A Guide to Parts Work and Subpersonalities

Michael Ebbinghaus • August 6, 2022

Autonomous Energies of the Psyche

There are many methods of cognitive reorganization going around these days. Most of them fall under some umbrella of rewriting belief systems through recognition of their arbitrary nature and how they organize our reality, however accurately or inaccurately. 

Conscious recognition of how our patterns can be maladaptive is an excellent first step, and working on the cognitive plane can be done almost immediately. In my experience, however, I find those belief systems which can be linguistically or cognitively accessed to be more surface manifestations of deeper, non-verbal dynamics. 

The techniques available, such as rewriting self-narratives and reformulating belief systems, falls under the category of what we would call cognitive-behavioral therapies, and the accumulating empirical evidence suggests that these types of therapies can produce short-term improvement, but the longer the individual is out of treatment the more likely they are to return to maladaptive patterns or find them arising in other areas of their lives. 

This is a case of treating the signal, not the deeper problem manifesting it. It would be like visiting the mechanic after your check engine light has come on, only for the mechanic to pull out the sensor that indicated there was an issue and saying “see, no problem!” 

This only paves the way for disaster later on. 

In order to treat the real issue, we have to explore through non-verbal, as well as verbal means. Being able to consciously recognize our belief systems is the first step in changing them, but interventions purely at the cognitive level will do little to influence the parts of us that communicate primarily through symbols – because the expression is symbolic, it can take the form of sounds, movement, images, etc. 

When we speak of belief systems or schemas, the ones that are most fundamental to us are the ones that are not consciously or verbally formulated. We did not choose them of our own volition, but gravitated towards certain interpretations based on an ipso facto organization of our own psyche. This is why two people experiencing very similar circumstances may have very different outcomes, even identical twins! They cannot be reduced to their genetics or experiences because there was the fact of their distinct and separate existence as individuals. All of this combines together in a weird, beautiful dance to show us who we are. 

"When we speak of belief systems or schemas, the ones that are most fundamental to us are the ones that are not consciously or verbally formulated. We did not choose them of our own volition, but gravitated towards certain interpretations based on an ipso facto organization of our own psyche."

The idea of autonomous energies or entities within us should not strike us as surprising. Why exactly do we act, at times, in dissonance with our deepest wishes? Why do we sabotage ourselves and our relationships, fall into addictions where the dreaded outcome is so known but the transient high too irresistible? Why does a person plunge a knife into their own arm or put a bullet through their skull? 

It is because we are comprised of multitudes. 

These multitudes are the basis all parts work, the most famous being Internal Family Systems (IFS) and its theoretical predecessor, psychosynthesis, both of which refer to these entities as subpersonalities. The rationale is that at some point, certain parts of us get split off from our conscious awareness because we find them, for whatever reason, to be undesirable. When this occurs, we disidentify from that aspect and it becomes depersonalized, and when it becomes depersonalized, it can take on deeply malignant manifestations. A will to personal power, for example, something that can be highly fortuitous, punished by a tyrannical father or overbearing mother (or vice-versa), can become a paralyzing and insidious critic of anything that the individual might wish to engage in, whether it be creative projects, healthy relationships, or wealth and freedom. It drives them to symbolic suicide in many endeavors of life, and the individual may ultimately act this out through killing themselves.

Bridging the Gap

There is no rote solution to integrating these split-off parts. There are excellent maps available such as Carl Jung’s method of analytical psychology, Assagioli’s psychosynthesis, or IFS, but these are just maps. The territory is particular to the individual, and it is up to them to engage in the artistic act of reconciliation. This is where a guide can be of immense value. 


What is certain is that these entities are not totally invisible. They make themselves known through the action of our lives, through those areas of self-sabotage, those little moments where our awareness flitters off and we engage in the repetitive pattern, as well as in dreams and body symptoms such as muscle tightness, spasms, aches, ulcers, even cancers. 


