| emotional part ( adj.) | |
|---|---|
| Applies to | headmates |
| Origin | Psychiatric Terms |
Emotional Parts (EPs) are trauma-holding headmates that are typically "stuck" in the time trauma occurred. The term "EP" covers a diverse array of trauma responses, but most commonly anger, defensiveness, self-hatred, disgust, hopelessness, and impulsiveness.
Many systems rebuke this label for any number of reasons (including the "parts" terminology and the use of "normal"), and it should only be used for the purposes of self-identification, not the classification of others.
History
Apparently Normal Parts, Emotional Parts, and other ideas of Structural Dissociation come from Charles Samual Myers, a psychologist who worked with soldiers during World War One. He put the "shell shock" (now PTSD) into the scientific lexicon in the early 1900s and described it in the context of dissociation. Later, researchers Ellert Nijenhuis, Onno van der Hart, & Kathy Steele proposed the theory of Structural Dissociation in 2004 by incorporating Myers' terminology into more modern understandings of dissociation and child development.
Related Terms
Eemotion Parts, and their opposite, Apparently Normal Parts or ANPs, were presented and defined in the theory of Structural Dissociation as two classifications for alters or headmates. There are also mixed parts, but they are less common.
As Emotional Parts are simply defined by their emotions and trauma response, nearly any system role can be one: protectors, gatekeepers, hosts, etc. Typically though, EPs are trauma holders.
