No Bad Parts

Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

By: Richard C. Schwartz PhD, Alanis Morissette - foreword introduction

Narrated by: Charlie Mechling

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover an empowering new way of understanding your multifaceted mind - and healing the many parts that make you who you are.

Is there just one “you”? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds - or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us - and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.”

Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment - and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives. Here you’ll explore:

• The IFS revolution - how honoring and communicating with our parts changes our approach to mental wellness
• Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model
• The ego, the inner critic, the saboteur - making these often-maligned parts into powerful allies
• Burdens - why our parts become distorted and stuck in childhood traumas and cultural beliefs
• How IFS demonstrates human goodness by revealing that there are no bad parts
• The Self - discover your wise, compassionate essence of goodness that is the source of healing and harmony
• Exercises for mapping your parts, accessing the Self, working with a challenging protector, identifying each part’s triggers, and more

IFS is a paradigm-changing model because it gives us a powerful approach for healing ourselves, our culture, and our planet. As Dr. Schwartz teaches, “Our parts can sometimes be disruptive or harmful, but once they’re unburdened, they return to their essential goodness. When we learn to love all our parts, we can learn to love all people - and that will contribute to healing the world.”

©2021 Richard C. Schwartz, PhD (P)2021 Sounds True

Critic reviews

“An enormous gift - transformative, compassionate, and wise. These simple and brilliant teachings will open your mind and free your spirit and your heart.” (Jack Kornfield, PhD, author of A Path with Heart)

“Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, and the understanding that we all contain valuable parts that are forced into extreme roles to deal with pain and disappointment, has been one of the great advances in trauma therapy. Understanding the role they have played in our survival and being able to unburden the original traumas leads to self-compassion and inner harmony. The notion that all of our parts are welcome is truly revolutionary and opens up a path to self-acceptance and self-leadership. IFS is one of the cornerstones of effective and lasting trauma therapy.” (Bessel van der Kolk, MD, author of The Body Keeps the Score)

“In this trim and highly readable volume, Dr. Richard Schwartz articulates and deftly illustrates his Internal Family Systems model, one of the most innovative, intuitive, comprehensive, and transformational therapies to have emerged in the present century.” (Gabor Maté, MD, author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction)

Superb content, but painful dramatizations

The information & tools presented here are powerful. For the most part, the narrator is great; but they got actors to dramatize the client case studies, and I found them -incredibly- cringeworthy. I don’t know that there’s any better way to present that content, but faked performances of deeply personal emotions was… not the way I’d have preferred to receive that content. It demonstrated the concepts well but left me physically grimacing. Guess that’s a trailhead for some work with my own parts - just thought I’d mention it to other listeners in case they experience similar. Despite that drawback, this was still one of the best audiobooks I’ve heard all year for sheer transformative potential of the content.

The most valuable book for understanding to mind and soul A practical framework with exercises

I’ve read a good number of psychology and self-help and Buddhist meditation books this one is on another level internal family systems is revolutionary and it’s the most comprehensive, compassionate, and useful framework for viewing our minds and healing, and beliefs that hold us back from living our purpose and being happy
No other book in the area of psychology or spirituality can match this one on audible
I also enjoyed the authors book you were the one you’ve been waiting for It goes into more depth on relationships but it’s not on this site

Excellent!

Hands down Dr. Dick Schwartz’s best IFS book so far. He personally leads the guided meditations and case demos, which is simply priceless.
Highly recommended!

The missing piece

I had my therapist recommend this book and it has become the missing piece in my healing of many decades and help to explain a lot of my behaviors that I was not even aware of in managing my emotions and why I’ve been stuck in my ability to move forward in positive ways of my life from Career to relationships.
Instead of spiritual bypassing and staying too busy doing all the time I’m now making friends with those parts of myself that I’ve simply been trying to protect me from more trauma and I’m beginning to regain my energy and sense of joy and possibility in my life.

