No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

This book is saving my relationship, after I was cheated on. I thought it would be impossible to have empathy and compassion for my love’s mistake, but this book is making it possible for me to reclaim the love and admiration for my partner that I had before the betrayal. Whether we end up staying together or not, this book has given me the power to love better than ever before. Also if you’ve been in my situation, after finishing this book, read his other book, “You are the one you’ve been waiting for.” He ties what you learned in this book directly into every aspect of relationships, and solidifies the knowledge and insight you have gained from the first book to a whole other level. I hope you all to have love, peace, and growth. And I believe this book will help you all achieve these things if they are what you seek. Much love

As someone who has lived with complex trauma for much of my life, I found this book incredibly helpful. I’ve explored many different healing approaches over the years, and IFS has given me an entirely new perspective on myself and on life as a whole. The exercises throughout the book are thoughtful, practical, and genuinely beneficial. I also really enjoyed the audiobook version, but I’m glad I have a physical copy to revisit whenever I need it. Highly recommend, 10/10!!!

“No Bad Parts” is a fascinating and inspiring book. Dick Schwartz shows how healing and liberating it can be to enter our inner world, and to lovingly care for the pain, the anguishes, and inner struggles that haunt us. He presents a captivating, groundbreaking, and deeply humane therapy approach. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is not just a model of psychotherapy — it becomes a way of life. In IFS, we become aware of our parts: those conflicting inner voices, feelings and beliefs that can overwhelm and confuse us. We also become aware of our Self: the healing force we all carry inside. These conversations, these compassionate inner exchanges, between our parts and our Self sustain and strengthen us throughout life’s challenges and changes. His concept of the Self is revolutionary because he does not see it as broken, but as present in all of us. The Self becomes concealed by alienated parts, who are burdened with feelings and beliefs of traumatic experiences as they were fighting for our survival, most often during our childhood. We learn about why parts are frozen in time, becoming stuck in feelings and beliefs formed by those traumatic experiences. We learn how we can help parts unburden and become supportive partners in our inner family. IFS is a healing journey that reaches beyond one’s own soul and life. It touches the lives of others. It has always moved me how honestly and openly Dick Schwartz shares about himself, his own struggles, the history of his suffering parts, the development of IFS, and his experiences with IFS in his life. He does this again with his new book “No Bad Parts.” He is not someone who wants to be on a pedestal. He wants us to get to know what is going on in our inner world. He supports us lovingly in gaining appreciation for our parts and our Self — and in living Self-led lives. He empowers us to create harmony within and around us. As his client some years ago, I had unforgettable experiences on this journey. I remember coming into a session after I had sent the final version of my essay “Facing a Wall of Silence” to the editors. As I listened inside, I did not notice any parts. Instead I had a strong feeling of being alive. He asked me to imagine walking up a path and leaving my parts behind. When I did this, the feeling of being alive only intensified. He invited me to ask this feeling what it had to tell me, and the first thing I heard was: “This is what you are here for.” The same feeling returned strongly and for some time, years later, when I wrote “Alice Miller: War and Betrayal Trauma.” Although I have a part who is very skeptical of spirituality, it acknowledges these experiences as real, valid and convincing. In retrospect, it seems that — without being aware of it — I was on a journey and had a calling, which IFS helped me fulfill. It is a profound relief not to be demeaned by some arbitrary diagnosis, but to understand how our history impacted our parts — and forced our Self into being locked away. It is deeply gratifying to come to value our Self and to live with Self-leadership. The experience that my Self can be there, reliably and lovingly, with compassion, for my parts when they come up, and struggle, and need to share, has been life-changing. It has brought hope and joy and love and courage into my life. Dick Schwartz shares his insights and experiences bravely and honestly. The wealth of those experiences and insights is comforting and invigorating. And comforting and loving is the IFS therapy approach, which is a blessing as we can actively heal our traumatized parts, harmonize our inner system, come to cherish our parts’ true essence, as well as our Self — and find our place in the world. I am grateful for my IFS journey, for Dick’s open heart and generosity when confronted with my vehement protectors, and for the encouragement that his book “No Bad Parts” provides in continuing my journey with IFS.

