Does having parts mean something is wrong with me?

No. Everyone has them: the part that wants to rest and the part that wants to finish, arguing on an ordinary Tuesday. IFS just takes that seriously enough to work with.

How is this different from talking to myself?

Mostly in the stance. Instead of trying to talk a part out of what it's doing, we get curious about why it's doing it. Parts tend to relax when they're understood and dig in when they're overruled.

Do you combine this with somatic work?

Yes, almost always. Parts show up in the body before they show up in words — the jaw, the chest, the sudden flatness — so tracking sensation is often how we find them at all.

Is this suitable if I have trauma history?

It can be, and the pacing matters even more then. We build enough steadiness first, and we don't go near protected material before there's somewhere safe to return to.

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Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS treats the conflicting parts of you as protective rather than broken. Useful when you've been at war with yourself about the same decision for years.

This might be your door if

Part of you wants it and part of you refuses, and you've been stuck between them for a long time.
You criticise yourself in a voice that doesn't sound like yours.
You do the thing you promised yourself you wouldn't, and then you can't explain why.
You've been told to stop self-sabotaging, and it hasn't helped, because it doesn't feel like sabotage from the inside.

What actually happens

We get curious about the parts instead of trying to overrule them. The one that pushes you hard, the one that shuts everything down, the one that keeps you agreeable — each of them took the job at some point for a reason.

We find out what each is protecting and what it's afraid would happen if it stopped. That question is usually the first time a part has been asked anything rather than argued with.

As the protection relaxes, what it was guarding becomes reachable — and that's often the younger, more tender material underneath. We go there slowly, with the same care as any trauma work, because that's what it is.

What this isn't

Parts language isn't a diagnosis and it doesn't mean anything is fragmented about you. It's a way of talking that makes an internal conflict workable instead of shameful. If the language doesn't fit you, we don't have to use it.

Common questions

Does having parts mean something is wrong with me?: No. Everyone has them: the part that wants to rest and the part that wants to finish, arguing on an ordinary Tuesday. IFS just takes that seriously enough to work with.
How is this different from talking to myself?: Mostly in the stance. Instead of trying to talk a part out of what it's doing, we get curious about why it's doing it. Parts tend to relax when they're understood and dig in when they're overruled.
Do you combine this with somatic work?: Yes, almost always. Parts show up in the body before they show up in words — the jaw, the chest, the sudden flatness — so tracking sensation is often how we find them at all.
Is this suitable if I have trauma history?: It can be, and the pacing matters even more then. We build enough steadiness first, and we don't go near protected material before there's somewhere safe to return to.

Before we start, one important thing

This therapy is not a substitute for crisis or safety intervention. It isn't appropriate if you are currently in an unsafe or dangerous situation, or if you are at immediate risk of harming yourself or ending your life. In those circumstances you need crisis, emergency or specialised support first.

Somatic psychotherapy is also unsuitable for people who have recently faced, or are currently facing, legal allegations.

You might also be looking at

Somatic Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy

For a single traumatic event — surgery, an accident, an assault — or the cumulative weight of complex and childhood trauma. We work gently, at a pace your nervous system can safely hold, so you can reconnect with your body, with yourself, and with your capacity to move forward.

Somatic Counselling

Talking helps, and it has limits. Here we also listen to breath, posture and sensation: the parts that never learned words. It supports behaviour change, relationship skills, coping and decision-making. This is not for those who want to process trauma.

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