Inquiry · “You Are Not Your Thoughts”
Parts Therapy
Resolve an inner conflict by hypnotically calling out the conflicting ‘parts’ of the self, giving each a voice, and mediating a negotiated agreement between them.
In hypnosis, name the conflict. Call out the first part, thank it, ask what it’s trying to do for you. Call out the opposing part, thank it, ask the same. With both present, mediate: each hears the other’s good intention, then they negotiate a compromise toward the shared goal. Confirm consent, reinforce, thank the parts, emerge. Respect every part as a person.
What it is
Parts Therapy is a hypnotic technique for resolving inner conflict — the “part of me wants to quit, part of me doesn’t” experience. Developed by American hypnotist Charles Tebbetts (and systematized by his student Roy Hunter), it treats the mind as having functional “parts” (sub-personalities), each formed to protect or serve the person in some way.
Working with a hypnotized client, the therapist calls each relevant part forward, lets it speak in its own voice, uncovers what it is really trying to accomplish, and then mediates a negotiation between the conflicting parts until they reach a workable agreement.
It is, in essence, conflict-resolution facilitation conducted inside trance. It differs from IFS-style parts work: Tebbetts’ method is explicitly hypnotic and mediation-driven — the operator brokers a deal between parts — whereas IFS is a waking, Self-led inner relationship without formal hypnosis. Tebbetts drew the “parts” idea from Assagioli’s psychosynthesis.
The Method
Tebbetts’ (and Hunter’s) sequence, run after a hypnotic induction:
- Induce hypnosis (e.g. an Elman or progressive induction.
- Identify the conflict and name the two (or more) opposing pulls.
- Call out the first part. Invite the part responsible for one side of the conflict to “come forward and speak.” Establish rapport with it as if it were a person.
- Thank the part and discover its purpose. Acknowledge it, then ask what it is trying to do for the person — its positive intention. Let it name itself.
- Call out the conflicting part(s) and repeat: rapport, thanks, purpose.
- Mediate and negotiate. With both parts “present,” the operator facilitates — each part hears the other’s positive intention, and they negotiate a compromise both can accept, often with the parts agreeing to cooperate toward the shared underlying goal.
- Confirm agreement and integrate. Verify each part consents to the new arrangement; give reinforcing suggestion; thank the parts.
- Emerge from hypnosis. A cornerstone rule: treat every part with respect, “just as though the part was a person.” Parts resist being attacked; they cooperate when heard.
Source & Lineage
Charles Tebbetts (1909–1992) taught Parts Therapy through his hypnotherapy training and his book Miracles on Demand (1985), tracing the “parts” concept to Roberto Assagioli’s psychosynthesis.
His student Roy Hunter later formalized the steps in Hypnosis for Inner Conflict Resolution (2005). The approach is a cousin to other “internal multiplicity” methods — Assagioli’s sub-personalities, Perls’ empty-chair, and Schwartz’s IFS — but is distinguished by being conducted in hypnosis and run as a mediation.
Common refinements
Leading or scripting the parts. Let each part speak for itself; the operator facilitates, doesn’t ventriloquize.
- Attacking the “bad” part. Every part has a protective intention; berating it provokes resistance. Thank it.
- Forcing a settlement. A durable agreement is negotiated, not imposed; check genuine consent from each part.
- Skipping the positive-intention step. Without understanding what each part is for, no real compromise is possible.
- Going solo on trauma-rooted conflicts. Deep material needs a trained therapist.