Many believe
every human has one or more
. These live in us, "somewhere
else," or both. People speak of special experiences with their "Higher
Self," a "Collective Unconscious," "Mastermind,"
"Soul," "Higher Power," the "One" or "Old
Ones,"
and/or a "Guardian Angel." Many followers of Jesus experience the
"indwelling Christ" or "Spirit within" guiding us by a "still,
small voice."
Millions of oriental and other peoples venerate and obey ancestral spirits.
Other millions seek their "Buddha Nature." Many Native Americans and others
know they have a "Totem," or "Spirit Guide" - a special visionary, spiritl Being who watches over, guides, and protects them. In her
interesting 1990 book Recreating Your Self,
therapist Nancy Napier proposes that we can meet and be advised by our wise,
caring Future Self. For an interesting experience with yours, try
this.
Some people (i.e. their ruling
subselves) view such spiritual entities as ridiculous,
fanciful, or absurd. Other people are certain of them from personal
experience. Do you or could you have one or more spiritual
subselves who care
for, nurture, and protect you? How might they communicate with
you, or vice versa?
In his years of inner-family work with hundreds of
clients, Dr. Richard Schwartz reports experiences of some (not all) people becoming aware
of an external spiritual "council" or "watchers" that
provide wise,
caring guidance at crucial times. Could this be the source of the hunches
and intuition that most of us experience if we slow down enough to
Are these our
Guardian Angels?
Why This is Relevant to You and Your Family
If
this inner family concept is new to you, what you have just read may
seem like an abstract or fanciful set of ideas. Having studied and practiced
professionally for almost two decades, I now
agree with hundreds of
other clinicians who feel that a disabled true Self and discordant
subselves cause most "mental health" and relationship problems. They may
also significantly affect some bodily conditions.
The implication is - people who get to know their inner crew, and
intentionally learn how to promote inner harmony under the wise guidance of
the resident true Self and other Regulars and a benign Higher power, can
live significantly more peaceful, productive, wholistically-healthy lives.
A
vital corollary is that such people can also help their kids avoid the
pervasive [wounds + unawareness] cycle, develop and live from their true
Self, and avoid much personal, marital, and social
and perhaps
illness.
The other Project-1 articles and resources in this
site offer much more detail on this concept and how to work effectively with
your subselves. From personal and professional experience, all
in this site are based on the concept of personality
subselves and pervasive false-self wounds.
The practical question I urge you to
research is this: have you been living under the control of a
well-meaning false self much or most of the time without knowing it? Has
your partner? Have other people who are important to you? Are your kids
silently developing a set of false-self
that will
them for years and may shorten their lives?
Pause, reflect,
and notice the
in your head now and any emotions that have come up. They are some of your
dynamic subselves reacting to these questions. Do you know who they are?
The Web address of this
3-page article is http://sfhelp.org/01/innerfam.htm
Continue
with questions and answers about your talented