Project Paper Birds

A Short Exercise I Did Outside of Session

So I’ve been in EMDR for over a year and a half now, but more recently my therapist and I have switched gears to IFS, which I think I’ve found equally transformative. Yesterday, I actually mapped some of my parts (I’ll link the tool I used below) and I found it really useful! I color coded, too: Black for exiles, teal for managers and red for firefighters. I also put parts that feel more tied to the past/childhood on the right, and more “present day” parts on the left.

In conjunction with that, I thought I’d share some of the drawings I’ve done of my parts over the past several months/years as well. It’s also been really interesting looking back at my drawings and seeing how my relationship and understanding of my parts—even before I recognized them as such—has evolved. I’ve always liked to doodle but art has really become a huge asset for me when it comes to grounding myself and making sense of my feelings.

For additional context, “the fog person” and “the box child” are one in the same. Also, it’s been amazing to see how far I’ve come with suicidal ideation. I went from daydreaming about dying as a teen to genuinely being excited about life, feeling fulfilled, and in my zone of tolerance most of the time. And more recently, the “angry teenager” part has gone from being volatile and incapable of communicating due to rage, to being able to slowly connect. Still a work in progress of course, but I find a lot of reassurance in how far I’ve come.

But anyway, just wanted to share as I thought this was neat! (And maybe this will be helpful for someone else?) TW for suicidal ideation & mentions of ED & CSA in the map/drawings. Here’s the site I use…it’s free!