I’m Not Alone Within Myself: Subpersonalities
If you ever work with a psychologist, you might be asked questions like: “Talk to your inner Critic: how does it care for you? Ask your Saboteur: what does it want? Under what conditions will it leave? Consult your inner Sage: what advice does it have for you in this situation?”
In these cases, you are being invited to interact with your subpersonalities. But what exactly are they?
What Is a Subpersonality?
A subpersonality is a popular psychological metaphor suggesting that within your larger personality, there are many smaller living beings—many little personalities. By naming personality traits as subpersonalities, it becomes possible to work with them as if they were living entities: you can fight with them, talk to them, negotiate with them, and so on. Subpersonalities are simply another name for personality traits, desires, drives, and habits.
Personality roles usually describe a person’s range of possibilities, while subpersonalities describe the field of problems. Personality roles are mainly discussed in developmental psychology, whereas subpersonalities are a focus in psychotherapeutic approaches. The concept of subpersonalities is actively used in Psychosynthesis and sometimes in NLP, often in combination with trance techniques.
How Subpersonalities Are Used in Practice
In practice, subpersonalities are often given abilities and strengths that far exceed those of the client. At the direction of psychologists and psychotherapists, a subpersonality is seen as a very lively, active, and creative being. It can “run” into the Past, dive deep into the Unconscious, establish informal and active contacts with other subpersonalities, know things the client doesn’t consciously know, care for the client, always have only positive intentions, and sometimes act “in order to” rather than “because of.”
Where Do Subpersonalities Come From?
Subpersonalities are created by psychologists and psychotherapists as they work with clients. If the client finds this approach convincing and appealing, they may start creating subpersonalities for themselves.
“A subpersonality is a convenient model that allows us to deal with the driving forces of personality, but we must remember that it is just a model and does not claim to be the original. When people talk about a subpersonality, they mean a certain set of attitudes, behavioral stereotypes, beliefs, drives, etc., which only take on a coherent, distinct form in our consciousness.”
— Roberto Assagioli
The number and characteristics of subpersonalities can vary from person to person. This depends both on actual personality traits and on a person’s imagination and willingness to recognize certain subpersonalities within themselves.
The Role of Subpersonalities in Psychotherapy
Using the working metaphor of “subpersonality” has become common in psychotherapeutic work. For people with a well-developed metaphorical mindset, calling habits and personality traits “subpersonalities” allows for a concise and vivid way to describe a rich set of behaviors. A well-developed subpersonality can have its own ethics and aesthetics, as well as unique physiological traits, posture, movements, intonations, and facial expressions. This helps clients take the process more seriously and increases motivation. It’s no longer just a habit—it’s an enemy to fight! On the other hand, it’s also a convenient way to communicate with oneself and self-organize: “Saboteur, I ask you not to interfere with me today!”
Potential Downsides
On the downside, psychiatrists express concern that believing there are many other living beings inside oneself could provoke schizophrenia. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for people to start justifying their actions by claiming it wasn’t really them, but their subpersonalities acting.