Gaining Clarity- the Effectiveness of Parts Work in Changing Responses

 In my last blog post, I noted that many people come to therapy after years of trying to understand or change themselves through reasoning, talking, or willpower. Often this has not been effective, because they have not accessed the right part of them- the inner state represented by a patterned neural pathway that developed early in life in response to their environment.

When Parts Show Up

If you have ever noticed a part of yourself shows up that you dislike (because of its actions or overwhelming emotion it brings), you may have found that no matter how much you understand why, you can’t seem to change it. This is because it takes many repetitions to change a default neural pathway (which is the foundation behind the part or state that 'takes over the wheel' in life via unwanted emotions and behaviours ), so often we need to target the underlying experience that created it in the first place before we can change our response to it.

Something like traditional talk therapy or cognitive approaches can be incredibly valuable in understanding how our past experiences shaped us, yet it may not reach these internal layers and pathways directly (or at least efficiently). Parts work is an approach that works directly with each individual neural pathway, or state, and offers a deeper, more compassionate route inward. It is also efficient, in that it identifies and targets the correct part/state, and provides an alternative reparative experience to shape the pathway in a new direction.

Conceptualising the self as a system of internal states or parts is often more straightforward than people expect, and can offer meaningful insight into long-standing patterns. These parts are not separate personalities, dissociated identities or fictional elements. They reflect distinct neural networks shaped by learning, emotion and experience. Working with them provides a compassionate and scientifically grounded framework for understanding behaviour.

Why It Works

Parts work allows us to:

• Identify the protective strategies the mind uses to keep us safe• meet younger or hurt parts who have never been heard (e.g. neural pathways created very early in life and been strongly reinforced)

• Release hurt that has been held for years, by creating a new nervous system experience of the event or  improved integration within the memory network

• Move beyond cognitive insight into embodied change by working with the limbic system responsible for emotional responses (rather than intellectual or reasoning parts of the brain).

Researchers in trauma and memory reconsolidation increasingly recognise the importance of experiential, emotion-focused work for shifting entrenched patterns (Lane et al., 2015, or Bruce Ecker’s work).

A clinical example would be a fight response- this can develop early in life when standing up for ourselves, pushing back or showing strength becomes a necessary way to stay safe. If a child learns that becoming loud, firm or physically activated prevents harm or stops a threat, the brain quickly encodes that response as effective. Through repetition, this pattern strengthens into a well-established neural pathway that may later show up as a protective fight-oriented part.

Internal states, or patterned brain pathways, can carry significant personal history. Our brain is a pattern-recognising machine designed to promote our survival at all costs. We are very likely to apply past historical data to current situations, even when it may be problematic or no longer warranted.

In Resource Therapy (and parts work in general), instead of only talking about patterns, we access the emotional learning stored within the part and update it. This is where memory reconsolidation becomes relevant.

When a part is activated in a safe and supported context, the brain becomes capable of revising the old emotional template. New, more adaptive responses can take hold. As this internal shift occurs, our outward behaviours begin to change in line with a more balanced emotional relationship to the past.

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 Curious to try it? Click here to read about my EMDR Immersions (intensive EMDR and parts work program).

 If you’d like to see examples of how parts work looks in practice, you can watch my free YouTube demonstrations, or learn more about Resource therapy and training here.

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Claudia Wolf | AMHSW | Accredited EMDR | Advanced Clinical Resource Therapist & Trainer

✨ EMDR Informed Advanced Parts Work Training

✨ Client EMDR Intensive Program (Immersions)

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www.wolftherapeutic.com.au

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This blog is not a replacement for therapy or therapy training, and is for entertainment and educational purposes only. If these themes bring up any distress for you, please seek formal support.