt that they cope, and often thrive, by pushing through and working harder. A lifetime of using this strategy reinforces how effective it is … until the day when it doesn’t work. When it doesn’t work the person doubles down and applies it more, and more and more. This depletes and burning them out. Often, they don’t understand what is happening and as such are unable to formulate a new strategy for this particular situation.
What is Parts therapy?
Parts therapy is when the therapist uses the parts model of mind to create change. This is best done when the client has indicated that they naturally think in terms of parts. The therapist then helps the client access the part, begin negotiations and then thus create deep psychodynamic change.
Stages of Parts therapy
- Invoking the part – The therapist will relax and focus the patient upon the part. This may be by listening to its voice or allowing the imagination to present them with an image of it.
- Initiating communication – If it does not happen as part of the process of invoking the part therapist is likely to prompt two-way communication. This may often be as simple as getting the client to thank the part for communicating and getting an acknowledgement of that.
- Awareness of the need the part meets – The therapist will help the client to understand the role the part plays in their life by encouraging the part to share the need it fulfils. This is not strictly necessary for change but does make it easier. Further, if the client understands what the part is doing for them it becomes easier to negotiate with it.
- Change – The part is invited to change what they do in such a way that they continue to fulfil need but using behaviours that are more appropriate to the client’s life. Should this prove difficult other parts may be accessed to help.
- Reintegration – The changed part is reintegrated into the client. This brings the changes back into the client as a whole.
The outcome of this may be a revolution in the client’s life, or it may just mean that they are now in a place where change is possible. It would be normal to follow this up with behaviour or symptom change techniques such as EMDR, Systematic desensitisation, visualisation or hypnotic direct suggestions.
