Modern Approaches to Parts Work: Exploring Resource Therapy

key questions about Resource Therapy (RT), a modern, trauma-informed parts therapy developed by Professor Gordon Emmerson. It explains how RT differs from Ego State Therapy, integrates with EMDR and other modalities, and addresses trauma, dissociation, and internal conflict using clearly defined treatment actions.

If you are a therapist working with trauma, dissociation, anxiety, or relationship distress, you have probably come across parts work. You may already use Ego State Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), or integrating EMDR with parts-informed protocols. But you may still feel something is missing, something more precise, clinically structured, and neurologically aligned.

That is where Resource Therapy (RT) steps in.

First let’s give a brief history of RT’s generation.

From Ego States to Resource States: A Key Shift

Ego State Therapy, popularised by John and Helen Watkins, offered therapists a revolutionary way to understand the psyche as a family of internal states. This model allowed clients to speak to the part of themselves holding trauma, fear, or anger. It was groundbreaking at the time, but lacked a cohesive system for working with these parts beyond dialogue and hypnosis.

RT is widely recognised as the next generation of Ego State Therapy. Often referred to as Advanced Ego State Therapy. It retains the best of the original model and expands it into a clinically robust, client-centred system. Whether used as a stand-alone therapy or integrated with EMDR, DBR, ACT, or IFS, Resource Therapy offers a clear roadmap for working with internal parts and achieving client-led goals with precision and purpose.

Instead of ego states, Emmerson reframed these as Resource States — adaptive, intelligent, and formed from repeated experiences. Each Resource State serves a unique purpose, and in Resource Therapy, we do not see them as fragments to be managed. We see them as assets to be healed, respected, and restored to their optimal function. They are the gold of us on the inside, a treasure trove within.

“Every part of the personality has a positive intention, even when it seems stuck, reactive, or painful. In Resource Therapy, we honour that intention and provide a clear path to healing.”
— Philipa Thornton, President, Resource Therapy International

How Resource Therapy Modernises Parts Work

Traditionally, Ego State Therapy relied heavily on hypnosis to access inner parts. While effective for some, this approach created barriers for clinicians and clients who preferred non-hypnotic methods or needed greater emotional safety and control in the session.

Resource Therapy modernises this approach.
It provides structured techniques that do not require hypnosis. We acknowledge clinical hypnosis as a valuable method. Therapists learn how to work with the client’s present-moment awareness, using permission-based methods to invite the exact part holding unwanted emotion or broken behaviours. This makes RT accessible, empowering, and trauma-informed, even with highly dissociative clients.

How Resource Therapy Views Introjects

One key difference between Resource Therapy and earlier parts models lies in how it theoretically sees introjects as merely internalised voices, often from the past.

In traditional therapies, these voices, like a critical parent or shaming teacher, might be observed or even directly engaged with for some time. Some models even attempt to change or heal the introject itself.

But Resource Therapy offers a powerful reframe.

In RT theory, introjects are not seen as distinct parts. They are understood to be internalised voices or memories, not true Resource States. These voices hold no power. What matters is not the introject, but the part of the client carrying the emotional wound in response to that voice.

Resource Therapy empowers the client’s wounded Resource State, helping it realise that the harm came from someone lacking the capacity to love, not because the part was unworthy.

RT uses specific techniques, like the empowerment protocol for the hurt or fearful part to process and gain freedom. In this process, RT taps into the emerging research and phenomena of memory reconsolidation (MR). MR draws on the concept of memory malleability for trauma resolution. This often leads to emotional clarity, resolution, a new perspective, and relief from the shame or pain that a part has carried for years.

RT uses client-led, therapist-facilitated techniques perfect for trauma-informed clinicians working with dissociative, anxious, or avoidant clients.

“In Resource Therapy, we know introjects have no power. We invite the part that carries the wound to have their voice, gain empowerment and have choices in what they want to have happen within the memory sequence, This is incredibly freeing.”
— Philipa Thornton, Psychologist.

This is a major evolution from older approaches, which either avoided introjects altogether or focused on changing them directly, often leaving the client’s wounded part further isolated, unheard, feeling rejected and abandoned.


Where Ego State Therapy accesses a state, Resource Therapy goes further by offering a structured clinical roadmap. With its 15 clearly defined treatment actions, RT gives therapists a flexible but focused framework to work with personality parts, always aligned to the client’s goals and readiness.


Structure, Precision, and Healing at the Root

What makes Resource Therapy stand out?

