Title: No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma & Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model
Author: Richard C. Schwartz is an academic and long-practicing family therapist who developed the Internal Family Systems model of understanding the self.
What is it? A book.
Who should read it? This book will be helpful to most people, even those who have gone through much therapy, as this is a relatively new approach to understanding and reintegrating the self. This model would be an especially helpful resource for those who have experienced trauma and/or clinicians that are doing individual counseling.
Two minute skinny: It’s not every day that we are over here recommending books with titles that sound like textbooks – but for this short, somewhat revolutionary, and insightful book, we say, don’t let the title fool you. Schwartz starts off his book by suggesting that in contrast to the long-held belief that having multiple personalities means you have a disorder, we are actually all made up of many personalities, or many parts. And the key to begin working with these parts is understanding that even though some of the parts may cause you problems, they all exist for one reason – to keep you safe and alive.
Through his book, Schwartz succinctly and compassionately explains to the reader the multiple parts that exist within us, giving each different names at different junctures to help you understand them. From ‘managers’ and ‘protectors’ to ‘burdens,’ he maintains that all your parts are good parts, but some have been pushed into roles they don’t like. Through thoughtful exploration, reflection, and conversation with each of the parts, ‘The Self’ of a person (as Schwartz calls it) can come to understand each part, what caused them to become the way they are, and how each part can be healed. The final result is a life directed by ‘Self-Leadership’ rather than a life controlled by parts that have long lost their purpose or usefulness in keeping you healthy and safe.
If you are at all familiar with attachment theory, it may be helpful to understand the Internal Family Systems model as very closely related – it’s just an exploration of inward attachments, rather than external ones. Schwartz combines his perspective with fascinating anecdotes from his many years as a therapist and very helpful exercises throughout the book to uncover your parts, and ultimately, heal them. Healing yourself, and finding a life led by The Self is not an easy task, but it is possible, and very worthwhile.
Rating? Worth the Investment? If you are genuinely looking for integration, growth, and developing a deeper understanding of your triggers, behaviors, and relationships, this book will be helpful. For those of you that are clinicians in private practice, this could be an excellent modality to utilize when working with clients.
Listen, I don’t have time for a whole book… What’s second best? If you want to learn more about the Internal Family Systems model, but you don’t have a ton of time to give it right now, you can listen to Richard Schwartz on YouTube for about 7 minutes giving a very high level overview. You can also enjoy a Third Wheel podcast favorite of We Can Do Hard Things where the hosts talk with Dr. Becky Kennedy about how to reparent yourself and your parts.
And in case you wanted to go deeper: If you find yourself absolutely fascinated with this new way to understand the self, you can go deeper by registering for online learning opportunities the Internal Family Systems Institute offers. And if you really want to dig in deep, here is a directory of practitioners and therapists who specialize in IFS who can help you uncover your parts and help you to become Self-led.
Blogpost by Hallie Moberg Brauer
