Get curious about the part that's activated, instead of merging with it. Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems model, made into a short guided check-in.
The idea, briefly: IFS treats the mind as made up of "parts" — not a metaphor exactly, more a genuinely useful way to notice that the part of you that's anxious right now isn't the whole of you. Parts usually have a protective job, even the ones that cause trouble. The core move is unblending: instead of being the anxious/angry/shut-down part, you get curious about it from a calmer place, and ask it what it's actually trying to do for you.
This version stays at the surface, on purpose — noticing and asking, not deep trauma work. See the note at the bottom for when to bring this to a therapist instead.
Recognising the same part show up again is the point — saving is optional, on this device only.
This check-in is built for everyday activated parts — the anxious planner, the procrastinator, the people-pleaser. If what surfaces feels much younger, much heavier, or connects to real trauma (what IFS calls an "exile"), that's not a self-guided exercise anymore — that work goes much better, and much more safely, with a trained IFS or trauma-informed therapist. If something here brings up more than you expected, our grounding tools and support page are the next steps, not pushing further into it alone.
Related pages: The 3-2-1 Shadow Process works well alongside this for parts that show up as a strong reaction to someone else. Shame and Self-compassion are common places a part's underlying fear turns out to live.