Parts Therapy / IFS Mailing List and Resource Page
What is it? A place to find real solutions that work for real people with real pain.
Sometimes great ideas are just meant for each other. Think chocolate sauce on your ice cream.
If you are in chronic pain, this mailing list is like that combination. Two great ideas adding up to “Aaahh, that’s better.”
First, what is TMS? Simply put, Tension Myoneural Syndrome is a term for pain caused (or made worse) by unconscious emotional factors. Of course, the sadness, fear or anger we know about also affects how we experience pain.
Key: Pain is worse when we are miserable. We all know that. The question is, what to do?
At The TMS Wiki (part of the non-profit PPD/TMS Peer Network) we have tons of information about the mind/body connection. There are great forums where we share our experiences and support each other. We even have a subforum devoted entirely to people in pain who are learning about using parts therapy to help themselves.
To join the mailing list, just scroll to the form at the bottom of this page. Unsubscribing (if you decide it's not for you) is just as easy.
In short, it's a treat.
And, the best thing is, most of us start feeling better and many recover completely from chronic pain.
Sweet.
Recently, people on our wiki began talking about parts therapy, a term referring to work with aspects of personality that may disagree with each other, our goals, or our core values. For example: "I want that ice cream but I also want to lose 10 pounds by spring break." Some of our parts are subconscious because they are painful or unacceptable. Others we know about. It is important to realize that we all have parts and all parts are trying to help us in their own way: they have "positive intent" for us. As we get to know our parts we can reconcile their conflicts and solve our problems.
There are different flavors of this approach. A great one is Internal Family Systems (IFS). Why so good? It's intuitive, it's self-led (non-invasive and respectful) and the best part, it works.
Key: people find IFS makes TMS better.
Wow. A chocolate on ice cream experience!
Nuts, you say?
If you have chronic pain you're already looking for something new. Why not taste what we have to offer?
PS: If you aren’t a fan of chocolate, we’ll help you find caramel. 
Explore the resources below, or sign up NOW!
Resources
There are many resources available to connect TMS work with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. Here are a few:
Websites
IFS
personal-growth-programs.com - one of Jay Earley's sites (he's an IFS guru and author of many books)
www.personalgrowthconnect.com - peer support; find an IFS buddy; and more
www.psychemaps.com - the Inner Critic questionnaire lives here
TMS
www.tmswiki.org - an almost endless resource on all things TMS
www.tmswiki.org/forum - meet, learn and share!
www.tmshelp.com - another TMS forum
www.thankyoudrsarno.org - read inspiring success stories in the form of thank-you letters to Dr. John E. Sarno
Books
IFS
Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS, A New, Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy, by Dr. Jay Earley. Available as a paperback or on Kindle at amazon.com
Personal Healing and Growth with IFS, by Dr. Jay Earley - an 18 page introduction to IFS. Available as a free PDF.
TMS
The TMS Wiki has a comprehensive list of TMS books and other materials here.
Multimedia
Internal Family Systems founder Dr. Richard Schwartz discusses how he discovered IFS:
A longer introductory video about IFS:
Coaches, Practitioners, and Therapists
The mailing list's own Mark Hurwich is an IFS coach in Pennsylvania. He is also able to conduct sessions via Skype.
Jay Earley and Bonnie Weiss of personal-growth-programs.com offer personal and group therapy (including distance options).
Visit the official IFS practitioner directory for a full list of therapists knowledgeable in the IFS approach.
For a list of TMS practitioners, visit the TMS Wiki's Practitioner Directory
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