Easy Ego State Interventions: Strategies for Working With Parts

by Robin Shapiro

Quick, essential techniques to practice ego state therapy, a popular therapeutic approach. Most of us have different aspects, “parts,” or “ego states” of ourselves―the silly and imaginative five-year-old part, for example, or the depressed, anxious, or angry adolescent―which manifest as particular moods, behaviors, and reactions depending on the demands of our external and internal environments. “Ego state therapy” refers to a powerful, flexible therapy that helps clients integrate and reconcile these distinct aspects of themselves.

This book offers a grab bag of ego state interventions―simple, practical techniques for a range of client issues―that any therapist can incorporate in his or her practice. In her characteristic wise, compassionate, and user-friendly writing style, Robin Shapiro explains what ego states are, how to access them in clients, and how to use them for a variety of treatment issues. After covering foundational interventions for accessing positive adult states, creating internal caregivers, and working with infant and child states in Part I: Getting Started With Ego State Work, Shapiro walks readers step-by-step through a variety of specific interventions for specific problems, each ready for immediate application with clients. Part II: Problem-Specific Interventions includes chapters devoted to working with trauma, relationship challenges, personality disorders, suicidal ideation, and more.

Ego state work blends easily, and often seamlessly, with most other modalities. The powerful techniques and interventions in this book can be used alone or combined with other therapies. They are suitable for garden-variety clients with normal developmental issues like self-care challenges, depression, grief, anxiety, and differentiation from families and peer groups. Many of the interventions included in this book are also effective with clients across the dissociation spectrum―dissociation is a condition particularly well suited to ego state work―including clients who suffer trauma and complex trauma. Rich with case examples, this book is both a pragmatic introduction for clinicians who have never before utilized parts work and a trove of proven interventions for experienced hands to add to their therapeutic toolbox. Welcome to a powerful, flexible resource to help even the most difficult clients build a sense of themselves as adult, loveable, worthwhile, and competent.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Counselling, Mental Health, Social Work, Audiobook, Personal Development

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 7, 2015

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a mental health provider for 8 years, and I have never had anything click for me as a clinician — or as a client — more than ego states.

Holy moly this book and these processes! Healing! Powerful!

I feel re-energized as a professional. I feel emotionally taxed as a human. But seriously. This + EMDR has been radical for me. I’m still in the midst of it but I am excited to have learned about this form of therapy and I can not wait to learn how to implement it in the therapy space.

[Nathan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and concise explanation of the interpersonal family, and how it can affect people's mental health. It also calls into action about your own interpersonal family and how it works. I would not only recommend it to therapists, but to those who are interested in how the brain processes emotional events.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! It provides a lot of information pertaining different “parts” and how to work with them. Shapiro provides different cases (e.g. suicidal, complex trauma etc..) and ways to deal with such cases. As an EMDR therapist, I recommend this book to those interested in ego state therapy or who simply want to heal themselves holistically. To ensure their validity, I tried a few on myself and was amazed by what can happen when one reconnects with younger traumatized parts.

[Nikki Lavarias · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a bit lost in all of the case examples. I mean they’re helpful but I did skim skim skim and I just wanted to read more about interventions not in case example format personally and respectfully. Great relevant stuff though and I will consider this in my practice but not sure I’d say this is my jam!

[Whitney Dahlberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always appreciate when a book can break down a theory/process into digestible steps and case examples. Real life does not always follow a linear format but having a book that presents the foundational steps really helps!

[Kate K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ego States therapy. If you aren’t familiar with parts work, the interventions here will seem incredibly whacky. True to title, the interventions are easy to understand

[Amanda Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal

Reading this text helped me to throw out a number of introjects in my personal life as well as forged an understanding of how to help my counselling clients to do the same.

[Maya Hochberger-Vigsittaboot · Rating 5 out of 5]

second time reading this and even more helpful this go around. A must read when working with complex trauma and dissociative clients to help them find inner peace. Would love to take a training with Robin

[Desiree Nadeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and pragmatic introduction to parts work with immediate interventions to incorporate with many different modalities, especially interweaving it with EMDR.

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy Ego State Interventions: Strategies for Working With Parts by Robin Shapiro is a practical guide for therapists to help clients work with different parts, or ego states, within themselves. Shapiro introduces various strategies to address inner conflicts, trauma, and emotional distress by engaging with “parts” of the self, such as the inner child. These techniques are aimed at helping clients achieve integration and healing by building awareness and fostering self-compassion across different ego states. The book provides accessible tools for therapists working with clients who may struggle with trauma, attachment issues, or dissociation.

