A Return To A Childhood Story
Sometimes we can read a story long before we have the inner resources to understand what it stirs in us.
I recently went to see The Magic Faraway Tree with a friend. Popcorn, nostalgia, and that gentle sense of stepping into another world. But what stayed with me wasn’t just the film.
It was the memory of the books by Enid Blyton that I read as a child.
I was a strong reader for my age. I could read the story easily. But understanding it is something quite different.
If I am honest, parts of it felt slightly unsettling, a little unpredictable, even a bit scary at times.
Not in a dramatic way, but in that quiet sense of “this does not quite make sense, but something about it lands in me”.
Sitting there now, I realised why.
When Reading Comes Before Understanding
As children, we often encounter emotional worlds before we have the inner resources to fully make sense of them. We can follow the story, but we cannot always process the experience.
So something gets held.
The Tree As A Map Of The Inner World
Watching the film again as an adult, and as a psychologist, I saw something else entirely.
The tree. The different levels. The ever-changing lands. The shifts in mood and experience depending on where you are.
It felt like a map of the inner world.
Through a Resource Therapy parts lens, we understand that we are not one fixed self. We are made up of different parts, or Resource States, each with their own feelings, needs, and roles.
At any given moment, one part is more present. One part is, in a sense, “at the top of the tree”.
And when that part shifts, our whole experience can shift with it.
Understanding Behaviour Through A Parts Lens
What might look like avoidance, inconsistency, overreaction, or shutdown often is not dysfunction.
It is a part responding to something that feels too much, too fast, or too familiar.
And when we begin to see this, the question changes.
From “What is wrong here?”
To “Which part is here right now?”
That small shift opens up something important. Because instead of judging the reaction, we start to understand the response.
🌿 The Tree As The Inner System
The Faraway Tree, with its many levels and ever-changing lands, feels like a beautiful metaphor for the personality.
In Resource Therapy, we understand that we are not one fixed self.
We are made up of different parts – Resource States – each with their own role, feelings, and needs.
Just like the tree:
- Different levels hold different experiences
- Some are playful and adventurous
- Others feel uncertain, guarded, or overwhelmed
And depending on the moment… a different part takes the lead.
🎭 Meeting The Crew
As the characters move through the lands at the top of the tree, there are shifts in mood. We also observe changes in behaviour and perspective.
From a parts lens, this is familiar.
We might recognise:
- The curious, excited part that wants adventure
- The cautious part scanning for safety
- The overwhelmed part that needs to retreat
- The joyful part that delights in the moment
None are wrong.
Each is trying, in its own way, to help.
Why Some Experiences Stay With Us
That childhood sense of unease I felt reading the books now makes sense.
It was not that something was wrong. It was that some part of me was encountering something I did not yet have the capacity to understand.
And like so many experiences, it was simply held until I did.
This is something we see often in therapy.
When experiences cannot be fully processed, parts of us hold them.
Sometimes quietly. Sometimes protectively. Sometimes in ways that only make sense much later.
The Value Of Revisiting With More Resources
What I appreciated most about revisiting this story was the change in perspective.
As a child, it felt confusing.
As an adult, it feels understandable.
And that is the work we do.
We return to experiences that once felt unclear or overwhelming. This time, we have more internal parts. We also have more understanding and more compassion for those parts of us.
For Therapists: Working With The Part That Holds The Experience
For therapists, this is where the work becomes clearer.
When we can recognise which part is present, we can work directly with it. Not around it. Not about it. With it.
This is where Resource Therapy offers a clear and practical framework for working with parts in a structured, attachment-informed way.
What Makes Resource Therapy a Parts Therapy?
Resource Therapy is a parts-based and trauma-informed approach to psychotherapy. It works directly with the part of the personality holding the problem.
Resource Therapy does more than focus only on thoughts or behaviour. It helps identify and work with specific parts, our Resource States. These carry fear, rejection, confusion, or disappointment.
It offers:
- a clear map of the inner system
- structured therapeutic actions
- a practical way to access, understand, and resolve the source of distress
If you would like to learn more, you can explore more about Resource Therapy here.
What is Resource Therapy?
Resource Therapy is a parts-based, trauma-informed approach that works directly with the part of the personality holding distress.
What are parts in therapy?
Parts refer to different aspects of the personality that hold emotions, memories, and responses shaped by life experiences.
Why do childhood experiences feel confusing later?
We often experience emotional events before we have the capacity to fully process them. Parts of us hold those experiences until we can.
You can learn more about how Resource Therapy works in practice here.
Which part of me has been most present lately?
Which part might be needing more care, more understanding, or more space to be heard?
Insight
Sometimes insight comes from unexpected places.
Even a story we once read as a child.
If this way of understanding our inner selves resonates, you can explore more about Resource Therapy.
Parts Therapy training is available through the Australia Resource Therapy Institute next workshops here.