About this item
Highlights
- If we look deeply enough, we can connect to all the parts within us.
- Author(s): Ilyse Kennedy
- 172 Pages
- Psychology, Psychotherapy
Description
About the Book
"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"--Page 4 of cover.Book Synopsis
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.
Review Quotes
"Ilyse has written a slim volume with a lot of heart-a beautiful introduction to the actual doing of IFS therapy. This book will help people who are new to IFS to try it on, like a new pair of glasses, but these glasses are for looking inward. The author weaves her own parts stories into the pages, making the journey feel friendly and accessible to anyone. Thank you, Ilyse. Your work will inspire many to heal their traumatized parts with IFS therapy."
-Colleen West, LMFT, IFS approved consultant and author of We All Have Parts
"The Tender Parts is a key source of support and guidance for anyone who is looking to heal themselves. Ilyse Kennedy's personal stories make the teachings of IFS come to life. She provides thoughtful reflections in each section to help deepen our understanding of ourselves so that we can explore and heal our own parts."
-Tracy Dalgleish, PhD, C.Psych., psychologist, writer, and relationship expert
"The Tender Parts is both poetic and practical. This gem of a book combines clear, step-by-step instructions on how to access the IFS model with the depth and poignancy of the writer's own inner world. It is an important contribution to the literature on IFS therapy."
-Lisa Spiegel, MA, LMHC, author of Internal Family Systems Therapy with Children
"The Tender Parts is a beautiful synopsis of IFS and how it can be applied, practically and clinically, to working with our inner worlds. Ilyse does a fantastic job of sharing her own tender parts, her clinical expertise, and her creative exercises that allow the reader to fully grasp IFS and all it has to offer."
-Justin Martin, MA, LMHC, @partsofmetherapy
"In The Tender Parts, Ilyse Kennedy has gone far beyond an articulation of healing theory, which she does thoughtfully and beautifully. She offers herself as a vulnerable guidepost for understanding what it means to truly welcome and witness internalized parts. Seamlessly shifting between explanation, examples, and expressive exercises, Kennedy allows for the reader to integrate as they move through the material. This is a wonderfully conceptualized book, and complex concepts are digested with ease as the book unfolds with gentleness and grace."
-Sana Powell, LPC
"Engaging, informative, and refreshingly honest. Ilyse Kennedy blends her lived experience and clinical knowledge beautifully to guide readers into the IFS model and into befriending their own internal systems. I can't wait to recommend this book to clients and clinicians alike!"
-Tyndal E. Schreiner, MA, LPC
"Ilyse's acceptance of her own parts creates space for the raw, forsaken, tender parts of others. Upon accepting the book's invitation-some might say challenge-the reader is expertly guided through transformative steps toward one's Self. A must-read."
-Lindsay Camp, LMFT