Description
If we look deeply enough, we can connect to all the parts within us.
Ten years ago, Ilyse Kennedy was a disconnected twenty-something, sitting on a therapy couch, a client grappling with her own trauma recovery. Now, as a trauma therapist, Kennedy shows up with a calming presence, ready to attune to her treasured clients. Those who meet her now might be surprised to know that this twenty-something still lives within her, sometimes awakening in response to the familiar. She also has a people pleaser, who caters to the needs of others for self-protection. Then there is the therapist within her, who offers tools and solutions for the clients across from her. The twenty-something, people pleaser, and therapist are all parts within her—they are adaptations she formed in response to traumas—who show up to aid her in interacting with the outside world.
In The Tender Parts, part memoir, part self-help, Kennedy leads you through the process of meeting, embracing, and tending to your own parts through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a form of therapy that explores the parts within us all. With meditations, exercises, and an introduction to her own parts, she provides you with an opportunity to get to know the parts within yourself, offer them compassion, and relieve them of their burdens so you can heal your inner wounds and be more attuned to the Self. As you meet Kennedy’s parts, your understanding and knowledge of your own parts will deepen, allowing you to reconnect with your center and approach the world with openhearted joy.
Book in great condition. Easy to read. Excellent to help gain understanding of the model whether using for yourself or learning to use from a clinical perspective to help clients. Great breakdown of concepts with activities and reflections throughout that will help you understand. They can also be used with clients.
I loved this book, and once you get started it’s hard to put down. It has helped me as a therapists that practices IFS and for my clients that want to understand more about what we’re doing in session. Highly recommend!
Lovely
I took so many notes and highlights in this. In the beginning she notes the children’s movie “Inside Out” and I’m glad I took a pause from reading to watch; it was great to have it as a visual aid/reference as I took in the rest of the book. I screenshot activities to try so I could print them out and do them multiple times over. This was good to read solo, and gave me a lot to bring forward to my therapist.
I greatly appreciate the author bringing her own experiences in, as I was able to relate to so many, and that helped me understand concepts and roles all the more better.
This is not your average “self-help” book—it is a poignant and moving introduction to IFS that also masterfully weaves in Ilyse’s own personal story throughout. You can easily read it in a few sittings without getting overwhelmed, which is perfect for anyone who is doing trauma work. Highly recommend it to everyone I get a chance to!