Reading Easy Ego State Interventions reminded me of how healing our inner child can really change our lives. It’s a great refresher on the importance of reconnecting with those different parts of ourselves. While the book is primarily from a therapist's perspective and felt a bit like an introduction to the topic, it still offered helpful insights and strategies. It’s a solid resource for anyone interested in understanding ego states and the role they play in our well-being, even if it’s more therapist-focused.

[William Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because as a therapist I love the idea that we all contain "parts", which are pieces of ourselves that are frozen in time that come to the surface when we experience a similar event. Parts (which can also be called "ego states") are why we behave immaturely or emotionally charged. The idea from various forms of therapy is to identify and nurture these parts and ego states.
Though I love the theory, I am not a fan of how hokey the application is. I have read books on Internal Family Systems Theory (where "parts" comes from) and now on ego states. I have listened to podcasts where the techniques are discussed. The application makes me cringe. Maybe that's why I got this book, hoping for something different.
But it wasn't different. The "Case examples made me cringe until I simply stopped reading them and only read the more instructional parts. I guess this is the reason for my low rating. I could never see myself practicing these techniques, at least not in any way close to how I have heard or read them being done.

[Anjali Cherian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shapiro explains well in a way that’s not overwhelming but still makes a lot of sense. What I found really helpful were Chapters 2 (Accessing Positive States) and 3 (Creating Safe Places and Internal Caregivers) as foundational skills.

My experiences in working with traumatized clients are very limited and I’ve found it challenging to approach defensive clients without being told “They’re not ready” and to discharge. Shapiro wisely informs us that this book alone isn’t enough, but I think Chapters 2 and 3 especially can be a good stepping stone in working with traumatized clients.

[Charis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most impactful books of the year for me. Not recommended for the general population 😂 but for me it was the perfect building block for my work. EMDR plus IFS gold. So many case studies, scripts, and important interventions!
Took my time getting through it and feel like I could start it again right away.

[Luiz Fabricio Calland Cerqueira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some powerful interventions. I have some problems with nom-socratic interventions. On the other hand, I know the huge limitations of those, and maybe it is time to widen my perspectives and drop some deep entrenched beliefs of how therapy must be. Over all things, therapy must work.

[Alicia Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an EMDR practitioner and am familiar with ego state interventions through training. I have listened to interviews with Robin Shapiro which led to reading this book. It's a good base to familiarize yourself. The examples are a huge help in getting started.

[Hayley Mcdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly accessible and useful clinical tool. Shapiro presents a method of utilizing parts work that is theoretically sound while responsibly drawing from a handful of theories. I have already used several of the techniques in the book and I can’t wait to use more.

[xmilkshakex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite having received a lot of this information before, this book packaged it in a way that was deliverable, broad enough to re-think about things, and thoughtful enough to zoom in on some of the smaller details. Really appreciated it and got a couple of exercises out of it.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also couldn’t finish this but perhaps I’ll come back to it when I’ve been a therapist for awhile. She provides helpful strategies for working with dissociative behaviour, but did lose me when she talked about infant parts 🤔

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for clinicians working with parts. This book offers great examples for multiple scenarios.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great work...I read this before and during a conference with Robin and it really helped. my clients love this work and it truly helps them.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow- this book is a must read for all counselors out there! I appreciated many of her interventions, as well as how she interwove EMDR into the book.

[Lore LongSoulSystem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Many examples. Though it's just a small manual. I liked it though!
I'd love to learn more about this therapy

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful book. Shapiro breaks things down so they are easy to follow and it is easy to integrate into my practice. Much appreciated.

[Julie S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a transformative book for my practice. Definitely thinking about how to combine this new knowledge with EMDR.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read and immediately applicable to work with clients.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic skills to use with clients and add to EMDR work.

[Ryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Robin Shapiro and this inspired and enhanced my work.

[RevaC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is practical, easy to understand and immediately useful. Great for EMDR therapists, but can also be used for talk therapy sessions.

[Courtney Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a therapist who works with trauma, I highly recommend this book. It’s probably one of the best therapy books I’ve read and gives you real things to take away and utilize with clients.

[Li Of Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful therapeutic strategies. Details make it pretty easy to move from concept to practice.