A Therapist's Thoughts After Reading "No Bad Parts" by Dr. Richard Schwartz

IFS, or Internal Family Systems, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz is a therapeutic theory that considers “systems thinking” and the multiplicity of the mind. What does that even mean though? 

A Little About the Theory

Multiplicity of the mind considers that the mind is naturally subdivided into an innumerable amount of sub-personalities or “parts”. When I bring this theory up in sessions, clients usually respond with “Like ‘Inside Out’?” Which is exactly right. Other clients may respond, “Omg like Dissociative Identity Disorder?” Which isn’t right at all. 

D.I.D. is a highly pathologized mental health disorder which is characterized by severe dissociation, memory lapses, and a clear split from senses of self and agency. IFS will encourage the self to get to know parts but there is no split from one’s identity that occurs. In fact, getting to know these parts is good and increase’s the self’s ability to interact with the world more skillfully. 

Systems thinking considers that systems (your inner world, your parts) are connected, and if one is activated it is likely that activation will be seen throughout the system. IFS also considers external and internal systems. External systems include family of origin, culture, socioeconomic factors, etc. 

In a future blog, I will expand on parts and elements of self but here is a short introduction:

Types of Parts

1. Firefighters: these are the reactive protectors. Think your binge parts, dissociative parts, impulsive parts. 

2. Managers: these are out proactive protectors working overtime to make sure to keep danger away. Think people pleasing parts, inner critics, perfectionistic parts, etc.

3. Exiles: these are the parts that learned they better hide for the safety of the system. Think fearful parts, lonely parts, grieving parts, etc. 

Something that was the most impactful from "No Bad Parts" was the knowledge that we are born will all of our parts and that they are good! What get's us into trouble is when these parts aren't able to function how they organically want to. Parts can get placed into polarized roles or "stuck" in time by facing trauma, familial dynamics, or other polarized systems. We can help these parts, or unburned them, ultimately with connecting the part with the healing aspects of self.

Aspects of Self

Dr. Schwartz gives us several indicators of self including the five P’s and the eight C’s of self. Let's cover them a little more below.

1. Curiosity vs. critical

2. Clarity vs. confusion

3. Compassion vs. indifference

4. Creativity vs. rigid rule-following

5. Confidence vs. insecurity

6. Calmness vs. fear

7. Connectedness vs. detached

8. Courage vs. hesitation

1. Presence vs. absent-mindedness

2. Playfulness vs. somber

3. Persistence vs. apathy

4. Perspective vs. ignorance

5. Patience vs. restlessness

Some of my favorites are compassion and playfulness simply because they seem to elude from my soul. More of my practice has been noticing where Self shows up in my body, what the sensations of Self are, and how I can practice connecting with Self more skillfully throughout my busy days.

What Are My Thoughts?

Now that we know a little bit more about the model as a whole, what did I think about the book?

I Highly Recommend the Audiobook Version

The man himself, Dr. Rick Schwartz, reads the exercises which really helped me deepen the exercises. Now, I did need to pause the several times to allow time for the conversations my parts needed. But that was easy enough! 

Something I tell all my clients is to get their audiobooks through Spotify if you already have a premium membership. Also, always get your e-books or audiobooks through Libby to support the library system and save yourself some cash!

Don't Let Your Managers Prevent You From Getting Through the Book

“Ooooh this is a really good exercise. I want to save it for a time that I am really ready and available.” 4 weeks pass and you pull the book back up because you forgot about it “Oooh yeah! I need to remember to do this exercise.” Time goes marching on.

I promise you I probably was only able to fully participate with maybe 3 of the exercises while I was listening to the book. Otherwise, I screenshot the time of the exercise and came back when I was ready. 

I continued to do my dishes and listened the best I could. I continued driving while being as present as was possible. I folded my laundry because I really really had procrastinated on that for a while. I don’t always have time to sit and focus just on that. AND THAT’S OKAY! 

I think that might be part of the exercise of living in self while maintaining a relationship with parts. I won’t always be able to stop everything to connect with self. I tried my best in those moments to connect with self, do what Rick was asking of me with my parts, and acknowledge that I can always try again if I want to. 

I am Looking Forward to More Years of Research

As IFS is a newer model, there hasn’t been many moons to support the effectiveness of the model as a whole. Practicing this model individually, I can speak to how useful it has been in navigating my inner world. Being an IFS-informed therapist, I have personally seen how powerful this model can be. Accessing elements of self, understanding our parts and their pure intentions, and unbending self from parts is incredibly curative. 

However, the managerial, logical, science-y parts are craving more evidence to support this fairly new therapeutic model. While there are currently many articles to support the efficacy of IFS, I look forward to having a more robust foundation of reliable and valid evidence to support this theory. 

This Book is like Turning a Light on in a Dark Room- Have Support

Imagine that your internal system is running on autopilot, in the dark, for decades. All of the sudden, you learn this information about your system, how it works, and start building intimacy with your inner world. All of the sudden the lights are turned on and all the parts are struggling to fight for the mic to speak.

This is the analogy I use in my sessions with clients when beginning parts work and it can be dysregulating at first. I highly recommend having the support of an IFS-informed or trained therapist to support your parts work.

Feel free to reach out for a consultation to see if we may be a match for your therapeutic work.

Conclusion

Overall, on my Goodreads profile, 'No Bad Parts' by Dr. Richard Schwartz will be getting 5 stars from me which is pretty impressive if you know me closely. I deeply value the exercises lead by the author himself to explore the model hands-on. I recommend this book to clients hoping to gain more information about IFS, ways to interact more skillfully with their internal system, and strengthen their relationship with self.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book are:

"Speak for parts, not from parts"

“Like the sun, the self can be temporarily obscured, but it never disappears.” 

"Your protectors only see the protectors of others.”

My take away is remembering that there are "No Bad Parts" truly.