I found No Bad Parts to be one of the most compassionate and genuinely useful books I’ve read on emotional healing and inner conflict. Richard Schwartz presents the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model in a way that is accessible, practical, and deeply humane. What makes this book stand out is its central idea that there are “no bad parts” inside us. One of the most powerful concepts in the book is that our fragmented inner world is organized into a system of "parts" that always carry a positive intention, even when their behavior seems destructive or irrational. Schwartz elegantly categorizes these into Managers who strive to keep us safely in control, Firefighters who reactively numb our pain, and the wounded Exiles they are trying to protect. He explains that anxiety, anger, perfectionism, emotional shutdown, and even harsh self-criticism often begin as these exact protective strategies, developed to help us survive pain, fear, and traumatic situations. Rather than encouraging suppression or harsh self-control, the author offers a healthier approach rooted in self-awareness, compassion, and emotional understanding. He introduces us to the core Self—an uninjured, inherently wise center within every person that naturally holds the curiosity and calm needed to lead our internal family back to balance. I'm considering using the audiobook excerpts in emotional support meetings, beginning in June. I appreciated that the book is not just theoretical. It includes practical reflections, daily meditations, and fascinating transcripts of live sessions that show exactly how to unblend from overwhelming emotions and begin building a calmer relationship with ourselves. The tone is warm, respectful, and hopeful without feeling simplistic. Whether someone struggles with anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, self-criticism, or simply feeling “at war” with themselves, this book offers a thoughtful framework for healing. Ultimately, Schwartz shows us that by cultivating peace within our own internal systems, we naturally extend that healing and connection to the world around us. I can see why IFS has become so influential in modern psychotherapy. Highly recommended for anyone interested in personal growth, emotional healing, or understanding themselves more deeply.

This is tough. The book was life changing for me, but I was already pretty far down the path of experience with various therapies (CBT, psychodynamic etc.). I’m pretty sure that this isn’t a first or even a good early book choice for a beginner. Something more mainstream like CBT would likely be easier to understand and utilize and offer “faster” results. With a little more experience a motivated individual who is willing to “do the work” might reap significant benefit from this book. Internal family systems is much more oriented to getting at, understanding, and healing past traumas and painful situations then a more “superficial” system such as CBT that is more oriented to managing feeling and thoughts as they arrive rather then delving into their origins. At first the book does seem to be a bit of mumbo jumbo and it is hard to believe that the concept and exercises can possibly work. This is somewhat complicated by the author’s tendency to bring his views on societies ills and social injustices into the mix on occasion. To gain benefit from this book the reader would, I believe, need to be highly motivated and to have the ability to set aside doubts and just accept that the concepts are sound. The reader will also need to be strong enough to experience what could be extremely painful emotions as they access past traumas and painful situations. This book definitely isn’t for the feint of heart and may be overkill for someone with minor issues. I suspect some will cast the book aside as rubbish or won’t be ready, motivated enough, or strong enough yet to go down the Internal Family System path. That’s fine, because as I noted I don’t think this book is for some or maybe most. In the right individual though it may be life changing.

I've been undertaking a "Year of Growth" since I hit age 42 and realized I still have a ways to go to really grow up. Out of many, many things I've tried, this book made the biggest difference in my life in the shortest time. It's not just a "therapy modality." It's a way of viewing human nature that is fundamentally kind and hopeful. And it's a way of actually healing trauma breathtakingly quickly, not talking about it endlessly for months and years, and not just trying to keep a lid on it with top-down approaches. You can make friends with even the most challenging parts of yourself. It's literally all good. Some old programs just need a little love and a little updating. IFS provides a genius "hack" for doing exactly that. You don't need willpower to change your life when you're actually healed. Life naturally and easily gets better. I barely recognize myself from three months ago when I first read this book. (I just listened to it a second time, and got a lot more out of it after doing many IFS sessions on myself for several weeks.) I could go on and on, but I'll just say this: If you're human, read this book. I understand so much more about everything since reading it, and life has gotten much better. It's not an immediate cure-all, and it requires tough inner work. There are other methods and modalities that have shed other kinds of light, and I'm grateful for all of it. But this helped me take a huge psychological and spiritual step forward. And it doesn't require you to believe anything. When you access your Self, you know. And it feels like a homecoming to a strange new world. With books like this showing new-old ways to find our best natures, it feels like a wonderful time to be alive. And I've seen some of the worst of what's happening these days. I don't come by my cautious and increasingly joyful optimism lightly or easily. Even if we destroy ourselves, it's fascinating and wondrous having a chance to find ourselves and each other in whatever time we have. P.S. This book works particularly well as an audiobook so you can do the exercises without having to refer to the text.