Mind blowing

It was hard to wrap my head around the concept of parts and their communication with me, but when I actually tried to give myself a chance, I could see them, talk to them and understand what’s happening inside me. I’m still not sure how to deal with them, but seems like a good start.
I only wish that the meditation sections had a different format, it’s hard to follow while narrator keeps talking and doesn’t give you a chance to focus, so maybe it’s a good idea to write down the steps and follow them at your pace afterwards.

Esoteric and Bizarre

The presenter and the author do not seem to have compatible ideas on how this ought to have been read. The tone of the narration clashes with the words of the author— even when they make sense, which is rare.

The words themselves are so esoteric and hard to map onto any point of experience that one needs to search for these sensations as described very deeply, and it is hard to tell if the sensations are found or if you simply think yourself into an imaginative fantasy fueled by rhetorical flamboyance and your own drive to heal. The amount of thinking required to participate in this flies in bold opposition to any mindfulness practice rooted in Buddhist, Taoist, or Zen style meditation, which it claims to be compatible with.

Perhaps there is much knowledge to be gained here, but if there is, I’ll leave it for the rest of you to synthesize.

Not narrated by Richard Schwartz

This is not the author narrating like it says it is. Find it hard to listen to whoever this actually is. Disappointing

Interesting topic, sometimes poor audio quality

First: the IFS theory itself is fascinating to me, and I can see it being both helpful and useful. I wanted a general introduction to the topic, but found this book confusing.

First, about half the book consists of exercises, which are narrated by the author themselves. In these sections the audio quality is quite poor compared to the other narrator. Also, I wish there had been more theory and less exercises, especially since the author doesn't recommend working with certain parts without the aid of an IFS therapist. What theory there was, wasn't thorough enough for my taste, and I wished it had been more systematically structured.

That being said, the examples were interesting, the language is colloquial and easy to understand, and it *was* interesting to hear the author themselves at work.

Maybe this book works better in text format, or maybe it's better for therapists and people who are already familiar with IFS. I'll be seeking out a different book on the topic instead.

A Must Read for Healing Trauma!

As a mental health and trauma therapist I recommend this book to so many clients and colleagues as an introduction to IFS. Not only is it informative, but the guided meditations in the audiobook are so helpful in working towards healing in your alone time. The narrator and Dr. Schwartz both have soothing voices and everything is clearly explained. 10/10 would recommend!

Very helpful, bit too much politics

The author is obviously an expert and exceptional exercises are available in the audiobook. You get a great overview of the theory and repeat meditations of exercises.

There are chapters basically soap boxing about politics, global warming, social inequalities. All cogent and valid thoughts, but not something I needed or wanted from an audiobook for therapy. You can easily skip these parts however.

Disappointing. Misleading description of narrator

Basically I feel this is a regurgitation of 'Greater than the Sum of Parts' Most of the meditations are lifted from this book. Richard Schwartz is not the narrator except for the meditations.

All parts of me loved this!

Interesting, thought provoking,
helpful. Blown away by this concept. I have begun my journey

The value of this book is in the exercises

The exercises are great and can help you start with your inner journey and serve as a guide to your own work.

Just skip through the leftist propaganda and you'll find quite it's quite a decent listen.
If not for the insistace on the collectivism push, I would have given it 5*

Sound Quality is horrible

This good needs to be rerecorded with better equipment and in a sound dampening room. The echo of some of the speakers gave me a headache.

Excellent book

I have never understood myself better than now, after reading this books and listening to my parts!

Great book!

The exercises within are powerful, and astoundingly transformational.

Going to listen to this again and again.

Most important book I ever read

Thank you this was truly incredible I can’t describe how important this experience was for my life!!! I will go to get any other books with IFS

Amazing

Such a profound book.
Fantastic the way that the mind is explained.
We do all have different characteristics within us that change everyday.
If you’ve had any trauma in your life this will help you deal with it.
Bookmarked many areas so I can use them when I need them.
Thank you

Amazing

Best book I’ve ever read. Such profound content. Don’t miss it if you’re on an inner healing journey.

Brilliant

A great book definitely a step on from his previous books as he discusses the spiritual more. Potentially life changing for so many people.