The Sabrina Zohar Show 151: What Healing REALLY Looks Like with Dr. Richard Schwartz
Jul 18, 2025
Dr. Richard Schwartz, the creator of Internal Family Systems therapy, joins to reveal the transformative power of understanding our inner parts. They discuss how engaging with these 'parts' fosters healing, emphasizing self-compassion and vulnerability. Schwartz shares insights on addressing self-sabotage and reconnecting with the inner child, while exploring the link between childhood trauma and adult relationships. The conversation uncovers the journey to emotional regulation and self-acceptance, offering valuable tools for personal growth and deeper relational bonds.
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Turning Point: Listening to Protective Parts
- Richard Schwartz shares a turning point story about a client who self-cut, revealing the importance of listening to and appreciating protective parts.
- This breakthrough led to recognizing inner parts as heroic protectors, not adversaries, transforming therapy approach.
The IFS Map: Exiles and Protectors
- Inner Family Systems views the mind as multiple parts: exiles carrying pain, and protectors managing or extinguishing emotional pain.
- Protectors take form as manager parts seeking control and firefighter parts acting impulsively to distract or soothe.
The Emergent True Self
- True self, associated with qualities like compassion and calm, lies beneath the parts and emerges when space opens.
- This realization challenges many traditional psychological beliefs about the self's nature.
