Unburdening a Part
IFS — six steps to release what a part has been carrying
Unburdening is best done in session, with a therapist holding the space. This page is a guide for what's happening — and a place to return to in the days after, when the system is settling.
Let the exile show you what happened. As much as you can be with, no more.
From Self: ‘I see what you carried. I see how alone you were.’
Go back and bring the part out of the time and place it has been stuck in.
Ask what it has been carrying. Invite it to release the burden to light, water, wind, fire, or earth.
Ask what it would like in place of the burden. Calm? Joy? Strength? Welcome it in.
Check with the protectors. Thank them. They may not need to work so hard now.
What was released
What was invited in
"Burdens are not who the part is. They are what the part has been carrying."