Search for an IFS parts list and you will mostly find a worksheet with blank circles on it, or a list of twenty adjectives. Neither is very useful when you are trying to understand why you rewrote that email six times.
This page does two things. It describes ten parts that show up often in people's systems, with what each one does, what it is afraid of, and what it tends to need. Then it walks through how to build a map of your own: who is in there, who protects whom, and who is locked in a tug of war with whom.
One caution up front. Nobody has the same parts. The names below are common, not universal, and your system is allowed to be weirder and more specific than any list. Treat these as examples of how to describe a part, not a checklist to match yourself against.
What a "part" is, briefly
In Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems model, the mind is naturally made up of multiple parts, each with its own feelings, beliefs, and ways of acting. This is considered normal, not a sign of anything wrong. Underneath the parts is Self, a calm, curious presence that is not a part and cannot be damaged. The aim of parts work is not to get rid of parts, but to get to know them, understand what they are carrying, and let Self lead.
Parts fall into three broad groups. Managers run your daily life and try to prevent pain before it starts. Firefighters react once pain has been triggered and try to put it out fast. Exiles hold the original hurt, often from childhood, which the other two groups are working to keep out of sight. Managers and firefighters are together called protectors. If you want the longer version, see managers, firefighters, and exiles.
Ten common parts
For each part below: what it does, what it is afraid of, what it often needs. These are tendencies, not scripts. Your Perfectionist might be quiet and your Critic might sound like a particular teacher.
Managers
1. The Inner Critic What it does: Points out your flaws before anyone else can. Often in a voice that sounds like a parent, a teacher, or a school bully. Afraid of: You being rejected, humiliated, or exposed. Criticizing you first feels like control. Often needs: To be thanked for the effort, asked how long it has been doing this, and shown that you are an adult now and can handle more than it believes. (See the Inner Critic Dialogue.)
2. The Perfectionist What it does: Sets very high standards, checks work repeatedly, and finds it hard to call anything finished. Afraid of: Mistakes that lead to shame or loss of approval. Often needs: Evidence that being imperfect has survived before, and a smaller job than "make sure nothing ever goes wrong."
3. The People-Pleaser What it does: Reads the room, says yes, smooths tension, puts other people first. Afraid of: Conflict, abandonment, being a burden. Often needs: Permission to have preferences, and reassurance that relationships can hold a "no."
4. The Planner or Worrier What it does: Runs scenarios, makes lists, anticipates what could go wrong. Often loudest at night. Afraid of: Being caught off guard. Underneath, there is often an old memory of something unexpected going badly. Often needs: To know that you will be there if something does go wrong, so it does not have to hold all of the watch.
5. The Caretaker What it does: Notices everyone else's needs and rushes to meet them, often before being asked. Afraid of: What happens if no one is looked after, including a time when no one looked after you. Often needs: Rest that is not earned and care that comes toward it, rather than only going out.
6. The Controller What it does: Manages details, other people, outcomes. Struggles to delegate or let things be. Afraid of: Chaos, helplessness, or a repeat of a time when things were out of control. Often needs: Small experiments in letting go that turn out fine, and acknowledgement that control used to be necessary.
Firefighters
7. The Numb-Out or Escape part What it does: Zones out, scrolls, sleeps, dissociates, or watches one more episode when a feeling gets too large. Afraid of: Being overwhelmed by feeling. It acts quickly because the feeling seems dangerous. Often needs: To know someone is going to deal with what it is shielding you from, gently and at a pace it can trust.
8. The Soother What it does: Reaches for food, alcohol, shopping, or something else that brings fast relief. Afraid of: Unbearable pain or loneliness with nothing to take the edge off. Often needs: Not shaming, which only feeds the cycle. Curiosity about what it is soothing, and other ways of being soothed. (If this part is running your life, please bring it to a therapist.)
9. The Rager What it does: Flares up fast, with anger that can feel out of proportion to the moment. Afraid of: Being hurt, disrespected, or powerless again. Anger often moves in front of something more vulnerable. Often needs: To be heard without being punished, and to be asked what it is guarding.
