Include a heading for any area of vital intellectual interest in which you are trying to advance your own understanding—e.g., Education, Religion, Mathematics, Systems Theory, Ecology, etc. We may completely cut off from other subpersonalities. We may be told in our youth that our sexual side is inappropriate or ‘dirty’, leading us to shove this part of ourselves into a drawer away from public eye. Or perhaps you have a selection of darker, nastier, pettier subpersonalities hiding under a guise of what is socially acceptable. On the flipside you may have a strong leader type, a class clown, or magnificent potential that never gets to see the light of day for fear of being judged - because you were told it was ‘too much’. Let us finally explore some of Assagioli’s insights when it comes to the integration and synthesis of our manifold and often conflicting nature. As we have learned, the subpersonalities are often in conflict, something we experience when we encounter ambivalence or inner conflict. The goal is to create a personality that can express its needs and visions in a harmonious way, and there are ways to achieve this – Assagioli calls this process synthesis. However, synthesis is the goal, not the starting point. self/Self. Assagioli had much more to say about the process of synthesis – and his various insights can be found in this book. Let me add only one final important insight. Assagioli stated that when the subpersonalities are assimilated, their structure will change; in other words, as the energies and qualities of the subpersonalities are incorporated, their concrete self-images and roles will change into more authentic representations of our self-identity. In this way, harmful self-images can be discarded, according to Assagioli (p. 61), ‘the complex is dissolved, and the energy contained in the complex is used’. I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. My emotions are diversified, changing, sometimes contradictory. They may swing from love to hatred, from calm to anger, from joy to sorrow, and yet my essence—my true nature—does not change. ‘I’ remain. Though a wave of anger may temporarily submerge me, I know that it will pass in time; therefore I am not this anger. Since I can observe and understand my emotions, and then gradually learn to direct, utilise, and integrate them harmoniously, it is clear that they are not my self. I have emotions, but I am not my emotions.

What follows is a list of the main subpersonalities, itemising the primary traits for each one. This is not a definitive list, but it does include the main antagonists. What you will see, the more closely you examine the subpersonalities, is that there are significant areas of overlap between them, which was explained in the prequel. Remember, the subpersonalities look for common interests and shared agendas, which is how the groupings within the community are formed. Second is the paradoxical affirmation of our “perfect imperfection” as a way of pointing to the fact of continual growth, that we are never “finished” in an infinite universe, and that this is “perfectly” all right. A helpful way of examining and understanding the relationships between your subpersonalities is drawing circles or squares, each one representing a primary subpersonality. Then add the relevant traits. You will notice significant overlaps, where the same traits appear in multiple circles/squares. It is at these points of overlap that you find common interests and shared agendas. Seeing this visual depiction can be helpful in conceptualising the complexity of your inner landscape and deepen your understanding of the subtleties of these relationships. This is where you will find many of the clues to reconciliation and resolution. Each part can present a whole spectrum of various behaviors and emotions. And it is amazing that when we look inside ourselves and start getting to know that internal family that lives in us, it suddenly turns out that these parts are like people, like some kind of family really, with whom we can try to get along and help it’s each member change their destructive behavior. In Assagioli’s words (p. 37): ‘All main tendencies, all main vital drives, tend to become personified, as Jung says, and to aggregate to themselves, in addition to the main instinctual or psychological drives, emotions, mental pictures and thought elements, all of which contribute to the realisation and self-assertion of that which we can really call a “subpersonality”. In ourselves we can find an aggregation of subpersonalities, each endowed with tendencies towards self-preservation and self-assertion, and which are, of course, necessarily in constant conflict with each other.’

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Which subpersonality was the most dominant in you? It could have been two of them equally – this is normal. Or it could have been just one like me (The Perfectionist). Now close your eyes, recall briefly in your consciousness the general substance of this affirmation, and then gradually focus your attention on the central concept: “I have a body but I am not my body.” Attempt, as much as you can, to realise this as an experienced fact in your consciousness. Then open your eyes and proceed the same way with the next two stages.

You can either consider these points during the review exercise itself, or, if this gets in your way, you can think about them at the end of the review. These points are meant to give you a choice of perspective and need not all be covered. The main purpose is to get well acquainted with your subpersonalities. We suggest that particularly at the beginning you keep the exercise fairly simple, and give it no more than 15 minutes a day. Take time to practice, as preparation, the Dis-identification Exercise (No. 4), using whatever version you have found most helpful. 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’.Some might find this a questionable statement. However, it is clear that Assagioli held a belief in Let us now look at the psychological elements of the subpersonalities and see how Assagioli understands their constitution. 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. This is a modification of ‘The Evening Review”. It consists of reviewing your day from the point of view of the three main personality aspects: your body, your feelings, and your mind.

Examples: “It’s too late to do that now … I’m too tired/old/unpracticed/unskilled”, “I’ll never be able to get a pay rise, so what’s the point of trying?”, “I can’t do that – it’s too hard for me”. The Perfectionist Moreover, we may find some gold among the sawdust. Perhaps the subpersonality you’ve previously regarded as a show-off turns out to be a powerful ally in instilling a confident sense of self. Or you may tap into a highly motivating subpersonality you’d all but forgotten about.

18 Hard Truths Your Soul Needs You To Remember

The notion of a single mind means that we look at ourselves in a very one-dimensional way. And that does a lot of harm to our self-esteem. Internal Family Systems theory Make a sign with the words SERENITY, using the colour and lettering that best conveys this quality to you. Place this sign where you can see it daily and if possible at the time when you need serenity the most. Whenever you look at it recall within yourself the feeling of serenity. d. What we want to appear to be: these are the roles we play in different relationships and circumstances, the masks we put on for the purposes of vanity, success, and so on. Your response to meaningful events in your life: note occasions on which you are aware of ‘synchronicity’.

Were different aspects predominant in the various circumstances of the day? What has been the relative activity of each? First is the importance of practice itself, the consistent “doing” of certain exercises that support the process of psychosynthesis within oneself over time.Fantasies, stories, situations, etc., which might serve as the seed for an imaginative work. This category is best limited to those fantasies which have some creative potential. See if you can see which subpersonalities you are most aligned to. There are usually half a dozen main players. There could be more and may be less, but this is a good guide. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you can identify with something in every one of them, that you somehow have all the subpersonalities active within you. What you’re looking for are the primary influencers. From there you will almost certainly find there are other sub-groupings that are fed and sustained by the main drivers.