Parts Work Therapy in Denver, CO.
Somatic, Relational parts work Therapy
holding space for all of the parts of you
Previous trauma and attachment wounds often leave us with parts of ourselves that are still organized around what was once necessary to stay safe, connected, or cared for.
You may have a people-pleaser part that struggles to set boundaries, stays small, and can’t seem to honor your own needs and desires, even with the best intentions to do so. Or a hyper-independent part that overfunctions, depends on structured (okay, rigid) routines to get through the day, and pulls away at the slightest hint that hurt might be coming your way.
These parts are not broken. They’re incredibly adaptive, and I promise the way they operate will make so much sense once we get curious enough about what they learned to protect. In our work together, we’ll help you turn toward these younger parts differently, from the safety of the present, with the attunement, protection, and steadiness they may not have received when they first came to be.
We’ll offer these parts a new experience of being understood instead of dismissed, protected instead of left alone, and met with care instead of shame. Over time, these new experiences can rework old emotional and neural patterns, helping protective parts catch up to the present and giving them permission to finally stop working so hard to keep you safe.
parts work Therapy Can Help You Heal From:
Perfectionism
Overthinking
Intrusive Thoughts
Social Anxiety
People Pleasing
Self Doubt
Relationship Anxiety
Physical Anxiety
Perfectionism Overthinking Intrusive Thoughts Social Anxiety People Pleasing Self Doubt Relationship Anxiety Physical Anxiety
Who Parts Work Supports
One of the most common things we hear from clients in this work is some version of: This part is holding me back. It’s a barrier to being able to build the life and relationships I so desperately want, but no matter what I do, it just keeps rearing its head.
This can be such a disheartening and exhausting place to be. It also makes so much sense. When you’ve spent a long time - often most or all of your life - operating from a place of protection, that becomes the default. Your nervous system becomes wired around this survival response, and as much as we wish it was as simple as flipping a switch and making the change for good, it’s just not.
The good news is: it’s also not impossible. No parts of you need to be banished. We’ll just explore more flexible and gentle ways for all of the parts of you to exist. If a protective part currently feels like a ten-foot brick wall, we may work toward helping it become more like a movable gate: able to close when protection is truly needed, and open when it isn’t.
Parts Work Therapy For Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
If you grew up in a home where your parents were emotionally absent, unpredictable, or abusive, it’s likely that your protective parts are especially strong. They didn’t have a choice but to learn their role, and to play it really well.
If raised voices and emotional or physical outbursts were common, shutting down and disconnecting from yourself and the environment may have been the only way for your little nervous system to make it through the day.
If no one was there to hold you in your emotions, support you through hard moments, or make sure your emotional needs were being met, holding everything by yourself and keeping it inside simply became the default.
Your protective parts may also be at play when you:
Overthink every interaction
Consistently criticize yourself.
Keep the peace at your own expense.
Have big reactions that seem to come out of nowhere.
Tending To Your Inner Child
These parts of you deserve to feel safe today.
In parts work therapy, we welcome your inner child into the safety and attunement of the present, helping younger parts of you get unstuck from the past, tending to the needs they had to carry alone, and offering them space to step out of the protective roles they once had no choice but to take on.
parts work can help you
parts work can help you
parts work can help you
Increase Your Connection in Relationships
We have to process past relational hurt so it doesn’t keep spilling into the present. Through this work, you’ll find more ease in expressing your true needs and desires, holding firm boundaries without guilt, and staying connected during conflict rather than instinctively pulling inward or getting small. You’ll also expand your capacity to meet your loved ones more fully, paving the way for deeper, more reciprocal, and more meaningful relationships.
Find Nervous System Regulation
Protective parts often carry the physical and emotional charge of earlier experiences into the present, keeping your system on high alert. This can look like chronic numbness or disconnection on one end, or ongoing tension, shakiness, restlessness, and hypervigilance on the other. As these parts begin to feel safer, your nervous system can spend less energy preparing for old threats, creating more room for ease, presence, and connection.
Experience More Choice in How You Respond
When we’ve had to adapt and protect for so long, our nervous systems can get stuck in that same protective place regardless of whether it’s actually responsive to the situation we’re in today. By building a connection with your protective parts, you make room for a split-second pause between a trigger and your reaction. That pause gives you room to bring your wise adult self into the room, attune to your inner child from that grounded place, and respond as your core self rather than getting pulled back into an old survival script that’s no longer serving you.
Reconnect with your Authentic Self
Trauma and attachment wounds require us to disconnect from ourselves to stay okay. Sometimes, that might also mean that you never had the opportunity to get to know all of the things that make you you in the first place. But trauma can never take away who you are at your core. That’s still very much within you, and our work can help you step back into it by exploring who you’ve always been, reclaiming lost parts of yourself, and discovering new facets of who you are for the very first time.
parts work Resources and Reflections
Frequently Asked Questions | Parts Work Therapy in Denver
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This is really common, and we won’t use language that doesn’t resonate with you. For some clients, “inner child” feels fitting and meaningful. Others prefer younger self, protective response, nervous system pattern, or simply the part of me that feels afraid.
When discomfort or embarrassment arises, it’s sometimes an indicator of just how tender and vulnerable it is to connect to our younger experience. Regardless of the roots, we’ll collaborate to find your version of parts language that supports a comfortable, authentic connection to your inner world.
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Yes, it absolutely can be. Shutting down, going blank, becoming numb, or feeling far away from your emotions are all technically protective responses that a specific part of you is carrying out.
If you’re worried about this being a barrier in parts work therapy, please know that it won’t be. When this part shows up in session, we’re able to work with it and support healing in real time. What is it trying to protect? What did it show up in response to? How can we lean in to support it, accompany it, or validate it? And what might it need in order to soften and release the burden of protection it’s been holding? These are just a few of the ways we might begin to approach a “shut down” part in our work together.
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We won’t know for sure until we explore it together, but one great thing about parts work therapy is that it’s super adaptable based on your needs. Your therapist will track your progress, check in with you, and weave it throughout the work in ways that feel supportive.
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If you feel ready to take the next step, please reach out to us! You’ll hear back from Chadley within 1-2 business days to set up your consult call with the therapist of your choice.
Begin parts work Therapy in Denver
We’d love to connect with you! Reach out to schedule a complimentary consultation call, where you can speak directly with the therapist of your choice and get a sense if you’d like to work together.
We offer parts work therapy in person in Denver and online across Colorado, Washington, Rhode Island, and Indiana.