Have you ever heard yourself thinking, or said: “There’s a part of me that…”
Have you ever had, for example, an acute pain response, be it physical (acute injury) or emotional (shock, grief, panic), and recall there being a part of you that was observing or witnessing yourself experiencing the pain without being affected by it?
I bet you have. We all have. Unless we’re disproportionately out of touch with our inner being, our body-based knowing, we all intuitively recognize that we are, essentially, multiple.
Yes, multiple.
Psychologically speaking, we’re both one and many.
It seems the human psyche is a labyrinth of different, separate yet connected parts. Parts that are indelibly shaped and conditioned by all our experiences, our social environment/important others, as well as all the traditions, spoken and unspoken rules, norms, and taboos of the cultural context out of which we arise.
Yet, we all have a singular, unified essence. And arguably, there’s ultimately just One Mind of which we’re all but parts—ever connected to the All That There is.
“The total number of minds in the Universe is One”
Erwin Schrödinger
Now Schrödinger, an adherent to the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, referred to the concept of multiplicity as simply “apparent,” as if to further illustrate his One Mind concept cited above. (Welcome to the paradox of it all).
The core of multiplicity stems from Multiplicity of Mind theory, of which there’s both a philosophical and a psychological arm. The (modern) theorist most notable for going to town on the psychological side is undoubtedly Dr. Richard Schwartz, PhD, developer of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy.
In short, IFS is a model that proposes we all have what he calls a Self, or a “Larger Self.” And we all have what he simply calls “parts.”
(Have you seen the wonderful Pixar film “Inside Out?” Schwartz’ IFS model was the blueprint!).
The Self, in Schwartz’ view, is our true, untouched, infinitely whole essence. This is our ever-connected, innocent and beautiful core state, akin to what complementary models call the “Wise Mind, or “Wiser Self,” synonymous with eastern spiritual conceptions of the Higher Self, Soul or Spirit.
Our parts he views as subpersonalities, split off from the Larger Self, often polarized (at odds) with each other, and all playing important roles and carrying out specific functions for us, for better or worse— though he posits that our parts are always trying to help us. ot always in the best ways mind you, but in the only way they know how.
Basically, the more difficult the childhood, the more parts we have, according to Schwartz.
To me, it’s no wonder the progressive spiritual community at large has adopted the concept. Many life, spiritual, and transformational and coaches seem to have adopted the idea of “parts work.”. In creating IFS, Schwartz went headlong into the treasure trove of eastern spiritual literature to flesh out his concept of The Self, which greatly shaped his utterly intuitive and relatable model. Strangely though, I have yet to come across one noted (public) spiritual teacher or coach that credits Schwartz, references IFS, or any of the precursor psychological schools of thought that incorporated multiplicity in their models. In contrast, I see many speaking about “parts work” as if it were their own conception. And I shudder to think how many people become unnecessarily and/or inadvertently triggered by well-meaning but insufficiently prepared teachers or coaches doing parts work with folks who’ve been severely traumatized.
But I digress.
Schwartz identifies three groups/types of parts—exiles (the youngest, most wounded and vulnerable parts of us), managers (who help protect exiles), and firefighters (parts that spring into action [often consequential, as in wild spending, drug use, unsafe sex, etc] when managers becoming overwhelmed in their function and the system is perceived to be threatened with overwhelm, or what Schwartz calls “flooding”).
Having studied IFS and many of it’s precursors [ego state therapy, transactional analysis, psychosynthesis, and others) since 2005, and incorporating it into my work, I have to say I adore IFS for its non-pathologizing and utterly hopeful stance on human nature, the psyche, meatal health, and how we can all heal, grow and evolve.
Because, from the IFS perspective, there is nothing wrong or broken about us. There is nothing broken. Nothing to “fix.”
We can heal. We can create harmony amongst our parts, unify and inhabit our Larger Self.
How beautiful is that?
Healing in this regard means, essentially, de-fragmenting; creating harmony and integration with and among our parts. It means helping our parts to take on new, updated, more helpful roles and functions better aligned with our present day hopes and goals, as well as getting to sense, feel, and inhabit our Larger Self state as much of the time as possible. Schwartz says we know we’re in our Self (Self-Led) when we feel things like, calmness, centerdness, connectedness, clarity, creativity, and compassion.
Now, here’s where I branch off.
IFS, in practice, the way Schwartz and other teaches it, I’ve found to be a bit laborious, cumbersome, hard to track. So I use IFS—the multiplicity concept at the root, specifically— more integratively, along with other ideas and methods, both as part of my Integrative Counseling specialty, and my Energy Healing (Subconscious Heal and Release®) approach. This approach of mine blends IFS at the foundation, along with subtle energy psychology (ep), somatic, mindbody therapy, a solution focused outcome-oriented focus, utilizes Spiritual Science of the Spoken Word, and kinesiological muscle testing combined with a claircognizant/clairsentient ability. I find to be a faster, cleaner and more efficient way of “unburdening” our parts, creating unity with the Self, and aligning with all we truly wish to do, achieve, feel, and experience.
There are, as they say, more ways than one to skin a cat.
If you’re seeking a Nashville Therapist or Franklin Therapist, and are interested in a multiplicity-minded integrative counseling experience, and/or rapidly releasing old trauma, limiting beliefs and trapped emotions through my Subconscious Heal and Release® approach, please visit me at Therapy Outside the Box or call me directly at 615.430.2778 to set up a FREE 20 Minute Phone Consult, or email me: chris@therapyoutsidethebox.com.
I am available virtually worldwide via Secure Video/Telehealth, and on a case by case (COVID-19) basis in my home office in Franklin, TN.
Peace to you and yours,
Chris Hancock, LCSW, ACMHP