hi jane. i totally get that parts work sounds really weird. i knew about the inner child but when i read there were inner children, and we all have them, i freaked out at first thinking does that mean i have dissociative identity disorder (DID). nah, just inner children. it's like freud's concept of the id, ego and superego but more detailed and complex. if the whole concept of parts work is too weird for you don't worry about doing it and that is okay. but, i think it is common to find it "out there" but once a person understands more about it it isn't so threatening. so, i think it's good to learn a little more about it before deciding whether to try it or not.

having parts reminds me of our physical bodies. we have one physical body with many organs. the liver doesn't do what the heart does and the heart doesn't do what the brain does. it's similar in our psyches. we are only one whole self but that self can have parts inside it. while in our physical bodies our organs will always remain connected but separate in parts work i prefer the idea of integration of all the parts (helping them all become one). some Ts, like rainbow8 mentioned, just work to harmonize the parts but don't focus on integrating them. there the parts are separate but work in concert, like an orchestra. so, there are different theories even with Ts who do parts work. some go for integration and some just for harmonizing the parts but not integrating them.

for me, i know i have a part of me that loves to sabotage my goals. i'll stay up way too late and eat really poorly, so i'm too exhausted to do what i had intended to the next day. so, one part of me wants to accomplish my goals but another part of me sabotages me. why does that part exist? because i've had a lot of disappointing experiences in the past where my goals didn't work out and this sabotaging part is trying to prevent me from experiencing that disappointment again. it means well but that part is holding me back.

here is a good intro to what it is all about.

@someone321 i think you were the one who mentioned on your thread that having parts would be like having schizophrenia but that isn't the case at all. schizophrenia is actually quite different from this process. so, that is one less thing to worry about.