How Parts Work Therapy Helps People With Anxiety - Insights from an Anxiety Therapist in Denver, CO.

By a Denver Anxiety Therapist and parts work specialist

Welcome to part three of our parts work therapy series. If this blog feels helpful to you, make sure to explore parts one and two of the series:

• Part One: What Is Parts Work Therapy and How Can It Help Me?

• Part Two: All About Parts Work Therapy for Trauma

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 (explore more about how trauma can be the root cause of anxiety here).

Therapy is often a wonderful support for those of us looking to move past anxiety. In this blog, we will explore how therapy, specifically Parts Work Therapy, can help people understand themselves and heal from anxiety anxiety.

What is Parts Work Therapy? - The Basics, IFS Terms, and Examples

To start this off, Chadley Zobolas, Denver anxiety therapist and owner of CZ Therapy Group, discusses how she uses parts work therapy as a main modality in anxiety therapy in Denver, CO:

“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. 

While there are many types of parts work, this blog is exploring it through the lens of Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). IFS suggests that we all have different parts that serve different functions, such as protecting us from real or perceived harm or helping us cope with overwhelming experiences.

Internal Family Systems Therapy Terms - Manager, Firefighter, & Exiles

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 traditional anxiety therapy in Denver, CO often go hand in hand, and when combined, can help reduce anxiety and increase connection to your most authentic self.

Working With All Your Parts Can Help You Manage Your Anxiety

Parts work therapy can be incredibly helpful for navigating anxiety because it acknowledges that we all have different parts within us, each with its own thoughts, feelings, and motivations. By understanding and engaging with these parts in therapy, we can learn to recognize when our anxiety is triggered and develop strategies to cope with it more effectively. Here are some ways that parts work can be a great addition to Denver anxiety therapy:

• Identification: Through therapy, you'll learn to identify the various parts of yourself that contribute to your anxiety, such as the part that worries excessively or the part that fears the worst-case scenario.

• Understanding: By exploring these different parts, you can gain insight into why they exist and what purpose they serve. Understanding the underlying reasons for your anxiety can ultimately help you experience relief from it.

• Integration: Parts work therapy focuses on integrating these different parts rather than trying to eliminate or suppress them. This integration allows you to harness the strengths of each part, ultimately reducing anxiety.

• Empowerment: As you become more familiar with your internal landscape and the different parts of you at play, you'll feel empowered and experience more nervous system regulation, leading to a huge reduction in anxiety symptoms. You'll also develop personalized coping strategies tailored to your specific needs and circumstances.

• Healing: Through compassionate exploration and acceptance of all parts of yourself, parts work therapy with a Denver trauma specialist can facilitate healing from past experiences that are at the root of your anxiety.

While there are many approaches taken by anxiety specialists, the focus of your work with a Denver anxiety therapist at CZ Therapy Group will encompass much of the above, with an emphasis on identifying the root cause of anxiety and healing from the bottom up.

Questions to Ask an Anxiety Therapist About Parts Work:

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:

1. What is your experience and training in Parts Work Therapy?

2. How do Parts Work Therapy specifically address anxiety or other mental health concerns?

3. Can you provide examples of how Parts Work has been effective in helping clients reduce anxiety symptoms and develop more adaptive responses to triggers?

4. How do you help clients develop a better understanding of their internal landscape and the different parts or aspects of themselves?

5. What are the logistics of parts work therapy, such as session frequency, focus, location, etc.?

Parts Work-Focused Anxiety Therapy in Denver, CO.

If you're interested in parts work-focused anxiety therapy, our team of anxiety therapists in Denver would love to support you! Follow these three simple steps to get started:

1. Reach out to schedule a free 20-minute consult call.

2. Connect with the Denver anxiety therapist of your choice via a phone consult.

3. Begin exploring parts work-focused anxiety therapy in Denver!

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