How Parts Work Therapy Helps People With Anxiety - By a Denver Anxiety Therapist
This blog was written by our team at CZ Therapy Group. Check out our previous blog post about parts work therapy, which serves as the basis for this article.
Parts Work Therapy For Anxiety - An Overview
Have you ever felt the overwhelming grip of fear tightening around your chest, leaving you breathless and consumed? Whether it's in the workplace or other areas of life, this sensation may serve as a powerful indicator of a specific challenge many people face: anxiety.
Anxiety is a common mental health issue that affects millions of people around the world. It can be caused by a variety of factors, such as genetics, environment, and life experiences like unresolved trauma.
Therapy is often an effective solution for dealing with feelings of anxiety. In this blog, we will explore how therapy, specifically Parts Work Therapy, can help people understand and manage their anxiety. As well as reconnect with their authentic selves.
What is Parts Work Therapy? - The Basics, IFS Terms, and Examples
To start this off, let’s hear from Chadley Zobolas, owner of CZ Therapy Group. Discover how she uses parts work therapy to help navigate anxiety with her clients:
“We use a lot of parts work and inner child work in our therapy because we believe in working with anxiety by targeting the root cause as opposed to the 'symptom', which in this case is anxiety. This is commonly referred to as a "bottom-up" approach to therapy as opposed to a "top-down" or symptom-focused approach.
While we can't actually change what happened to us in the past, we can impact how the memories and associated emotions are stored in our bodies by going back and giving our younger selves the experience we needed but didn't get. This type of work in therapy actually rewires the brain by creating new, positively associated neural networks, and as a result, can greatly decrease experiences of anxiety.” - Chadley Zobolas, MSW, LCSW, MFTC
To summarize, parts work can be thought of as discovering different aspects of our personalities that are formed as very adaptive responses to life experiences and traumas throughout our lives.
The type of parts work therapy we will be discussing is based on the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. Which suggests that we all have different parts that serve different functions. Such as protecting us or helping us cope with difficult emotions.
Internal Family Systems Therapy Terms - Manager, Firefighter, & Exiles
For more details on Internal Family Systems Therapy, check out our previous blog on parts work therapy. I’ll also give a quick refresher as it relates to anxiety here!
In the IFS model of parts work, parts are divided into three categories: Managers, Firefighters, and Exiles. Managers are the parts of us that try to keep us safe by controlling our behavior. Firefighters are the parts of us that respond to distress. They may try to help us regulate by engaging in behaviors such as drinking, disordered eating, or self-harm. Exiles are the parts of us that may hold painful childhood emotions or memories that we try to avoid.
Parts work therapy helps us identify and understand these different parts so that we can learn to work with them instead of being controlled by them.
Examples of Protective Parts and How They Function
Manager example:
Someone might be struggling with impostor syndrome. To help them with that, they might become perfectionists at work. This might mean they have a manager part that is trying to protect them from failure. By striving for unrealistic goals of perfection. This part may be helpful in some ways, but it can also contribute to anxiety by setting unrealistic expectations and causing self-criticism.
Firefighter example:
Similarly, a person who drinks on the weekends to cope with anxiety may have a firefighter part. One that is trying to help them manage overwhelming emotions. While drinking may provide temporary relief for them, it can also exacerbate anxiety in the long run. Leading to relying on different parts to self-regulate.
Exile example:
Another example is that a person with social anxiety may have an exile part. One that holds memories of past rejection or embarrassment from their younger self. This part may be triggered when they are in social situations. Causing them to feel anxious and avoidant. Through parts work therapy, they can learn to work with this part to process and heal from these past experiences. Thus, reducing the intensity of their anxiety in social situations.
How Can Parts Work Therapy Help With Anxiety?
Diving deeper, parts work can be particularly helpful for people with anxiety. It helps us identify the different parts of ourselves that contribute to our anxiety. It can also provide us with tools to work through and productively manage our anxiety.
By working with our parts, we learn to understand their roles and how they influence the way we behave and think. Parts Work Therapy and EDMR therapy often go hand in hand. As these techniques together can help reduce anxiety and unlock trapped core emotions, including sadness, fear, grief, and anger.
Working With All Your Parts Can Help You Manage Your Anxiety
By understanding and working with all of our parts, we can also learn to manage our anxiety more effectively. As well as become more resilient in the face of difficult emotions. Parts Work Therapy has been shown many times to help us reconnect with our authentic selves by allowing us to explore different aspects of ourselves that may have been neglected or avoided, and we've seen this firsthand.
At CZ Therapy Group, we work a lot with parts work and inner-child work through AEDP Therapy, which focuses on healing our attachment needs and past traumas in real time during our sessions. Our specialized team of Denver Parts Work Therapists can help you explore how to heal the parts of yourself that may be causing your anxiety in ways that feel safe, affirming, and holistic.
To further aid in discovering if this therapy is right for you, here are five questions to ask a therapist when considering parts work therapy for anxiety:
What is your experience and training in Parts Work Therapy?
How do Parts Work Therapy specifically address anxiety or other mental health concerns?
Can you provide examples of how Parts Work has been effective in helping clients reduce anxiety symptoms and develop more adaptive responses to triggers?
How do you help clients develop a better understanding of their internal landscape and the different parts or aspects of themselves?
What are the logistics of parts work therapy, such as session frequency, focus, location, etc.
Parts Work Therapy in Denver, Co.
If you're interested in Parts Work Therapy to help manage your anxiety, it's important to find a therapist who is trained in this modality. At CZ Therapy Group, we utilize parts work frequently to help clients grow in this unique and beautiful way. If you're in the Denver area and looking for a Parts Work therapist, don't hesitate to reach out to us!
At CZ Therapy Group, we're wishing you nothing but solace and empowerment as you unravel the layers of anxiety and learn to cultivate inner peace.
Ready to Begin Parts Work Therapy in Denver, CO?
Take the first step towards managing your anxiety symptoms by exploring the transformative power of Parts Work Therapy. Discover how this empowering therapeutic approach at CZ Therapy Group can help you cultivate inner harmony and unlock your true potential. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Reach out to schedule a free 20-minute consult call.
Connect with the CZTG therapist of your choice via a phone consult.
Begin exploring Parts Work Therapy and manage your anxiety symptoms in a more positive way!