  • Direct access to parts -RT teaches therapists how to bring the exact Resource State into the conscious, aware position so it can express, release, and heal right there in the session
  • OPI’s – when parts are not parts, this is a specific form of introject in RT terminology and theory. Somewhat similar to the concept of the IFS ‘unattached burden’ as an external non-human influence that is affecting the client. RT has a beautiful script for this.
  • Targeted treatment actions – With 15 specific therapeutic actions, RT allows therapists to tailor interventions to the type of part presenting, whether it is a Vaded (traumatised), conflicted, confused, disappointed, dissonant, or Retro (protective overreaction behaviours) state
  • Memory reconsolidation principles – RT works with the brain’s natural ability to update emotional learning
  • Client-led and strength-based -Sessions are guided by what the client brings, making it adaptable, respectful, and trauma-informed
  • The ship metaphor -In Resource Therapy, your personality is a ship with many skilled crew members (Resource States). When trauma hits, some crew members go below deck. Our job is to bring the best part for the occasion, in line with your values – your Captain, to the wheel again for smooth sailing

The Perfect Interweave: RT and EMDR

For EMDR therapists, Resource Therapy is a natural and seamless interweave.

You already know that clients sometimes hit blocks — protector parts that resist processing, or beliefs like “I don’t deserve love” that derail momentum. These are not just thoughts. They are Resource States holding protective strategies, fear, or past learning.

Resource Therapy gives you a precise way to identify, access, and treat these parts before, during, or after EMDR reprocessing.

You can:

  • Resource clients internally by bringing their calm, confident part into the driver’s seat
  • Work with blocking beliefs by negotiating with the Resource State that holds them
  • Step aside from stuckness when protectors take over with respect for their good purpose
  • Integrate RT actions to build safety and increase readiness for EMDR Phases
  • Bring clarity to dissociative responses and access structural dissociation with greater confidence

“Resource Therapy is the missing link for many trauma therapists. It helps us navigate the client’s inner system with clinical clarity, gently shift blocking beliefs, and align parts with their good purpose with healing compassion.”
— Philipa Thornton, President, Resource Therapy International

RT is both a complete stand-alone therapy and a powerful complement to existing modalities. It integrates effortlessly with EMDR, DBR, IFS, schema and somatic therapies—while offering its own comprehensive framework for treating trauma, attachment wounding and internal conflict at the root.

Therapists trained in RT are often struck by how practical, targeted, and transformational it is. One trauma therapist shared they were blown away by the clarity and immediate shift it brought to clients stuck in self-sabotage and shame.
Read her experience here:
A Trauma Therapist’s First Experience With Resource Therapy →

The Training Path: From Foundation to Clinical Mastery

The Clinical Resource Therapy Program offers a complete qualification in this modality, led by psychologists and master trainers Philipa Thornton and Chris Paulin (MA, Psychology).

The training is:

  • Fully certified and internationally recognised qualification from Resource Therapy International
  • Delivered online and in-person
  • Ideal for EMDR, DBR, IFS, ACT, and schema therapists, counsellors, and professional counsellors
  • Strengths-based, neuro-informed, and client-led

With guest appearances from Professor Gordon Emmerson, PhD, you are learning directly from the founder of Resource Therapy.

Ready to Integrate the Missing Link?

Whether you are already parts-informed or just beginning to explore, Resource Therapy gives you a clinically sound, neurologically aligned, and deeply compassionate way to work with the internal system.

Join the next Clinical RT Program and experience the power of parts therapy that works with precision, purpose, and profound respect for the whole person.

Visit the next training dates – registrations now open to learn more and secure your place.

We can’t wait to meet you and all your parts.

Philipa and Chris.

IFS Vs Resource Therapy: What’s The Difference? A Parts-Based Perspective For Trauma Professionals

All the Parts of me in my brain - my inner crew our Resources. Join clinical Resource Therapy certification training with Gordon Emmerson, Philipa Thornton

As psychologists, trauma therapists, and counsellors, you have likely encountered the rising popularity of Internal Family Systems (IFS) – and perhaps, heard whispers of another parts-based approach: Resource Therapy (RT).

While both models work with inner parts, their methodology, clinical structure, and language differ in key ways.

Let us unpack what sets Resource Therapy apart – and why more clinicians are choosing it to deepen their trauma-informed resilience-enhancing practice.

Two Parts-Based Models, One Clear Distinction

Both IFS and RT understand the human psyche as comprising inner parts. IFS, developed by Dr Richard Schwartz, describes protectors, exiles, and a core Self, with therapy focused on accessing and unblending these parts, so the Self can lead.

Resource Therapy, developed by Professor Gordon Emmerson, PhD, evolved from ego state therapy yet offers a distinct and clinically advanced model. RT works with Resource States – the personality parts activated in specific situations, triggered if you will – using direct and respectful interventions that resolve inner conflicts at the source.