Exiles
10. The Young One Who Was Left, Shamed, or Not Enough What it does: Carries the original pain, often from childhood, that protectors work so hard to keep out. When it breaks through, it can feel like a flood of shame, panic, or loneliness at an age that does not match your current one. Afraid of: Being abandoned again, or never being seen. Often needs: A steady, present witness who stays, and, eventually, release of the burden it has been carrying. This is the part to approach slowly, with the protectors' permission, and often with a therapist. (See the Exiles section of the IFS journaling prompts.)
Many other parts live in these categories: the Procrastinator, the Rebel, the Overachiever, the Judge, the Comedian, the Lonely One, the Little Kid Who Loves to Play. One thing worth knowing is that the roles are not fixed. A part can be a manager in one season and a firefighter in another, and the same behavior (say, working late) can come from different parts with different reasons. The only way to know is to ask.
How to read your parts as a system
A list tells you who exists. A map tells you how they work together, which is where the useful insights usually come from. Three relationships come up again and again.
Protects. Most of your protectors are guarding something. The Perfectionist is often protecting an exile who was shamed for mistakes. The Numb-Out part may be protecting the same one. When you can say "this part protects that one," you understand why it will not back down until the one underneath is safe.
Polarized with. Polarizations are the classic IFS tug of war: two parts with opposite strategies, each one escalating because the other will not budge. The Caretaker and the part that wants to disappear for a week. The Overachiever and the Procrastinator. Each is afraid of what would happen if the other won. Seeing a polarization on a page is often the first time it stops feeling like a personal failing.
Allied with. Some parts work as a team. The Critic and the Perfectionist often reinforce each other. A Planner and a Controller can run together for years.
You may also see a part that is blended with you (you are experiencing the world through it) versus one you can sit across from. That is not a relationship between parts so much as a relationship between you and the part, but it is worth noting on any map, because it tells you which parts you currently have the most space from.
How to map your own parts: a step-by-step
You can do this on paper in about 20 minutes. Do not try to finish it in one sitting. A map gets better over weeks.
- Start with something that is bothering you this week. A specific moment works better than a general theme. "I snapped at my partner on Tuesday" is a good place to begin.
- Find the first part. Use a Somatic Check-In or the Parts Check-In Meditation to locate who was involved. Write down a name for it.
- Unblend. Use the Unblending Exercise or just ask it for a little space. You are looking for the feeling of being able to sit across from it.
- Ask the three questions. What do you do for me? What are you afraid would happen if you stopped? How old were you when you started?
- Ask what it protects. If it says "the sad one," or "someone who was embarrassed," you have found a second part. Write that name down too, even if you are not ready to meet it.
- Ask who disagrees. "Is there another part that does not like what you do?" Write down what comes. That is the other side of a polarity.
- Draw lines. On paper, put each part in a circle and draw arrows: protects, polarized with, allied with. You do not need a clean diagram. A rough sketch is plenty.
- Add the notes that matter. For each part: its job, its fear, its age, and what it asked of you. A single line each.
- Close with Self. Thank the parts you met. If you can, spend a few minutes with the Self-Energy Meditation before you put the map away.
- Come back to it. New parts appear. Names change. A part you labelled a manager turns out to be doing firefighter work. That is the map improving, not failing.
Why keeping the map up to date is the hard part
The first map is easy. The second month is where it falls apart: a paper map from March does not know about the part you met in June, and a note on your phone does not tell you that the Perfectionist is polarized with someone you have not talked to in weeks. People doing parts work between therapy sessions often tell us the same thing: the insight was real, and then it evaporated by midweek.
All My Parts is built to remove that bookkeeping. As you write or speak about your day, it notices which part is talking and adds it to your map. It keeps track of each part's role, what it protects, and how the parts relate, and it updates the map as you keep journaling, so you can spend your energy on getting to know the parts instead of redrawing circles. You can edit or rename anything it picks up, because you are the expert on your own system. It is free to start, on the web or your phone.
This is a self-guided reflective practice, not therapy or treatment, and it is not a substitute for working with a qualified professional. If something painful opens up, go slowly and reach out for support.