An integral approach to the development of sub-personalities
“We humans
are a most delightful mélange of energy patterns or self’s. Some of these
energies are familiar and comfortable, some are curious or unfamiliar, and some
are downright distasteful” (Stone H and Stone S 1998:27)
This paper will look at Integral Therapy’s approach to the creation of subpersonalities and how the theory might provide an important psychodynamic framework for the Dramatherapist.
To frame my proposal I will first look at subpersonalities then move on to provide a brief overview of the two main theorists of Integral Therapy, before discussing how Integral Therapy views the formation of Subpersonalities.
There is much discussion as to the existence of subpersonalities as a psychodynamic formation of the personality. The clearest and most complete theory is that offered by Pschosynthesis:
“We are not unified; we often feel that we are, because we do not have many bodies and many limbs, and because one hand doesn’t usually hit the other. But, metaphorically, that is exactly what does happen within us. Several subpersonalities are continually scuffling; impulses, desires, principles, aspirations are engaged in an unceasing struggle” Assagioli quoted in Ferrucci (1995:31)
John Rowan In Subpersonalities: The People Inside Us (1990) provides extensive evidence for the existence of subpersonalities. He reveals that just as Assagioli, the father of Psychosynthesis, showed we are not a unified whole but made up of an array of personalities or inner selves.
Across the field of psychotherapy subpersonalities can be see as inner selves, roles, masks, parts, schemata, repressed energies, good and bad objects, from Freud’s Ego concept, object relation theories, through to Jung’s archetypes, and onto the transpersonal work of Psychosynthesis.
However, whatever we chose to call subpersonalities Rowan demonstrates the importance of developing a relationship with our internal family. As Virgina Satir quoted in Rowan says:
“Becoming aware of them (Subpersonalities) ,my addition in brackets, enables you to take charge of them rather than be enslaved by them. Each of your parts is a vital source of energy. Each has many uses, and can be harmonized with many other parts in ways to add even more energy.” (Rowan 1990:103)
Therefore, what Rowan is trying to achieve with his approach is a syncretic understanding of subpersonalities.
As a Dramatherapist we need to not only have an understanding of how to harmonise the subpersonalities of our clients, but we should also have a sound understanding as to how subpersonalities are created.
What I am attempting to provide the Dramatherapist is my own theory of the development of subpersonalities; the basis for my theory is informed through extensive reading and training in the works of Ken Wilber and the Clare W Graves.
Before I move on to outlining my theory I would like to introduce the basic theories of Wilber and Graves and show how through an integration of their work we can create Integral Therapy.
Ken Wilber and an Integral Approach
Researching over a 100 different psychological models from East and West, Wilber attempted to work towards an integral understanding of the line, levels and waves of human consciousness as it along travels along the continuum of pre personal to transpersonal.
Wilber showed that human psychological development is constructed with four quadrants; Upper Left (UL) and Lower Left (LL). UL deals with the subjective internal world, truthfulness or I, LL inner subjective culture, justness or WE. The Upper Right (UR) and Lower Right (LR) deal with; UR exterior objective, IT or Individual objective truth; UR, Collective objective truth or ITS.
He believes that as we evolve through the quadrants we pass through gates or fulcrums of developed.
“Blank and Blank introduced the term of fulcrums of development to refer to the separation – identification of the infant’s self from the emotional (M) other , based especially on the pioneering work of Margaret Mahler. In Wilber et al., Transformation of consciousness, I suggest that this fulcrum was one of a numerous quite distinct fulcrums, each representing a qualitatively new and distinct differentiation / integrations (or transcendence – and – inclusion). Each of these fulcrums (and I generally outline 9 or 10 of the most important fulcrums) establishes a new, important, and very different type of self-boundary.” (Wilber 2000:612:n3).
Graves and Spiral Dynamics
The Levels of Human Existence is a theory developed over a 40-year research period by Clare W Graves
“Briefly, what I am proposing is that psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating spiral process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower –order behaviours systems to newer higher systems”
Don Beck and Christopher Cowan (1996) refined Graves work by showing that the orders were in fact units of collective cultural information, which became active as a human being entered into and travelled through each level. Beck and Cowan saw this development in term of a spiral that was ever expanding.
It became clear that Beck and Cowen’s work developed from Graves original ideas were inline with Wilber’s 4 quadrant model and that together they formed the basis of a total integral approach to understanding evolution.
Beck and Wilber created a meshwork, an attempt to integrate the two theories into one overall theory of everything. Wilber’s AQAL and Beck and Cowen’s Spiral Dynamics model became AQ8L Wilber supplied the Quadrants, Beck and Cowen supplied the lines in which development takes place. One development of AQ8L approach is Integral Therapy.
The aim of Integral Therapy is to address the quadrants not in isolation. Therapeutic work that is undertaken must included, UL emotional, mental, body and spiritual, UR diet, exercise and medicine, LL relationships, community service, morals and LR systems and institutions. If we are to develop a truly integral approach to Dramatherapy then all four quadrants and the eight Lines must be honoured.
Integral Therapy and a theory of Subpersonalities
As a child we are born with little sense of I-Self we only know self /not self. As long as we have an empathetic connection with mother and she is able to create a positive unifying centre (Firman and Gila 1997). Then we are able to reinforced self and begin the Integral Therapy 1-2-3 process. This process can been see like a Russian doll, with each lower level being included within the higher.
