#using that imagery as a starting point to bridge conscious vs subconscious

[the-midnight-in-me]

"IFS isn't working, and honestly seems like an entirely invented act of imagination..."

IMO, it doesn't really matter what method you choose to access your trauma- schema based work is a little more closely aligned with neural-network processing etc. I feel like IFS is also neural network/schema based. Parts are just schemas that run based on certain triggers which equates with certain neurotransmitters getting activated etc etc.

Ultimately, the method matters less than the response. For me IFS works because I am more easily able to relate to these behaviors/schemas/patterns as parts.

"What if every conversation with our internal parts really is just invented whole-cloth and isn't necessarily pointing at anything real, even emotionally within us?"

I would say even if it's something you invent - it's still coming from inside your own pattern of thought, so it's worth questioning, knowing more about.

" Is the Self really some dualistic deeper state of being or is it just literally a description of how we tend to feel when we're safe and calm?"

It depends on what you mean by safe and calm. There's safe and calm watching Netflix, etc, or there's safe and calm being held by a loved one. The best description I have of Self, for me, is more of a an IS. Or a meditative flow state. Self just is. Wants nothing, needs nothing.

"Are the parts really revealing our internal neural processes or do we just make them up to explain our behaviour and thoughts, which all come from the same basic trains of thought in our brains?"

I would say that inventing a part would have to reveal something about our neural processes- we can't escape our own brains.

- I also want to address the body work. Let's say that as a little kid, you got told to shut up a lot by your parents. You might hold tension in your throat, because when people try to speak (or sing) when anxious (like about getting yelled at or dismissed), our vocal cords are less elastic, and it can cause raspiness etc. When asked, that part of a person might identify as a certain age the trauma happened, and therefore have likes/dislikes of their own etc. Whether that's made up or not matters less, because the true part is there's part of you that's scared to speak up in front of people because the learning part of your brain has already equated public speaking with shame, and throat tension might be the only symptom of that.

I realize my example got a bit convoluted, I apologize. TLDR, if it works, great, if not, move on, or keep the parts that work for you and leave the parts that don't. It sounds like you've got a good therapist, and flexibility is a good thing. -MsSpastica @ reddit