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IFS · Depth

Shadow Work Prompts

Jungian-adjacent journaling prompts for what we disown

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Thirty structured prompts across six themes. Jungian shadow work translated into IFS parts language — nothing is banished, everything gets welcomed and asked what it's protecting. Journal between sessions. Not a substitute for clinical parts work; a companion to it.

Traits I'm quick to judge in others
The trait in someone else that most reliably irritates me is…
The last time I said 'I would never…', what I actually meant was…
A person I secretly envy, and what their life shows me about my own longing…
What I was taught to hide
A part of me my family had no room for was…
The emotion I learned wasn't safe to show growing up was…
As a child I was praised most for being…, which taught me to hide…
Roles I've outgrown but still perform
The version of me I show at work / to family / to my partner that isn't quite me is…
A role I took on to survive that I no longer need but still play is…
If I stopped being 'the responsible one' / 'the strong one' / 'the easy one', what would I risk losing?
Disowned strengths
A quality I admire in someone else that I refuse to see in myself is…
A desire I've called 'selfish' that might actually be legitimate is…
Anger, ambition, or wanting more — which of these do I disown, and why?
Recurring pattern in relationships
The kind of person I keep ending up with — friend, boss, partner — and what that repetition might be trying to show me…
A conversation I keep having in different rooms with different people is really about…
The part of me that keeps choosing this pattern is trying to protect me from…
Turning toward
If I welcomed the disowned trait as a part with a job, what job might it be doing?
What would change if I stopped fighting this part and got curious about it?
One small experiment I could run this week to meet this part rather than manage it…
Something I noticed doing this work that I want to bring to my next session
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About this worksheet

Shadow work is Jung's term for the psychological work of meeting what we've disowned — the traits, desires, and roles we couldn't afford to show growing up and have been managing at cost ever since. In IFS language, the shadow isn't a single dark thing; it's the whole set of parts that got exiled or buried under managers, along with the family-of-origin rules and cultural pressures that made them unwelcome. This worksheet offers thirty structured prompts across six themes: traits we're quick to judge in others, what we were taught to hide, roles we've outgrown but still perform, disowned strengths, recurring patterns in relationships, and turning toward what we've been managing. It's built as a companion to clinical parts work — for journaling between sessions with a therapist who can help the client work with what surfaces. Not a substitute for that work, and not a first-line tool for early-stabilization or acute presentations.

When to use it

  • Depth-oriented clients ready to work with parts, projection, and family-of-origin material.
  • IFS work between sessions — the prompts surface material for the next parts dialogue.
  • Midlife re-evaluation, chronic self-judgement, or recurring relational patterns the client is ready to name.
  • Not for early stabilization, acute crisis, active trauma processing without container, or clients without a clinical support relationship.

How to use it

  1. 1
    Introduce the frame

    Shadow isn't bad — it's what got exiled. The work is welcoming, not fighting. Explicitly name IFS parts language: everything that surfaces is a part with a job.

  2. 2
    One theme per week

    Six themes, six weeks. Attempting all thirty prompts at once flattens the work into a checklist.

  3. 3
    Bring surfaced material to session

    Client marks two or three prompts that landed hardest. Those become the starting point for the next session's parts work.

  4. 4
    Close each entry with turning-toward

    The final theme (turning toward) reframes each disowned part as protective. Reinforce that framing across the whole practice.

  5. 5
    Track patterns across weeks

    The same disowned trait usually shows up under three different prompts. That repetition is the clinical signal.

Frequently asked questions

What is shadow work?+

Carl Jung's term for the psychological work of integrating disowned parts of self — traits, desires, and roles the person had to hide to belong. Widely used in depth-oriented, IFS, Jungian, and post-Jungian clinical work.

Is shadow work safe to do alone?+

Structured prompts like these are safe as journaling between sessions with a clinician who can help work with what surfaces. Deep shadow work without clinical support can activate exiles the client isn't equipped to hold — that's why the worksheet is a between-session tool, not a workbook.

How is this different from IFS parts work?+

IFS parts work is the in-session clinical method — the client meets a part with the therapist holding the frame. Shadow work prompts are a between-session structure to surface which parts want attention next. They live comfortably together.

Are these prompts safe for trauma clients?+

Only after stabilization and window-of-tolerance work are established, and only with clinician support. The prompts about family-of-origin and disowned emotion can activate exiles quickly.

Is this printable free?+

Yes. Free clinician PDF. Sign in to TherapistAssist to send as a secure client link or add your practice name.

Worksheet — Shadow Work Prompts — provided by TherapistAssist for clinical use. Not a substitute for assessment or treatment.