Would it be possible to just pose the questions to them as an exercise that they could do in real time? Totally. Yeah. Thank you so much. I think that would be tremendously valuable. So I'm going to have to erase myself here for once. I'm going to be quiet for a little while, folks.

And you are the lucky patient that gets to talk to Dr. Schwartz here, and he's going to pose a series of questions. And we'll allow some moments of break or silence for you to be able to tap into the answers to these in real time. That way, you don't have to create a parallel construction of what we did earlier.

Yeah. And let me lead by saying, please don't do this if you have fear about doing it. But if you're interested in some inner exploration, then I'll lead you through some of the steps. So as you've been listening to our conversation, I'm speaking to listeners, you may be thinking about some of your own parts, particularly your own protectors.

And if you can't think of any, most people have a kind of critic inside or part that makes them work too hard or a part that takes care of too many people. So I'm going to invite you to pick a protective part to try to get to know for a few minutes.

And just notice that inner voice or that emotion, that thought pattern, that sensation. Just focus on it exclusively for a second. And as you do that, notice where it seems to be located in your body or around your body. And just take a second with that. And some people don't find a location.

Some people, they still sense it, but it's not clear where it seems to be located. But if you do find it in or around your body, then just focus on it there. And as you focus on it, notice how you feel toward it. And by that I mean, do you dislike it and want to get rid of it?

Are you afraid of it? Do you resent how it dominates? Do you depend on it? So you have a relationship with this part of you. And if you feel anything except a kind of openness or curiosity or willingness to get to know it, then that's coming from other parts that have been trying to deal with it.

And we're just going to ask those other parts of you to relax back for just a few minutes so you can get to know it. We're not going to have it take over more. We're just going to get to know it better. So see if they're willing to let you open your mind to it.

And if they're not, then we're not going to pursue this. And you can just get to know their fear about letting you get to know this target part. But if you do get to that point of just being curious about it, without an agenda, then ask it what it wants you to know about itself.

Just a kind of nice open-ended question. And don't think of the answer. Just wait and see what comes from that place in your body. And don't judge what comes. Just whatever comes, we'll go with it. What does it want you to know about itself? And what's it afraid would happen if it didn't do this inside of you?

If you got an answer to that question about the fear, then it was telling you something about how it's been trying to protect you. And if that's true, then extend some appreciation to it for at least trying to keep you safe, even if it backfires or it doesn't work.

Let it know you appreciate that it's trying to protect you. And see how it reacts to your appreciation. And then ask if you could go to what it protects and heal or change that so it didn't need to protect you so much. What might it like to do instead inside of you if it was released from this role?

And I'll repeat that. If you could go to what it protects and heal or change that so it was liberated from this protective role, what might it like to do instead inside of you? And then ask it this kind of odd question. How old does this part think you are?

Not how old is it, but how old does it think you are? And again, don't think. Just wait and see what comes. And if it got your age wrong, then go ahead and update it and see how it reacts. And the last question for this part is what does it need from you going forward?

What does it need from you? And again, just wait for the answer. And when the time feels right, thank your parts for whatever they let you do in this, and then begin to shift your focus back outside and maybe take some deep breaths as you do that. Thank you for that.

That was awesome. I also was able to get some, I think, good work done in that. Is that true? Yeah. Yeah. Totally different location, totally different set of dynamics. Even though what you just took us through is very experiential, what, if any, value do you think there is to writing down sort of key takeaways?

A lot of value. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So it's great to do the work in a session or this exercise, but ideally it's the beginning of a new relationship with this part. And that takes work on your own. So what I advise people is as you get that ball rolling in that good direction, it'll reverse if you don't stay with it for a while.

So every day, like you were saying, you wake up, rather than what am I going to do today or what problems do I have in my life, how's that part of me doing that I've been starting to work with? What does it need from me today? What does it want me to know?

Is it still feeling better? Do I still have compassion for it or appreciation for it? So like I said earlier, this kind of becomes a life practice.