Integrating Janina Fisher’s Parts Work with Energy Practices
As you familiarise yourself with my work, it won’t be long until you hear me refer to parts, states and/or children inside us who experienced trauma. This blog aims to shed light on what I mean by these terms with reference to Janina Fisher’s seminal book ‘’Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors’, and how I’ve integrated her work on talking to parts into my energy counselling practice.
Dr Fisher was a clinician in Bessel Van der Kolk’s groundbreaking trauma clinic and was deeply influenced by the neuroscience research that have profoundly reshaped our understanding of trauma and recognising Van der Kolk’s key claim that ‘the body keeps the score’.
We all have different parts inside us. And for those of us who experienced abuse, like myself, this is a particularly good thing; it enabled us to survive. Dr Fisher’s work recognises that to survive in an unsafe world, we develop ingenious solutions, creating and calling upon different parts and resources within ourselves to survive. For example, a part may emerge which is hyper-vigilant and alert to potential threats. Or we may develop a part that employs dissociation and disconnect from one’s body and experiences to protect oneself in the face of inescapable, overwhelming experiences.
The tricky thing is that we can develop conflict and animosity within ourselves as sometimes some of these parts don’t look to us like they’re trying to protect and care for us, particularly in the present. For example, often as trauma survivors we may have a really angry part which can frighten us and be hard to trust. Moreover, parts that developed in response to traumatic events may hold beliefs about ourselves, such as “I am powerless” or “I am unlovable.”, that may contribute to self-destructive patterns in our lives.
Yet all parts have something valuable to offer. If we can pay attention to them, we can decipher their messages and we may uncover that they feel scared, are expressing a plea for safety, or a cry for something to be addressed. Every part wants to take care of you, even when you don’t understand the way that they express it.
In these two videos, you will hear ways that I have integrated the calming tools of energy practices such as Meridian Tapping and heart holding. These practices serve as a bridge to unlocking the wisdom held within our parts. We can learn to listen and respect what these parts are saying, letting them know that you’re taking care of them.
This is the path to peace. Freedom comes when we really show respect for all the parts of ourselves. So I invite you to try these practices with me in the videos below.
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