Integrating Parts Work and EMDR for Powerful, Lasting Change.
Trauma healing is rarely a straight line. Many people come to therapy feeling stuck between parts of themselves that want change and other parts that feel terrified of it. You might notice this as an inner tug-of-war: one part wants to move forward, while another resists, shuts down, or floods you with painful memories or impulses.
This is where integrating parts work (also called ego state therapy) with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can be so transformative. By addressing both the psychological structures and the neural networks that hold trauma, this combination helps create deeper integration and long-term healing.
Understanding Parts Work: Multiple States Within a Unified Self
Parts work recognizes that our personality isn’t a single, static entity—it’s made up of different “parts” or ego states, each carrying their own emotions, memories, and protective strategies.
These parts often develop in response to life experiences—especially trauma. For example:
A protector part might emerge to keep you safe by avoiding emotional pain. This could look like over-intellectualizing or numbing.
An exiled part may carry memories and feelings that were too overwhelming at the time they occurred. Usually these are child parts.
A manager part might strive to keep life controlled and organized to prevent chaos. This could look like your “get through work” part.
Rather than pathologizing these parts, therapy helps us befriend and understand them. Each part is trying to solve a problem, often with strategies that once made sense but may no longer serve us.
TIST, IFS, and Ego States: Complementary Models for Working with Parts
When it comes to working with parts in trauma therapy, three influential frameworks often intersect: Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST), developed by Janina Fisher; Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Richard Schwartz; and Ego State Therapy, rooted in the work of John and Helen Watkins and further developed by clinicians like Robin Shapiro.
While these models have different origins and emphases, they share a non-pathologizing lens and a focus on understanding the inner landscape of the psyche. Their approaches differ in structure, pacing, and therapeutic goals, but they can work beautifully together—especially when integrated with EMDR—to support deep and sustainable trauma healing.
Shared Foundations: Compassionate, Parts-Oriented Lenses
Parts Orientation: All three models recognize that the mind naturally organizes into distinct parts or ego states, each holding specific roles, experiences, or functions. Protective, managerial, and exiled parts emerge as adaptive responses to overwhelming or unsafe experiences.
Non-Pathologizing Approach: Instead of viewing these parts as symptoms to eliminate, TIST, IFS, and Ego State Therapy invite compassion, curiosity, and collaboration with them.
Observer / Self Function: Each model cultivates an observing or core self. In IFS, this is known as Self energy; in TIST, it’s often called the present-day self or mindful awareness; and in Ego State Therapy, it involves strengthening the executive ego or grounded adult self that can relate to parts from a place of stability.
Goal of Integration: All three approaches aim to reduce internal conflict, build trust and communication among parts, and support the system in becoming more flexible, cohesive, and resilient over time.
Integration with EMDR:
TIST’s emphasis on stabilization makes it particularly useful in preparing clients for EMDR. IFS offers a rich map of the inner world, helping clients and therapists navigate complex internal systems during reprocessing. Ego State Therapy provides structured techniques to resource, negotiate, and sequence EMDR targets in a way that respects the system’s internal organization.
This combined lens allows therapists to flexibly draw from TIST for stabilization, IFS for relational depth and Self-leadership, and Ego State Therapy for targeted interventions—all while integrating EMDR’s powerful reprocessing to support healing at the neural and emotional levels.
EMDR: Reprocessing Trauma at the Neural Level
EMDR Therapy uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sounds) to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they can be integrated into a coherent, adaptive narrative. This process supports:
Memory reconsolidation, transforming traumatic memories from raw, unprocessed fragments into part of a cohesive life story.
Reduction of symptoms like flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and negative self-beliefs.
Strengthening adaptive networks, allowing the nervous system to return to a regulated state more easily.
EMDR works not by “erasing” memories, but by helping the brain update them with new emotional and somatic information—so the past no longer hijacks the present.
The Neuroscience of Parts: How Neural Networks Shape Our Inner World
Modern neuroscience supports what many therapeutic models have observed for decades: our “parts” are not just metaphors—they reflect distinct neural networks or patterns of activation in the brain. When a part is “activated,” the brain recruits a cohesive network of thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and implicit memories that operate together as a state.
State-Dependent Neural Activation: Each part corresponds to a unique configuration of brain activity. For example, a hypervigilant protector part might activate limbic and brainstem networks associated with threat detection, while an exiled younger part may bring forward implicit, emotionally charged memories stored in subcortical regions.
Implicit vs. Explicit Processing: Many parts operate implicitly—outside conscious awareness—until something triggers them. These networks can function semi-independently, which is why people often describe feeling “taken over” by a part or noticing abrupt shifts in emotional state.
Integration Through Memory Reconsolidation: EMDR facilitates the linking of trauma-bound neural networks with more adaptive, integrated ones. Bilateral stimulation and the dual attention framework allow the brain to reprocess traumatic material while maintaining a present-day, regulated state—enabling formerly fragmented parts to connect with the whole self.
Neuroplasticity in Action: Through repeated experiences of safety, attunement, and adaptive processing, these neural networks begin to communicate and integrate more fluidly. Over time, what once felt like fragmented parts can become coherent aspects of a unified self.
This neurobiological lens deepens our understanding of why parts work and EMDR complement each other so effectively. By targeting both the psychological narratives and the underlying neural networks, therapy supports lasting change at multiple levels of the mind–brain system.
Why Combining Parts Work and EMDR Is So Effective
When EMDR is used alone, some clients encounter “blocking beliefs” or protective responses that prevent traumatic memories from fully processing. Parts work offers a way to work with these protective states rather than pushing past them.
By recognizing and attuning to these parts, therapists can:
Create a sense of internal safety, which is essential for trauma processing.
Identify and collaborate with protectors that may be holding trauma at bay.
Help exiled parts express their stories within a framework of regulation and compassion.
Strengthen the observing self, allowing clients to stay grounded while processing painful material.
EMDR then helps these parts update their internal information, linking previously isolated networks with adaptive ones. This leads to a more integrated self, less internal conflict, and greater emotional freedom.
Further Resources
For deeper exploration of EMDR, parts work, and trauma integration, these authors and clinicians offer valuable frameworks:
Janina Fisher – Developer of Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST); offers extensive resources, trainings, and writings on parts work and complex trauma.
Robin Shapiro – Known for her accessible, clinically grounded integration of EMDR with ego state therapy and parts work.
Richard Schwartz – Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a leading model for understanding and working with parts of the self.
Kathy Steele – Expert on complex trauma, dissociation, and ego state therapy, offering extensive clinical frameworks for integrating parts work into trauma treatment.
Laurel Parnell – A leading EMDR clinician and trainer, known for her Attachment-Focused EMDR and emphasis on relational safety, resourcing, and attunement.
John & Helen Watkins – Pioneers of Ego State Therapy, emphasizing structured work with distinct states of consciousness.