Unlike IFS, which builds inner dialogue over time, RT engages directly with the part in control, using targeted Treatment Actions to bring emotional healing and resolution. This is client-directed according to the client’s goals and needs.

“All our parts have a purpose. Even when they seem problematic, they’re trying to help – but sometimes they’ve learned the wrong lesson.” Emmerson, G. (2012)

A Therapy Of Action, Not Just Awareness

What makes Resource Therapy powerful in clinical practice is its 15 Treatment Actions, which are mapped to its neuropsychological model and rooted in research on trauma and memory reconsolidation (Ecker et al., 2012). Buy the book here.

These allow clinicians to precisely identify, access, and treat the part holding pain, with interventions that often bring about rapid and lasting change.

Whether a client is navigating trauma, anxiety, dissociation, or confusion, RT offers a clear roadmap and compassionate approach.

It is equally useful for non-clinical goals such as performance anxiety, assertiveness, or relationship issues – empowering clients to access their strengths and select the best part of self for the job. When we have the best part in the Captain’s seat to suit the occasion, we are in flow, and it’s smooth sailing.

RT is a standalone therapy, however can fit seamlessly into your EMDR, DBR, ACT, clinical hypnotherapy and coaching styles.

“IFS is a method of understanding and harmonising the mind’s parts, with the Self as a compassionate leader.”
— Schwartz, R. (2021)

Buy from Amazon his book No Bad Parts here.

RT’s Unique Language and Structure

In IFS, we speak of protectors and exiles. In RT, we work with Resources – not as stuck pathologies, but as valued parts of the personality system. Our parts can change and adapt.

When Resources become Vaded (emotionally hurt or stuck in fear, shame, blame, confusion, or disappointment), therapy involves bringing healing directly to that state, with empathy, and compassion. All our parts are trying to help. Or Resources acting out in outdated modes of being – sexting, rage attacks, gambling or withdrawing, self-injurious behaviours, for instance. We work directly to negotiate change. Inviting a more empowered part to take the lead and crew the ship.

RT offers an attachment-based lens, where we find an internal adult caring figure to share love, compassion, and calm within.

As one client shared, “Oh, this part of me, ‘Loving’ is caring, kind, and is a loving part always there for me. It won’t leave me, it won’t cheat on me, it won’t die or abandon me. It is Me. So amazing. What a relief.” (used with permission).

At the Australian Resource Therapy Institute, Philipa has developed the ship/ boat metaphor: the client is the captain; the parts are the crew. This makes RT easily explainable to clients who want an understanding of how parts therapy works. When a confused or defensive part takes the wheel, therapy gently helps the client regain direction, with the best Resource stepping in to guide the ship forward.

Grounded In Science – Mapped To Real Diagnosis

Unlike many integrative therapies, Resource Therapy offers diagnostic clarity and clinical alignment. Its treatment framework maps well onto major mental health classifications, including DSM-5 and ICD-11 categories for trauma, dissociation, anxiety, and depression.

As Professor Gordon Emmerson writes in Therapist Gold:

“Resource Therapy not only provides a complete and thorough personality theory, but has its own diagnostic classifications… [which] cover all existing psychological disorders except for organically caused disorders. RT offers treatment for every concern a client presents within the psychological spectrum – whether fear-based disorders, OCD, eating disorders, self-harming behaviours, addictions, suicidal ideation, or any other presentation” (Emmerson, 2024, p. 35). Buy Gordon Emmerson Therapist Gold book here.

This makes Resource Therapy particularly valuable for psychologists, trauma therapists, professionally trained coaches, mental health accredited social workers, doctors, psychiatrists, and counsellors seeking a state-based, evidence-informed method that supports both short-term results and deeper personality-level healing.


You Are In Expert Hands

The Clinical Resource Therapy Training is co-led by Philipa Thornton, President of Resource Therapy International, and her amazing husband, Chris Paulin, a consultant psychologist with over 45 years of experience in clinical practice and trauma treatment.

Together, they bring warmth, depth, and expertise along with special guest appearances from Professor Gordon Emmerson himself, founder of the Resource Therapy model.

Explore Gordon’s essential book:
Healthy Parts, Happy Self: 3 Steps to Like Yourself
https://www.resourcetherapy.com.au/books

Which Model Is Right For Your Practice?

Both IFS and RT honour the complexity of the inner world. But if you are seeking a clinically structured, empowering, trauma-informed approach that treats the part in control with precision and care, Resource Therapy offers the path forward. A roadmap for results with your therapeutic artistry and healing heart.


