Free tool
Parts Map
A map of your inner system, drawn from Internal Family Systems: Self at the centre, and the parts you can notice today placed around it. What makes this one different is the distance — put a part near the middle when it is blended with you and hard to separate from, further out when you can look at it with some space. Same part, different week, different place.
Nothing is stored: no account, no upload, no server — the map lives in this tab and disappears when you close it. Save image downloads a PNG to your own device.
“There are no bad parts.”
— Richard Schwartz
Getting to know a protector
When you open a manager or firefighter above, you are walking a short version of what IFS calls the six F's — find it, focus on it, flesh it out, notice how you feel toward it, befriend it, and ask what it fears. The fourth one is the hinge and the one people skip: if what you feel toward a part is irritation or a wish that it would go away, that is another part speaking, not Self. Ask that one to give you some room before you carry on, or the whole exercise becomes a more articulate form of self-criticism.
The last question is where protectors soften. A critic that has been told to shut up for twenty years has never once been asked what it is afraid would happen if it stopped — and the answer is almost never malice. It is usually a job nobody else was doing.
Common questions
What is parts mapping?
A way of drawing your inner system so you can see it instead of being inside it. You place each part you notice — the planner, the critic, the one that shuts down — around Self, and the picture makes the relationships visible: who shows up together, who is running the day, who has not been heard from in a while. Therapists use it to orient early in the work and to track how a system changes over time.
Why does distance from the centre matter here?
Because it is the thing that changes week to week. Most maps group parts by category and stop there, but a part that is fused with you on Monday can be at arm's length by Friday, and that movement is the actual work. Here, near the centre means blended — hard to see where it ends and you begin. Further out means you can look at it with some space. Same part, different day, different position.
What are managers, firefighters and exiles?
Two kinds of protector and the thing they protect. Managers work in advance to keep pain from happening — planning, perfecting, pleasing, criticising you before anyone else can. Firefighters show up after the pain lands and try to put it out fast, often through numbing, scrolling, bingeing, or rage. Exiles are the younger parts carrying the original hurt, which is exactly why the protectors are so busy.
How far should I go with this on my own?
Getting to know protectors is reasonable solo work: noticing one, naming what it does, and asking what it fears would happen if it stopped is usually steadying rather than destabilising. Going toward exiles is a different matter. Unburdening a young, wounded part without support can genuinely overwhelm someone, and this is the substantive criticism of self-guided IFS. So this tool deliberately stops at the door: it will help you map that an exile exists and note who guards it, and then it will suggest doing that part with a person.
Is any of this saved or sent anywhere?
No. Everything lives in this browser tab only — no account, no upload, no server. Close the page and it is gone, which is deliberate for material this personal. Save image downloads a PNG to your own device if you want to keep or bring a map to a session.
This is an educational reflection tool, not therapy, assessment, or IFS training, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the IFS Institute. Work with protectors is reasonable to explore on your own; work with exiles deserves a trained person alongside you. If mapping stirs something up, that is a good reason to bring it to one.
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