Wow, what a book! I learned a little about Internal Family Systems from other authors & spiritual directors&became especially interested when I heard spiritual directors in my program talking about how to use it with directees. This is a powerful paradigm that I’m finding helpful in my own soul work, & I’m looking forward to learning more so I can use it with directees. The book is accessible for folks like me who aren’t therapists or psychologists. Schwartz explains how he began to apply his knowledge of family systems to what he identifies as different parts we have within us that relate to 1 another much like our external families do. We have parts that, often at a young age, were traumatized & become frozen in that time period. Protector parts developed, sending vulnerable parts into exile, & may become triggered by anything that threatens the safety of our exiles. When we become aware of, listen to, & work with our protectors, we can gain their trust so they will stand down &allow us to find & heal our exiles. Then the protector parts are freed up to serve healthier functions. Schwartz includes transcripts to model how this work is done with his clients. He provides exercises for readers to try on their own & gives recommendations regarding at what point to seek help from an IFS-trained therapist. This model fits in perfectly with Enneagram work & the idea of nonjudgmental self-observation, as well as self-compassion. It feels a bit odd at first, but it makes a lot of sense & has been really helpful for me. One of my favorite things about this model is Schwartz’s assertion that we all inherently have what we need to heal (though we may need a therapist to guide us), & once the Self emerges (or what we would call “True Self” or “Essence” in Enneagram work), the Self seems to know what to do to respond compassionately to the parts & exiles in a way that is healing. I highly recommend this book & am excited to continue practicing & learning about IFS! This would be a great one to read and study in community.

I have deeply mixed feelings about No Bad Parts. Or should I say, "One part feels X, and another feels Y"? Internal Family Systems is wonderful, and the author has dominated a lot of the psychotherapy world in the last few years (in a good way). IFS is a hot topic for trainings and on therapist/counselor social media discussions. This book serves as a sort of introduction/self-help version for the average person who may not be a trained clinician. Does it accomplish that? Sort of. One one hand, it does a great job explaining. You get stories from the author's own experience, as well as clinical vignette's of what an IFS session actually looks like. He even gives some nice meditation/reflection exercises rooted in IFS. I have problems though. Part of the subtitle of the book is, "Healing Trauma." Does this book teach you to heal trauma? Not really. It explains how parts take on extreme roles and burdens due to trauma, but the details of working with exiles (usually our traumatized or wounded parts) are a bit superficial. Instead, the author mentions that you should go see an IFS therapist trained by his organization. It comes across as a little self-serving, if not as an advertisement. Lastly, if you love politics, particularly those that would be considered more to the left, you'll feel right at home reading No Bad Parts. But if you are centrist, libertarian, conservative, apolitical, etc., you may feel a bit turned off by comparisons of internal parts with societal and political systems. At one point, the author even suggests that if you think a certain politician "is great," that this indicates a deep need for transformation. I don't doubt that, but would extend it to all politician/celebrity worship. In the end, if you can look past its flaws, you can learn from reading No Bad Parts. It might change how you see the world. If the flaws concern you, there are other books out there explaining the author's IFS model.

This book is excellent. Highly recommend for anybody getting into IFS. I’ve learned a little bit about it before reading it and had I read it first I would have a better understanding.

La teoria dell'Internal Family Systems trascende tutti i limiti della teoria psicologica classica integrando mente e corpo attraverso pratiche di scoperta e guarigione del trauma. Attraverso emozioni cardine come Curiosità e Compassione Dick Schwartz ci guida nella scoperta delle nostre parti e ci aiuta a dialogare con esse. Un libro che cambia la vita.

I've watched a podcast on YouTube with dr Richard Shulze and I loved so much his experienced way of explaining how we function and his seeing us as parts. This book is really life-changing and would definitely recommend to everyone because it's applicable for everything. And also once we understand ourselves we can understand others better. Knowing it's not their self talking but their parts for instance if they are unwell and upset. So we try to understand then, not to fight.

Nice product

Excellente méthode de travail sur soi. Un outil puissant et efficace que l'on peut utiliser même sans thérapeute.