Chapter #4 - Demo Session: Transforming Rage into Strength
- Sep 29, 2025
- 3 min read
This blog is a continuation of our study guide series walking alongside Jay Earley’s Working with Anger in Internal Family Systems Therapy. Each reflection here is meant to both stand alone and to deepen your journey with the book itself. Today’s chapter takes us into a demo session, showing how rage — when witnessed in IFS — can transform into strength, offering a window into how an actual IFS session works with anger in real time.
The Theme
Rage can feel terrifying. It can arrive like an earthquake — shaking the body, spilling out in words, roars, and convulsions. Many people have spent their lives afraid of this part of themselves, keeping it buried under shame or silence. But when rage is met with compassion and witnessed in Self, something extraordinary happens: it transforms into strength, aliveness, and even joy.
The Journey of Rage
This chapter offers a glimpse into a live session where someone allowed long-suppressed rage to finally come forward. At first, protectors trembled with fear: “If you let this rage out, it will destroy everything.” The client shook, panicked, and doubted she could survive the intensity.
But with patience and steady presence, the protectors slowly stepped aside. The rage surged through the body in waves — fists clenching, voice shouting, energy convulsing. For a while it felt chaotic, even explosive. Yet by giving it space, something shifted. The rage began to reveal its true nature: pure life energy. The client noticed the anger morphing into vitality, running up the spine and into the hands, filling the whole body with strength. What had once been terrifying became empowering.
As the session continued, the work moved even deeper. Beneath the rage were very young exiles — parts carrying terror of being unwanted, even of being born. These exiles held stories of abandonment and fear, stories that had been too heavy for a child to carry. When the rage was expressed, it cleared a path for those exiles to be seen and reparented with love.
What This Teaches Us
Rage is not the enemy. It is a doorway. On the other side of rage lies the right to exist, the right to take up space, the right to be alive. When rage is witnessed and expressed in safety, it stops being destructive and starts being transformative. It becomes a force of protection and empowerment. And often, it points the way to even younger, more tender parts that are waiting to be held and healed.
Reflection Prompts
What do your protectors fear might happen if rage were fully expressed?
Have you ever felt the shift from anger into aliveness? What did it feel like in your body?
Can you imagine rage not as dangerous, but as a protector that clears the way for strength and vitality?
If rage is a doorway, what younger or more vulnerable part of you might be waiting on the other side?
A Practice to Try
Find a safe, private space. Bring awareness to your body and invite the possibility of letting a little anger move. It could be stomping your feet, hitting a pillow, growling, or shaking out your arms. Notice how the energy feels. Then pause and see: does it shift? Does the raw fire soften into strength, clarity, or groundedness? Stay curious about what younger parts of you might need care once the rage has been expressed.
Key Takeaway
When rage is witnessed in Self, it doesn’t destroy. It transforms. It becomes strength, vitality, and a profound sense of I deserve to be here. And sometimes, when the fire clears, we find younger parts waiting to be reparented — finally safe enough to be held.
Continue the Study
For easy access to the full companion study guide for Working with Anger in Internal Family Systems Therapy by Jay Earley, here are all the chapters in this series:
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