1 the individual self identifies with a particular Fulcrum level,
2 the individual self differentiates or transcends the Fulcrum level and final,
3 integrates the level into the higher level which the individual self now identifies with.
Because the fulcrums are the milestones of development, a psychologically fully functional human will pass through all of the milestones up to level 5 (Mature Ego) beyond that as we move into the transpersonal structures the human being has to want to make the developmental leap.
The 1 2 3 process assumes that we are born with and develop a strong I-Self identity. The first time that the baby experiences the empathic connection with the (o)mother broken, (the positive unifying centre is broken) they feel the angst that is not self. For the baby this emotion of non-self is so profound, it is as if a knife has stabbed the I-Self. The wound that is created splits the self into three.
- The proximate self, (that that is nearest to self or subjective self)
- The distal me, (that that is distance from me, it is my objective self.)
- The I-I witness, (that that watches me)
The fear of non-being is so powerful, we come to realise that if we never want to feel the pain of non-self then we must strive to make all around us happy. Now rather then the 1,2,3 move through the fulcrums. Anything that might jeopardise our self system is disassociated, split off, or repressed. We carry on out psychological development but we never fully integrate. We move through our development constantly cutting bits of our self off. The disassociated aspect of the fulcrums becomes the basis of our subpersonalities.
The self-system and Subpersonalities
The Proximate self deals with the creation of the roles we are going to play as we enter a fulcrum. Following Goffman, (2004) the Proximate self remains in the backroom or rehearsal room fine tuning the role. Once the role is developed the playing of the role is then passed on to the distal me.
Any role that cast the Proximate self against type, if threatening, frightening or negative or many not be cultural or social accepted is pushed into the lower consciousness (Parfitt 1990) where the shadow is contained, any role that is to powerful is pushed out to the higher consciousness where resides the I-I or Authentic Self.
The disowned roles are now outside our field of awareness and as such, we have no objective connection with them. Because the roles have not been passed over to objective distal me all roles repressed are subjective and have a worldview that corresponded with the worldview of the Proximate self at the time of repression.
Worldviews can are seen as a unit of cultural and social information or a Value Meme that operates rather like DNA, Integral therapy identifies 8 Value memes. Each value Meme is given a colour coding system as a way of identifying individual levels.
- Beige – Survival-Sense
- Purple – Kin-Spirit
- Red – Power-God
- Blue – Truth-Force
- Orange – Strive-Drive
- Green – Human-Bond
- Yellow – Flex-Flow
- Turquoise – Global- View
As a dramatherapist we will encounter the clients subpersonalities as formed subjective personalities with there own moral, culture, and worldview.
The subpersonality will manifest itself as repressed energy, some of the energies the clients may be aware of, they are roles they actively play, for good or bad. Other are so deeply repressed that the client may have no conscious knowledge of them
Nevertheless, the disowned roles want to get on stage, and they will find any way they can to have their 15 minutes of fame. From appearing in dreams or through nonverbal communication, or even through certain feelings or action, they can even influence the clients thinking. And because they are outside they field of awareness the clients does not realise that a subpersonality is trying to break through.
Subpersonalities, Dramatherapy, and Integral Therapy
Each fulcrum generates it own unique pathology, disorder and treatment which is seen as requiring a particular treatment approach. In the appendix I have drawn up a detail map (map one) which I would like to use to now to demonstrate how Dramatherapy can provide an integral approach.
A small closed Dramatherapy group are engaged in sub-personality work. One of the members has identified two subpersonalities which they want to work with. The Dramatherapist has assessed the client (age 40) to be at fulcrum 5 with a value Meme world view at orange (strive drive). The client reported that all they wanted to do was “get rich quick”
The Dramatherapist is able to predict that most of the work will take place with repressed energies, the client has reach the age in which they have the development potential to move to the transpersonal fulcrums but has not demonstrated any dissonance, leading to a drive for higher development.
The client names the two subpersonalities “it’s just me” and the “wanderer”. Through the physical, emotion and verbal presentation of the subpersonalities “the Dramatherapist assess “it’s just me” as at fulcrum 2 giving a world view of Red (Power God), a psychosis disorder, leading to treatment with ego work. The “wanderer” fulcrum 4 giving a world view of Blue (Truth- Force) a Neuroses leading to treatment with cognitive work
The Dramatherapist facilitates the dialogue work with the client’s subpersonalities. But working from an Integral Therapy position the Dramatherapist is not only able to work dramatically with the clients but able to help the client to integrate, the parts of the subpersonalities into the whole of the personality. Unlike other therapies the Dramatherapist is not fixed or closed within one system of treatment. Dramatherapy is a fully open system of treatment which is able to take full advantage of Integral Therapy.
When working with subpersonalities it is important to realise that that we must take the Integral Therapy open wave approach to subpersonalities, as the personality develops we must not work with each subpersonality as external from the self system but work to integrate the subpersonality. It is meaningless to see subpersonalities as parts of the client, they are valuable creative whole, which when fully integrated will provided the clients with a secure base in which to continue their development along the fulcrums.
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