The Tender Parts: A Guide to Healing from Trauma through Internal Family Systems Therapy

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.

Ilyse Kennedy, LPC, LMFT, PMH-C, is a trauma therapist, mental health advocate, and public speaker who works out of her private practice, Moving Parts Psychotherapy, in Austin, TX. She works with clients of all ages, most of whom are recovering from complex trauma. She is certified in EMDR, somatic experiencing, IFS, sandtray and expressive arts therapy, and more. Kennedy is active on Instagram with more than 38K followers and has been featured on podcasts such as “Something Was Wrong,” “The Tea with Bri,” and “Grief Is a Sneaky Bitch.” You can follow her at @movingpartspsychotherapy.