Subpersonalities: The People Inside Us

Product Information

Subpersonalities are composed of psychological functions, tendencies and qualities that are organised around a central drive and connected to the ‘I’. Personal weaknesses of which you are aware and on which you would like to work. Particular emphasis can be placed on the techniques you can use to overcome them. Record also any strong negative reactions you have to other people as they may clarify your own unrecognized and projected problems. Which different subpersonalities were predominant at different times during this day? What circumstances (inner or outer) made them emerge or withdraw? Were there any conflicts between them?

This exercise can be and is being performed very effectively in groups. The group leader voices the affirmations and the members listen with eyes closed, letting the significance of the words penetrate deeply. Many images are associated with this source of inner guidance. Common ones are the sun, a diamond, a fountain, a star or point of light, an angel, an eagle, dove, or phoenix, the Christ or the Buddha. Different images emerge to meet different needs. However, the one most commonly associated with this source is that of a wise and loving old man or woman. (These are two distinct archetypes, with many similarities but also specific differences. It is worthwhile to experiment with both so as to know each well, and know when to use one or the other according to the specific needs of the situation. In general, the wise old man is often encouraging, stimulating, inspiring; the wise old woman is more nurturing, supportive, allowing. This psychosynthesis exercise’s purpose is to create inner and outer conditions through which one can foster and enhance a desired quality within him/herself. It is suggested for daily practice. In the following outline, the quality of serenity will be used, but the exercise can be adapted for other qualities, such as courage, patience, joy, compassion, etc. It is important that the choice of such a quality and the decision to develop it come from within the individual, not as a ‘should’ but as something he/she has chosen purposely and freely as a further step in growth.

Share

With these considerations in mind, the technique of the Inner Dialogue will prove effective and powerful as means to further the process of personal and spiritual psychosynthesis. The act of writing is also a great stimulus to the creative process. When we are trying to grapple with a problem, it is a common experience that in writing down a few thoughts on the question, other related thoughts begin to stream in through a process of association, and these ideas in turn open up new avenues of thought, new possibilities we may not have considered before. If we can learn to let our minds range freely in this manner, we will be truly amazed to discover the depth of the insights already within us — just waiting to be liberated. First is the importance of practice itself, the consistent “doing” of certain exercises that support the process of psychosynthesis within oneself over time.

Subpersonality is a temporary personality mode. It can be active at one moment, and can alter after a while. You may have noticed that you act differently in the presence of different people. You are someone else at work and you are someone else at home. I know people who are extroverts at work, they are loud, funny, etc., but when they are around their close ones at home they seem to turn into quiet introverts who like loneliness and serenity. Depending on the part that is active, we can behave differently. As you work your way through and establish who are the key players in your community, you’ll come to see they are each driven by fear, guilt, and shame… and as a result are actively seeking to protect themselves and the roles that they play. In other words, like all energy, they will do anything to survive, so unless they are offered a better paradigm, they will continue to resort to the survival mode. Those who are identified with their minds are likely to describe themselves with intellectual constructs, even when asked how they feel. They often consider feelings and sensations as peripheral, or are largely unaware of them. Many are identified with a role, and live, function, and experience themselves in terms of that role, such as “mother,” “husband,” “wife,” “student,” “businessman,” “teacher,” etc. Synthesis is therefore a kind of unity in diversity, with each organ having its own individual nature and function, while also being aligned with the greater purpose of the whole. This type of synthesis does not occur naturally in the psychological world, but there are means to achieve it.

3 Ways for Emotional Recharging Every Empath Should Know as Their Name

This evening review can be used to examine yourself and your life as a whole, or it can be modified, as in the example below, to focus on some aspect of your self, on some pattern you’d like to know more about, on some specific inner process you may want to explore. The attitude with which you do the exercise is most important. Description, context, associations, and amplifications of your night dreams (which are most easily recorded immediately upon waking.) It is where you can see the common interests and shared agendas that you can also begin to develop new, healthy narratives between the different personalities. These new narratives can form the basis of the peace treaty. The peace treaty is built on realising that the negative characteristics of the subpersonalities all have a virtuous persona. Our primary agenda is to persuade each subpersonality there is a better way; they each do have a higher purpose. When the subpersonalities can see there is a more noble cause they can pursue, then the community of the self can be established on a new footing. It is also interesting to note that Assagioli considered subpersonalities to be ‘entities’– living beings – which can live a semi-autonomous life that affects the ‘I’ through patterns of behaviour that are outside of our conscious control. Assagioli (p.93) even suggests ‘each subpersonality has a kind of ego’ and that subpersonalities ‘without our awareness, independent of, or even against, our will – [find] the means of achieving their aims’ (p.84); and Assagioli states that subpersonalities can be co-conscious centres in our personality, meaning they know things about us that we are not aware of ourselves. However, the semi-autonomous nature of the subpersonalities is a condition we can change via personal psychosynthesis, which can bring the various subpersonalities under the wise leadership of the conscious ‘I’.