Is IFS parts mapping actually helpful?

You’ve read “No Bad Parts” and listened to a couple of podcasts. You’re hooked. You resonate with the model and want to learn more about your parts and their interactions with each other. You want to start parts mapping but you’re not sure if mapping is just procrastination, perfectionism, or something else entirely.

So is IFS parts mapping helpful? Yes. It’s a great way to build on foundational IFS skills. Parts mapping encourages judgment-free observations. When you experience different parts coming up and you map it out, you’re already taking a step towards unblending and taking on the role of an observer instead of a participant.

More importantly, it can clarify your parts' roles and interactions with each other. Having this level of awareness can give you clearer trailheads to follow during your IFS sessions. When you're "in the thick of it", it can also serve as a resource to help you step back into more Self-energy when you're feeling more blended.

What does IFS parts mapping help with?

Developing foundational IFS skills: awareness, embodiment, and judgment-free observations

It’s a great way to practice awareness and develop the skills that set you up for IFS work. In my experience interacting in IFS groups on Reddit and Facebook, I find that one of the biggest gripes with the model is that it doesn’t really explain “how” to get started.

The practice of IFS parts mapping helps set the foundation for noticing parts:

What are you noticing right now? How does that part feel?

What do other parts feel in reaction to that? What happens after?

If you’re not noticing feelings or somatic sensations in your body, what are you noticing instead? Do you notice thoughts instead? Do any parts say that mapping is stupid or useless or just “procrastinating”?

Your initial map can be as simple as jotting down your train of thought. Here is an example of a map that doesn’t have super clear roles or interactions. I’m just mapping my initial awareness of the parts - which is a completely acceptable approach.

I find that it’s best to treat IFS parts mapping as both an exercise and a visual tool for parts and relationships that I’m already aware of. It’s a great way to take note of trailheads, and then transform those into maps once I have a better awareness of each part’s role and relationships.

Benefits of IFS Parts Mapping

1) Developing awareness of your parts and their roles

Some people find it easy to start logging parts individually. I find that I feel most curious when I’m motivated to “observe” or map an interaction between one or two of my parts.

You can start by creating a general map of what you’re aware of and then build upon each part’s “profile” or personality over time.

2) Discovering interactions between parts

Maps can help clarify roles and relationships among parts. Observing how parts interact with each other can clue you in on who’s protecting who, or which parts are allied with each other.

For people who have parts that are seeking more structure and clarity, mapping might also provide some clearer trailheads on which parts to “focus on” during your IFS work.

3) Getting insight during IFS sessions

I bring maps to a therapist for a “second look”. I find that my initial map typically evolves into something else after an IFS session. More on that below.

What’s more interesting is that I’ll often discover new parts that I haven’t mapped. That’s helped discover Self-like parts that I very rarely notice in my original maps. I would usually ask my therapist to help me reflect on the map I currently have.

4) Seeing common triggers and loops

Because maps are so visual, it’s especially helpful in understanding polarizations and alliances between parts.

For example, a Binge Eater Manager and an Exercising Manager might be polarized over your health. In the moment, it’s easy to get lost in “agreeing” with one of them. When mapped out, it might be easier to notice how these two parts are both trying to do their job.

5) Discovering Self-like parts

Do you ever reflect and think: “That’s not a part - that’s just who I am”?

Mapping is a great way to notice those Self-like parts more. When you see how certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors show up as a response to events and other parts, it’s easier to not self-identify with these behaviors and values as just “you”.

How can IFS parts mapping help during therapy?

One of the great things about mapping is that you can share this with an IFS therapist. It’s a great way to “build on” what you already know of your parts - whether you’re working individually or with a professional.

I’ve been experiencing stuckness around communication and feeling extremely pessimistic and disappointed when those needs don’t get met. I have communication parts that I’ve named NVC/Communication parts.

I notice this part has two aspects to her: she is genuinely excited to express her feelings and needs through NVC (Nonviolent Communication), but I also notice resentment in practicing NVC that seems to get more activated when her needs aren’t met.

I started by mapping my awareness of the parts. This map has many moving parts, and sometimes I don’t have clarity on which are parts and which ones are feelings.

At this point, I was pretty confident about my awareness of these parts.

My therapist and I worked through this map and his curiosity guided me into meeting a couple of parts. In that session, he asked me questions to help me understand where my Self-Energy breaks down. In other words: at which point do I start to become blended with a part? At which point do I start getting mixed up with feelings of desolation or helplessness? At what point do I usually throw my hands up in the air in exasperation?

Interestingly, the “feels like I’m just doing NVC as a strategy” part wasn’t super fleshed out yet when I made that initial map. It didn’t feel like “anything” yet. My therapist helped me understand that this is a pretty big Self-like part that’s impacting my experience when communicating with NVC.

I requested a map based on my current one to help me visualize how exactly that new part was interacting with my current one. He sent me this one a couple of days after:

This is how I’ve reinterpreted my map based on what he sent:

On this map, there are two new parts that I never included in my original map, and one gray square that’s been fleshed out to be a Firefighter (NVC Saboteur).

My awareness of those parts has been dim at most, but seeing their interaction here so fleshed out helps create a sense of pause and space.

I tend to interpret ambivalence in my system as being a natural response to things, but when I see that it’s a part that’s responding to other things happening, I can’t quite help but feel sympathetic and appreciation for how hard they’re working to get my needs met - even deploying strategies that don’t always create positive outcomes.

Ultimately, I think the value of IFS parts mapping is that it reinforces the core idea of IFS: that your beliefs and feelings aren’t always the end-all and be-all of your existence; that they might be the very beginning of something else entirely.