Join The Clinical Resource Therapy Program

Are you ready to learn a structured, parts-based model grounded in compassion and clarity?

Join the Clinical Resource Therapy Internationally recognised Certification Program through the Australian Resource Therapy Institute, led by Philipa Thornton and Chris Paulin, Master trainers.

Explore flexible options, expert support, and the chance to learn and train directly from the founder, Gordon Emmerson, PhD.
👉 www.resourcetherapy.com.au/training


📚 References

  • Emmerson, G. (2012). Healthy parts, happy self: 3 steps to like yourself. Old Golden Point Press.
  • Emmerson, G., & Essing, C. (2024). Therapist Gold: Treating Fear-Based Trauma and Attachment Trauma. Old Golden Point Press. Blackwood Victoria, Australia.
  • Schwartz, R. C. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the Internal Family Systems model. Sounds True.
  • Ecker, B., Ticic, R., & Hulley, L. (2012). Unlocking the emotional brain: Eliminating symptoms at their roots using memory reconsolidation. Routledge.

Parts, Pain, and Progress: What Therapist Gold Offers You and Your Clients

Gordon Emmerson's latest book, Therapist Gold will help you bring parts therapy into your psychology practice easily. Learn how.

Therapist Gold: Treating Fear-Based and Attachment Trauma is the latest must-read by Professor Gordon Emmerson, founder of Resource Therapy, and Christiane Essing, an international Resource Therapy trainer and psychotherapist.

Thoughtful, practical, and grounded in real clinical work, this book is a valuable resource for therapists working with fear, complex trauma, and attachment wounds.

Whether you’re just beginning your parts-based therapy journey or already immersed in Resource Therapy, Therapist Gold will deepen your understanding and sharpen your skills.

A Hands-on Guide to Resource Therapy in Action

This book is written for the therapy room, not the ivory tower.

It is filled with therapist–client dialogues, case examples, and clear guidance on using Resource Therapy Actions effectively and ethically. You’ll learn how to:

  • Bridge to eVaded States holding fear, shame, hurt, abandonment, or anger
  • Use RT techniques that support emotional shifts for lasting results
  • Respect protector parts while gently accessing deeper pain
  • Create the conditions for memory reconsolidation – helping clients update old emotional patterns with new, healing experiences

This is the kind of practical wisdom therapists can use right away.

What is Memory Reconsolidation – and Why Does it Matter?

Memory reconsolidation is a process in the brain that allows emotional memories to be updated and healed when accessed in the right way.

Resource Therapy provides a structured, respectful pathway to do just that.

When a Vaded State ( RT technical term) is accessed safely and the emotional truth is expressed and processed, the brain has an opportunity to reorganise that memory. Instead of being stuck in fear or confusion, clients experience genuine relief, clarity, and transformation.

Therapist Gold shows you how to make that happen, session by session.

Meet the Authors

Professor Gordon Emmerson, PhD, is the founder of Resource Therapy. A psychologist (now retired) and author, Gordon developed this model from decades of work in ego state therapy and trauma recovery. Resource Therapy is now a globally respected clinical approach used by psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and trauma therapists across the world. His other books include Healthy Parts Happy Self and Resource Therapy Casebook. Known for his clarity, compassion, and commitment to client-centred care, Gordon continues to inspire a growing international community of therapists.

Christiane Essing is a psychotherapist based in Erlangen, Germany. She works with children, adolescents, and adults in her private practice, using psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and Resource Therapy. Christiane completed her full RT training with Professor Emmerson in Zurich in 2017 and was one of the first therapists in Germany to begin working with Resource Therapy. She also translated and interpreted Gordon’s entire training into German and currently serves as Executive Director of Training on the Board of Resource Therapy International.


How to Order Your Gold Nugget of Learning

You can purchase Therapist Gold: Treating Fear-Based and Attachment Trauma via Amazon using our official link below. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This helps support our work in bringing Resource Therapy training and tools to more therapists globally.

🛒 Order on Amazon

Final Thoughts

Therapist Gold lives up to its name. It is a heartfelt, practical guide that helps us do the real work – connecting with the parts of our clients that have been hurt, helping them heal, and staying grounded in the process.

If you are serious about parts-based therapy, trauma healing, and making a real difference in the therapy room, this book is for you.

💡 Want to go deeper?

Perfect for training and beyond

This book is an ideal companion read for those completing:

It is also highly recommended for therapists seeking to refresh their skills, feel more confident with RT Actions, and deepen their trauma-informed work with parts.

Enjoy reading Therapy Gold over a nice cup of tea or coffee. If you’re like me, possibly a pencil and highlighter!


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