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It Doesn't Have To Be This Way: A Physician's Guide To Radical Self Care
Radical Self Care is about getting to the root of our experience
and befriending the parts of us who are suffering.
Drawing from 75+ years of experience in medical education and practice, Drs. Robin
Beardsley, Elizabeth Parsons and Risa Adams offer practical guidance for self care
derived from the emerging field of Internal Family Systems. Written for physicians,
this book shares the authors’ own experiences in medical school and clinical practice
and explains how human behaviour can make more sense from the perspective of
‘parts’ of the personality. This paradigm shift opens the door to a deeper form of
self-awareness and capacity for physicians to care for themselves, while they care for
others. Offering an overview of the 20+ most common ‘parts of the physician’, the
authors offer a guidebook to personal and professional transformation and highlight
the potential for cultural change in the field of medicine as a whole.
RISA ADAMS, M.D.
Is a family physician with a focused practice in perinatal mental health
and complex PTSD. Certified in IFS, she is a consultant and trainer with
the IFS Institute.
ELIZABETH PARSONS, M.D.
Has been practising psychotherapy for 20 years and is certified in IFS.
She is a trauma therapist, and her practice focuses on group therapy and
clinical consulting.
ROBIN BEARDSLEY, M.D.
Practised family medicine for 30 years before turning full-time to
psychotherapy with a focus on care for the caregiver. She is certified in
IFS and a trained teacher of Mindful Self Compassion.
and befriending the parts of us who are suffering.
Drawing from 75+ years of experience in medical education and practice, Drs. Robin
Beardsley, Elizabeth Parsons and Risa Adams offer practical guidance for self care
derived from the emerging field of Internal Family Systems. Written for physicians,
this book shares the authors’ own experiences in medical school and clinical practice
and explains how human behaviour can make more sense from the perspective of
‘parts’ of the personality. This paradigm shift opens the door to a deeper form of
self-awareness and capacity for physicians to care for themselves, while they care for
others. Offering an overview of the 20+ most common ‘parts of the physician’, the
authors offer a guidebook to personal and professional transformation and highlight
the potential for cultural change in the field of medicine as a whole.
RISA ADAMS, M.D.
Is a family physician with a focused practice in perinatal mental health
and complex PTSD. Certified in IFS, she is a consultant and trainer with
the IFS Institute.
ELIZABETH PARSONS, M.D.
Has been practising psychotherapy for 20 years and is certified in IFS.
She is a trauma therapist, and her practice focuses on group therapy and
clinical consulting.
ROBIN BEARDSLEY, M.D.
Practised family medicine for 30 years before turning full-time to
psychotherapy with a focus on care for the caregiver. She is certified in
IFS and a trained teacher of Mindful Self Compassion.
218 pages, Paperback
Published August 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 7, 2025
I so enjoyed reading this book. I also found it very moving to recognise many of my own parts in what Risa, Elizabeth and Robin share. Don’t be fooled into thinking this book is only for physicians; psychotherapists and others in the helping professions will find much of relevance and share common ground with the authors.
Why do I appreciate this book so much? Because parts are the primary focus: ordinary, hard-working, dedicated and mostly highly functioning parts of whom too much is expected for their own and anybody’s good. Also, in these pages the authors publicly embrace healthy vulnerability (being aware that they are whole, wounded and protected all at the same time).
If your system is curious to read examples of when and how Self-energy shows up in the world then this is a great read too. The physician authors share witnessing and being touched by others in the medical arena who accessed and shared Self-energy with them. They provide examples of their own shining through too."
Why do I appreciate this book so much? Because parts are the primary focus: ordinary, hard-working, dedicated and mostly highly functioning parts of whom too much is expected for their own and anybody’s good. Also, in these pages the authors publicly embrace healthy vulnerability (being aware that they are whole, wounded and protected all at the same time).
If your system is curious to read examples of when and how Self-energy shows up in the world then this is a great read too. The physician authors share witnessing and being touched by others in the medical arena who accessed and shared Self-energy with them. They provide examples of their own shining through too."
Displaying 1 of 1 review