Subpersonality

{{short description|Personality mode allowing a person to cope with psychosocial situations}} [[File:Matr67.jpg|thumb|200px|Stacking dolls provide a visual representation of subpersonalities.]] A '''subpersonality''' is, in humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology and ego psychology, a personality mode that activates (appears on a temporary basis) to allow a person to cope with certain types of psychosocial situations.<ref name="Fall">Fall, Kevin A. (December 9, 2003) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pKFZKRG-IKwC&pg=PA444&dq=Subpersonality&sig=lN_rPbMLbnsmLDNg8CeOAmiFD0M#PPA444,M1 Theoretical Models of Counseling and Psychotherapy.]'' Page 444. Publisher: Routledge. {{ISBN|1-58391-068-9}}</ref> Similar to a complex,<ref>Kivinen, Michael K. (November 1, 2007) Subconsciously Speaking. ''[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-171440400.html Coming to terms with past life regression.]'' Volume 22; Issue 6; Page 10.</ref> the mode may include thoughts, feelings, actions, physiology and other elements of human behavior to self-present a particular mode that works to negate particular psychosocial situations.<ref name="Fall"/><ref name=Rowan>{{cite book|last=Rowan|first=J|title=Subpersonalities: The People Inside Us|year=1990|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415043298}}</ref> The British humanistic psychologist John Rowan suggested that the average person has about a dozen subpersonalities.<ref name="Fall"/>

Many schools of psychotherapy see subpersonalities as relatively enduring psychological structures or entities that influence how a person feels, perceives, behaves, and sees themselves. John Rowan described it as a 'semipermanent and semi-autonomous region of the personality capable of acting as a person'.<ref>Rowan, John (1990). Subpersonalities: the people inside us. London: Routledge.</ref>

==Similarity with possible selves== Subpersonalities are functionally similar to possible selves, a concept used in cognitive psychology.<ref>Lester, David, ed. On multiple selves. Routledge, 2017.</ref>

Possible selves are defined as psychological schema that represent multiple versions of the self. These include past and future selves, which together characterise thoughts and feelings, such as remorse, satisfaction, and doubt about the person we may have been previously, as well as hopes and worries about who we may become.<ref>Baumeister, R. F. (Ed.), The Self in Social Psychology. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Taylor & Francis, 1999.</ref><ref>Dunkel, C. and Kerpelman, J., Possible Selves: Theory, Research and Applications. Hauppauge, New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers, 2006.</ref>

==In psychotherapy== Facilitating the identification and exploration of subpersonalities or possible selves is a strategy by which therapists seek to promote positive cognitive, emotional, and behavioural change in psychotherapy.<ref>Dunkel, C. S. and Kelts, D., Possible Selves as Mechanisms of Change in Therapy. In Dunkel, C. S. and Kerpelman, J. (Eds.), Possible Selves: Theory, Research and Applications. Hauppauge, New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers, 2006, pp187–204.</ref>

Over the history of psychotherapy, many forms of therapy have worked with inner diversity generally, and representations or subpersonalities specifically.<ref name="FirmanGila2002-p69">{{cite book|author1=John Firman|author2=Ann Gila|title=Psychosynthesis: A Psychology of the Spirit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVPLYPfAjksC&pg=PA69|date=26 September 2002|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-5534-0|pages=69}}</ref><ref name="DohertyGuyler2008-p88">{{cite book|author1=Nora Doherty|author2=Marcelas Guyler|title=The Essential Guide to Workplace Mediation & Conflict Resolution: Rebuilding Working Relationships|url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto0000dohe|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers|isbn=978-0-7494-5019-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto0000dohe/page/88 88]}}</ref>

Early methods include Jungian analysis, psychosynthesis, transactional analysis, and gestalt therapy. These were followed by some forms of hypnotherapy and the inner child work of John Bradshaw and others. Meanwhile, a number of psychotherapists have developed comprehensive techniques to support the active expression of subpersonalities and possible selves. These include British psychotherapist Paul Newham who pioneered the therapeutic use of expressive arts to explore subpersonalites through costume, mask, drama, and voice.<ref>McNiff, S., Integrating the Arts in Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice. Springfield, IL, USA: Charles C. Thomas Publishers, 2009.</ref> A recent and method is Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS therapy), developed by Richard C. Schwartz.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Moore |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Ann Moore |date=2013 |title=Coaching the Multiplicity of Mind: A Strengths-based Model |journal=Global Advances in Health and Medicine |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=78–84 |doi=10.7453/gahmj.2013.030|pmid=24416685 |pmc=3833551 }}</ref> He sees DID alters as on the same continuum as IFS parts (subpersonalities), the only difference being that alters are more polarized and split off from the rest of the internal system.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

== Therapeutic outcomes ==

Some studies have shown that subpersonality integration in the psychosynthesis therapeutic setting can help clients enhance creativity,<ref>{{cite journal | date = 2016-06-30 | doi = 10.1177/0022167816653224 | first1 = C. A. | first2 = B. C. N. Mu | hdl = 2066/196792 | hdl-access = free | issue = 6 | journal = Journal of Humanistic Psychology | language = en | last1 = Lombard | last2 = ller | pages = 659–688 | s2cid = 148279821 | title = Opening the Door to Creativity: A Psychosynthesis Approach | volume = 58 }}</ref> relieve anxiety, and rebuild their identities when dealing with culture shock.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Lombard | first = Catherine Ann | date = 2014-04-03 | title = Coping with anxiety and rebuilding identity: A psychosynthesis approach to culture shock | journal = Counselling Psychology Quarterly | volume = 27 | issue = 2 | pages = 174–199 | doi = 10.1080/09515070.2013.875887 | s2cid = 55212141 | issn = 0951-5070 | url = https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/files/130629268/Lombard2014coping.pdf }}</ref> A psychology of religion study found it helped awaken personal and spiritual growth in self-identified atheists.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lombard |first=John Rowan and Mick Cooper |date=1999-01-27 |title=The Plural Self Multiplicity in Everyday Life |journal=Disociation Psychology |language=en |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=461–485 |doi=10.1007/s11089-017-0753-5 |issn=0031-2789 |pmc=5493721 |pmid=28725087|isbn=0761960767 }}</ref>

== See also ==

{{portal|Psychology}} * {{annotated link|Future self}} * {{annotated link|Inner critic}} * {{annotated link|Personification}} * {{annotated link|Schema therapy#Schema modes}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Psychology}}

Category:Analytical psychology Category:Clinical psychology Category:Consciousness Category:Dissociative disorders Category:Personality typologies Category:Transpersonal psychology