The Hidden Helpers Within: How Parts Work Can Set You Free

In nearly every session I do, we end up meeting a part of the client—a younger, protective, often misunderstood inner aspect. These parts aren't evil or broken. They're simply elements of you that took on a job long ago… and are still carrying it out, often without an updated memo.

Recently, I worked with a client experiencing intense anxiety. We used gentle imagery to invite “the part doing the anxiety” to step forward. She was expecting it to be big and overwhelming—something to push away or conquer. But in trance, when we floated that part out into awareness, what she found was surprising: it was small, delicate, and fragile. Not an enemy… but something young and overwhelmed, trying desperately to keep her safe.

In another session, a client dialogued with a part that pushed him to binge eat. It wasn’t trying to sabotage him—it was trying to soothe him when no one else could. One client met a smoking part that refused to let go, believing cigarettes were his only comfort.

Others encounter parts that block visibility, earning, intimacy, or expression. One common example? A part that keeps someone stuck at a certain income level—because it learned somewhere along the way that great success or visibility could bring pain, judgment, or loss.

These parts may sound wildly different, but they all share one thing: a deep desire to protect you. They form at critical moments, often in childhood, and remain frozen there—like inner time capsules waiting to be excavated.

Why We Have Parts

Each time we’re hurt, shamed, rejected, or frightened, we make an internal vow: “Never again.” That promise becomes a part.

And that part does its job very well—whether that’s numbing out, avoiding risk, staying small, or overachieving. It only wants what’s best for you: safety, survival, connection, belonging. But it doesn’t realize you’ve grown. You’re not 7 anymore. You have resources now—tools, voice, agency, regulation. That’s where parts work comes in.

Pixar’s Take on Inner Parts

If you’ve seen Inside Out, you’ve already met a simplified version of parts work. Each emotion in the film — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust — operates as a distinct “part” within the mind of the main character, Riley. They each have their own personality, memories, and motivations, and they all want what’s best for her — even when they disagree on how to help.

This is a beautiful metaphor for how parts work operates in hypnotherapy. We all carry inner parts shaped by experiences, often frozen in time, doing their best to protect us. Hypnotherapy gives those parts a voice — and helps the wiser, present-day self step in as the leader.

Every Part Has a Positive Intention

We often want to “fight” the parts of ourselves that are sabotaging our goals. But what if instead of resisting… you listened?

As Internal Family Systems (IFS) founder Richard Schwartz explains:

“A part is not just a temporary emotional state or habitual thought pattern… it is a discrete and autonomous mental system that has an idiosyncratic range of emotion… talents… and view of the world.”— Dr. Richard Schwartz, Internal Family Systems Therapy

In other words, your anxious part, your procrastinating part, your inner critic—they’re not enemies. They’re workers. Loyal employees, still running an old safety protocol.

How Parts Get Stuck

Here’s what happens:

1. Something painful happens.

   You’re humiliated in class. Your parent shames you. You’re left out or criticized.

   
   

2. A part forms.

   It says, “Never again.” It adopts a strategy: hide, shut down, overachieve, numb.

   
   

3. Time doesn’t move for that part.

   While you grow up, that part doesn’t. It’s still stuck at age 6 or 13 or 19.

   
   

4. It keeps protecting you, often in ways that now create more harm than help.

This is why people say things like, “Part of me wants to change, but part of me is terrified.” It’s not just a figure of speech—it’s exactly what’s happening. And it can be incredibly frustrating to work against yourself.

What Hypnotherapy Does with Parts

In a session, we:

• Create space to meet the part—not as a villain, but as a piece of you stuck in survival mode.

  
  

• Dialogue compassionately with it. What is it trying to do for you?

  
  

• Update it on who you are now.

  
  

• Re-negotiate its role. What new job could it take on that serves you better?

  
  

• Integrate it—so it works with you, not against you.

  
  

One client realized the part that kept him from speaking up had formed in childhood when speaking brought punishment. Another client discovered that the part stopping her from promoting her business believed being publicly visible was dangerous because of past rejection.

Often these parts form earlier in our lives, though some are holdovers from past life experiences as well. No matter how or when these parts formed, when they feel acknowledged and heard, their grip softens.

Why This Work Is So Powerful

• You build self-trust by listening instead of battling.

• You release old patterns by understanding their purpose.

• You move forward not by force, but by internal cooperation.

• You feel more whole, rather than fragmented or in conflict with yourself.

  
  

It’s never about shaming or “getting rid” of a part. It’s about inviting it back into harmony with who you are now.

The Truth Is: You and Your Parts Want the Same Thing

Whether it’s love, peace, safety, freedom, or success—you’re on the same team. Your parts just didn’t know there was a better way to get there.

And once they do? They’re relieved. They’re grateful. And they’re ready to stop working so hard in the wrong direction.

Curious What Part Might Be Driving Your Habits?

Let’s find out—gently, compassionately, and with curiosity. You're not broken. You’re just carrying protectors who haven’t been heard in a long time.

Book a free discovery call or reach out to start your journey: robyn@ascendant-hypnotherapy.com