A compassionate way of understanding the different parts of ourselves, and supporting the parts that need care, healing and change.
Sometimes we feel capable and confident. At other times, fear, sadness, self-doubt or old patterns can take over. Resource Therapy is a therapeutic approach that explores these different parts, often called Resource States.
Rather than seeing a difficult reaction as the whole person, an RT therapist may be curious about which part is experiencing distress, what has shaped that part’s experience, and what it needs to move forward.
Resource Therapy also makes room for our strengths: parts that carry courage, connection, wisdom, humour and other resources.
How would you like to feel? How would you like to act?
These are some of the first questions a Resource Therapist may ask. Your answers help the therapist understand which parts of you may be involved in the difficulty and which parts of you already hold strengths, resources and ways of being you would like to access more often.
Some parts may still carry unprocessed emotions from earlier experiences, such as fear, rejection, grief or confusion. In Resource Therapy, the aim is to approach these parts with care and curiosity rather than judgement. The therapist chooses action steps in response to the part's needs.
Other parts are already in a healthy condition, capable, compassionate, courageous, playful or grounded. Resource Therapy also helps people reconnect with these allies and bring their resources into everyday life.
By supporting distressed parts to have a different felt experience, therapy can help people process the impact of past experiences and feel less driven by old survival responses. The intention is a healthier internal community where different parts can contribute in ways that support wellbeing.
There is no single experience or guaranteed outcome; your therapist will tailor the work to your needs, readiness and choices.
Recognise when particular emotional states or patterns are taking the lead, and explore them with curiosity rather than judgement.
Work with parts carrying fear, hurt, rejection, grief or other difficult experiences, within an appropriate therapeutic relationship.
Identify and access internal resources that can help a person feel and respond differently when needed.
Resource Therapy is one of several therapeutic approaches. The right therapy depends on your circumstances and the qualifications and experience of your practitioner. No particular outcome can be guaranteed.
An RT therapist might help you notice the part of you that is most present when an unwanted emotion, behaviour or conflict arises. You may explore what it feels, wants and needs, as well as parts that hold strengths and resources.
Therapy should be collaborative, respectful of your pace and offered by an appropriately qualified practitioner within their professional scope.
Find a Resource Therapist offering RT or EMDRRTTA helps you explore Foundation, Clinical, Advanced Clinical and Career Development learning opportunities with trainers in the RTTA community.
Training pathways, prerequisites and fees vary. Please check details directly with your chosen trainer.
Find a Resource Therapy trainerResource Therapy was developed by Gordon Emmerson from Ego State Therapy, a therapeutic approach associated with the work of John and Helen Watkins. Earlier ideas about ego states emerged from psychodynamic and psychoanalytic thinking, including the work of Paul Federn.
Resource Therapy developed into a distinct parts-based model with a structured map of internal states and practical Treatment Actions. It can be practised as a standalone approach or integrated thoughtfully with other therapies, including Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), by appropriately trained clinicians.
RT's attention to emotions, internal relationships, unfinished experiences and present-moment awareness has points of connection with other approaches, including Gestalt therapy. In RTTA training we also value culturally responsive and relational ways of understanding wellbeing, including insights from Indigenous knowledge systems. These are meaningful contemporary conversations, not a claim that RT historically originated in Indigenous healing practices.
Our teaching places the model within a trauma-informed, attachment-aware and culturally responsive clinical framework, with client choice and professional scope at the centre.
For information about the formal Resource Therapy model, history and certification, visit Resource Therapy International.
Resource Therapy Training Australia (RTTA) is an independent community of trainers and therapists with shared values of trauma-informed, values-led and equality-focused training, and a contemporary approach to Resource Therapy. RTTA is not a professional association.
The formal international professional association is Resource Therapy International (RTI) ↗. Please visit RTI for information about the association, membership, professional standards and accreditation.
RTTA is not a governing or accrediting body, and association membership should not be inferred from inclusion in our directory.
We believe people considering training should have information that supports informed choice, including information about Resource Therapy’s history.
Read our transparency and informed-choice statement →Resource Therapy Training Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and pays respect to Elders past and present. We recognise the enduring knowledge, cultures, connections to Country and healing practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Sovereignty was never ceded.