Parts Work Therapy
The anxious, guilty, self-critical voice isn't a flaw. It's part of you still trying to keep safe.
Parts work therapy helps you understand that voice, and finally change your relationship with it.
I work virtually with clients in Michigan, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Virginia.
Parts Work Therapy: Signs & Symptoms
You're the one who catches everything. Reads the room before you even walk in. Anticipates all the needs. Manages your own reaction before anyone else has a chance to react to you.
It doesn't always look like anxiety, but you know it has an anxious core.
It can look like:
over-preparing for conversations that don't need preparing for
apologizing before anyone's asked you to
a running commentary in your head, narrating and correcting you in real time
holding it together… until something small tips you over
You might be noticing:
A guilty, anxious voice that shows up even when nothing is currently wrong
Swinging between overthinking and shutting down, never landing on calm
Knowing, logically, that you're safe, but never quite feeling it
Talking yourself out of a feeling, only to have it come right back
Exhaustion from managing yourself, on top of everything else you're managing
Feeling like there are two of you: the one living your life, and the one watching, judging, bracing
If any of this feels true, you're not alone. Parts work therapy can help you change your relationship with that voice, not just manage it better. None of you is broken, and parts work proves it.
You’re in the right place to get started.
Parts Work Therapy ~ How Therapy Helps
You don’t need to “silence the critic” or “control the anxiety.” Instead, we work to understand what that voice is protecting you from, so it stops running the show.
First, we turn toward, listen, acknowledge
Most people spend years trying to push the anxious or critical voice away. Here, we do the opposite: we turn toward it on purpose. We ask what it's feeling, and let it know it's been heard, often for the first time. This alone changes something. A part that's been fighting to be noticed can finally stop fighting so hard once it knows someone's actually listening.
Then, we separate
We gently create distance between you and the part, what IFS calls unblending. Instead of being the anxiety, you become someone who can sit beside the anxiety and get curious about it. This is where calm, clear-headed curiosity starts to become possible, not because the anxiety is gone, but because you're no longer fused with it.
We add more dialogue, to really understand
From that separated place, we talk with the part directly. What its job? What does it believe would happen if it stopped doing that job? Almost always, underneath the anxious or critical part, there's a younger, more vulnerable part it's been protecting, one still carrying an old fear, an old belief, or an old moment that never got resolved. The protective part's whole strategy exists to keep that younger part from being hurt again.
Finally… unburden
Once the younger part feels truly seen and understood, it can finally set down what it's been carrying: the fear, the shame, the belief that it wasn't safe or wasn't enough. That belief was never actually true. It was just old. Releasing it is what allows both parts, the protector and the one it was protecting, to stop working so hard.
Over time, you'll notice:
Less running commentary, less self-correction
Trusting your own judgment, without needing to check it
The ability to feel calm without needing everything to be perfect
Decisions getting clearer, because you're not deciding from fear
This isn't about becoming a different person, or getting rid of parts of yourself.
It's about leading your own life again, instead of being run by an over-protective part.
Parts Work Therapy for:
Guilt & Shame
Guilt that doesn't match the size of what actually happened usually isn't about the present moment. It's an old part, still bracing for a punishment or rejection that made sense once, and doesn't anymore. We work with that part directly.
The Inner Critic & Self-Criticism
The voice that corrects you before anyone else can, that's rarely cruelty for its own sake. It's a part trying to protect you from a bigger hurt, disappointment, rejection, failure, by getting there first. Parts work helps you understand what it's actually guarding, so it doesn't have to work so hard just to stay safe.
Anxiety & Overthinking
If your mind won't stop scanning for what might go wrong, even when things are fine, that's often a part working overtime to keep you safe. Parts work helps that vigilant part finally stand down, instead of just teaching you to manage it better.
Trauma & Emotionally Immature Parents
If you grew up needing to read a room, manage someone else's emotions, or stay one step ahead to stay safe, those survival skills can become parts that are still doing the same job years later. Parts work is often used alongside EMDR for clients working through family relationships with emotionally immature parents.
Hi, I'm Carly ~
I use parts work more than almost any other type of therapy, including on myself.
For so long, I understood my anxiety intellectually and still couldn't shake it. IFS taught me how to befriend my anxiety so that it became less reactive and I got back to my curious core.
That's the same work I do with clients. We don't try to think our way past the anxious or guilty voice. We figure out what it's protecting you from, so it can finally stop working so hard.
Whether that part has been running the show for a few months or your whole life, therapy is where you actually work with it, not just talk about it.
Step 1:
Consultation
We'll start with a 15-minute phone call to talk openly about what's going on and what you want out of therapy. You don't need to have your parts figured out, or any of it organized. This is a no-pressure way for us to see if it feels like the right fit.
Step 2:
First Session
We'll slow things down and get curious about the part that's loudest right now, the anxious voice, the inner critic, whatever's been running the show. We'll notice how it shows up in your thoughts and body, and start building a relationship with it instead of pushing it away.
Step 3:
Ongoing Work
From there, we work with your parts: turning toward them, understanding what they're protecting, and helping them set down what they've been carrying. Over time, you'll notice less running commentary, more trust in your own judgment, and real calm, not the forced kind.
Living in your head is exhausting.
Nobody sees the constant vigilance, the guilt with no clear cause, the voice that corrects you before anyone else can. But it's real, and it's been running for a long time.
Your parts have a reason. They deserve to be understood. Together, we can turn toward the parts of you that feel silenced, so you can live with clarity.
Therapy for adults in Colorado, Michigan, Florida, Texas and Virginia.
