Thank goodness for the revolution in Personality Part’s Therapy points of view available to psychologists, therapists, counsellors, mental health nurses, and other trauma-informed professionals. Resource Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Transactional Analysis, Ego State Therapy, Voice Dialogue, and Family Constellations, are the major approaches I know of. No doubt there are loads more psychology, counseling hypnosis, and coaching ‘parts’ models out there.
Love sharing my passion for Part’s Therapy approaches, here’s a Blog post I wrote noting key differences in Part’s Personality perspectives, click to read it now.
Truly, I am all for the Parts System that fits your values and belief system. We are all unique with our wonderful Parts or Resources as we term them in Resource Therapy (RT).
A beautiful colleague (used with permission) who’s done many IFS trainings and RT workshops who is a wonderful and experienced clinician has shared some of the things they were not comfortable with around the IFS model included:
- IFS is an Ego State therapy with an emphasis on increasing SELF-energy and unburdening wounded parts of self.
- RT has an Inner Self-concept along the lines of Ego States. Some people are very in touch with this Resource and others are less so. RT teaches how we may connect with and be guided by our Inner-Self for a useful purpose.
- RT connects directly with the wounded parts for reparation and internal healing. RT uses the Empowerment Protocol to foster a loving nurturing adult part/ Resource for inner connection, assisting in reparative information and emotional resolution.
- IFS Doesn’t believe in Introjects.
- RT says Introjects belong to Resources. RT Therapists empower the Resources rather than work to change Introjects.
- This varies from traditional Ego State Therapy. Which sees Introjects almost as parts to be fought with, captured changed. RT Therapists don’t bother. We just work directly with the hurt state or part with the need according to our client’s goals for change.
- IFS generally does not talk directly to the parts.
- RT does both. Our Resources can be spoken with directly. The most common and useful method.
- Why spend time talking to an Intellectual state or reporting part? RT teaches us to work with the personality part in emotional distress, causing unwanted behaviour or imagining they are stuck in trauma time, not the present moment. There are other ways we can speak with Resources indirectly. This is taught in the clinical program.
- This advanced mental health clinician said,” I don’t find it as spiritual or as compassionate or as respectful.”
- RT works within the client’s belief system. We acknowledge personality manifestations such as Other Personalised Introjects (OPIs). RT works to channel those to where they can go artfully.
- We always respect our Resources and will negotiate new roles or reassign tasks to more competent parts most suited to the tasks at hand. Retro Negotiation is a powerful process.
- IFS believes parts have always existed as joyful fun-loving parts before a wounding experience, not that they are created from a traumatic experience.
- RT says our parts become Vaded, the big emotions of Shame Fear, Rejection, Confusion, Guilt, and Disappointment. RT therapists are trained to assist the Part/ Resource to gain a sense of power and control over the past. All our parts are there for a good purpose, though may need an update.
- In a live IFS training demonstration, the group witnessed the trainer place a 12-year-old part in the corner of the house and leave it there, all alone. The prime focus was how the “Self” felt and no attempt to bring the child part back into the fold of other parts. It seemed as if the other parts are not important. Resource Therapists know attachment repair occurs when a nurturing part is found for connection and care.
- Resource Therapy allows parts to communicate, cooperate and collaborate as necessary. Both in the counseling session and out in the real world. Clients can call on the appropriate Resource best suited to the occasion, who has the most appropriate skills, and level of awareness in accordance with a personal values base to be the captain of the ship, guiding through life’s ocean of possibilities.
- Richard Schwartz has rejected the idea of “resourcing” because he believes it’s invalidating to wounded parts having painful emotions, preventing them from trusting the process.
- That is why we call our Resources, Resources as they can be freed from emotional pain, and past disturbances. Connecting with Nurturing Resource for healing. We apply RT Action 7 Relief, a vital phase in the Empowerment protocol where an unconditionally loving Resource becomes available. Healing from the inside out.
As one of my clients said of her nurturing Resource called Caring – “No one can’t take her away from me, she can’t die, and she won’t leave me, ever.” Demonstrating exactly how Resource Therapy provides an Attachment informed model.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, and what parts model speaks to you and why. Thanks for reading, Philipa.
