George: I feel like I want to rescue it.
Steve: You want to rescue the rescuer?
George: I see this part as an image of a person in my mind that is panicking, and I feel myself wanting to embrace him.
Comment: Here he is accessing an imaginal felt image at the Depth of Process. This is a common way that people experience their parts and feel their relatedness to the part in the present moment.
Steve: That’s a beautiful sentiment, to really want to embrace this part, to really help this part, to hold this part.
George: But there’s a change agenda there to calm him down, to rescue him, right?
Comment: George is familiar with this methodology since we have been working together for some time and immediately understands that he is relating to the rescuer part from another part that has a change agenda.
Steve: That’s exactly right. It is good to acknowledge that. What if you turn to the part that wants to embrace him in order to save him and say, “I really get how you want to save him. It’s a beautiful intention. And what if you just take a step back and let me be with this part for now?”
Comment: In the practice of Parts Work, the coach helps to facilitate the conversation between the client and their parts. Here I’m doing this by offering a suggestion for what he can say to this part. If the concerned part that wants to save the rescuer is willing to step back, then he can more easily be Presence with the rescuer, making an experiential mismatch more likely. Often, concerned parts are willing to step back when they feel their concerns are understood and acknowledged.
George: [long pause] Yeah. It’s willing to do that.
Comment: During this long pause, I assume that George acknowledged this concerned part and asked it to step back. This is a good example of how many important shifts take place within the inner world of the client.
Steve: It’s willing?
George: Yeah.
Steve: Maybe you can thank the part for being willing to give you some space.
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