This takes some getting used to, as the Western empirical worldview has given little credence to these ideas that we have known intuitively for millennia. If you were to dance your way out of a neurosis, no matter how effective it might be, many clinicians in this day and age would write it down as pathological and may even recommend further psychiatric evaluation! But dancing is actually the perfect analogy because we must come into a relationship with these autonomous beings in such a way that we both benefit. Learning how it manifests in our bodies, feelings, and dreams is an important beginning. Once we identify it, we can then start to shift it through other channels such as drawing or closed-eye imagery, vocalizations, movement or dance, or music. As we start to develop our relationships with them, we can come to the point where we can actually converse with them, a process Carl Jung referred to as active imagination. 


A Practical Example

The core takeaway from this article is that in order to achieve any sort of inner harmony we must form a relationship to these parts of ourselves rather than write them off as irrational and labeling ourselves as inadequate for being unable to take command of our actions. As this process unfolds, the will grows, and we are increasingly capable of exercising our volition and creating positive change. 


I will briefly discuss the chief resident of my unconscious, the autonomous entity with the greatest amount of power. He recently revealed to me his name: Markos (pronounced “Mark-ūs”), which appears to be related to Mars, and indeed, this is an element I feel I have been at war with for much of my life. He manifests in my vision as a mask with a sadistic grin, soulless eyes (depersonalized), and a spiked steel mace (war/weapon/conflict) growing out of the top of his head like a flower. 


Markos has been with me for as long as I can remember, and has inflicted a great deal of punishment on me over the course of my life. I have gravitated towards identities of failure, inadequacy, and unworthiness and, despite my best efforts, find myself in the throes of depression on a consistent basis, my will totally sapped, paralyzed. 


"One of the great criticisms I have of cognitive-behavioral therapies and will over oneself in general is that, when inner harmony is established, the energies of the individual flow naturally because they are not in conflict."


When a close friend of mine brought it to my attention that I had been striving to meet some of my needs through shadowy means, we sat down to have a process, neither of us knowing the outcome, but going in with the intention to grow deeper in our friendship and allow all the parts to have their say. This got messy, and we were both angry and upset with one another. Markos was very present here, telling me how incredibly selfish I had been and how I deserved to be alone and miserable. As our talk proceeded, Markos manifested in a body constriction. My abdominal muscles tightened painfully around my solar plexus (3rd Chakra), and instead of arching my back to try and release them as I have done many times before, I screamed (shifting experiential channels). The tension released. I began to immediately and instinctively hyperventilate. I had managed to fully objectify, rather than remain subject to, Markos. As my friend and I wrestled with him, he began to laugh. With great muscular effort and sustained breathing, I was able to force out a burp that felt like it had been in my body longer than a decade – it was stale and foul. 


There was an immediate resolution to the complex, and I felt immensely liberated. However, in less than 24 hours I was back at the same place – feeling utterly miserable and without hope. It was at this point that I let it be known to Markos how I felt about him, how sick I was at how he made me feel (active imagination). The past few days have served as a testament to what can happen when we rise above our complexes and take control of them.


Part of coming into relationship with these parts of ourselves is still a mystery to me. It's unclear whether they need to be held in loving awareness or, like a severely addicted family member or partner, cast out with loving detachment and given to the loving awareness that is God or the Universe.


Conclusion

I had thought that openness and compassion would bring this to a resolution, and perhaps ultimately that was what this verbal assault and eventual expulsion was. The entire experience has challenged my notions about good and evil, the very composition of life, the Universe, and everything.


That night I had a dream about Jocko Willink whipping my psyche into shape, and the morning after I felt physically refreshed in a way I have not in some time. I was filled with life force and deep cleaned a dirty and unorganized kitchen, then wrote the article that you are now reading. 


Some potent energies in my psyche had been liberated.


One of the great criticisms I have of cognitive-behavioral therapies and will over oneself in general is that, when inner harmony is established, the energies of the individual flow naturally because they are not in conflict. When the individual is in conflict, there is a great deal of energy thrown into a pit that they cannot locate. Because will is so central to the endeavor of healing, and the will is split amongst these autonomous psychic energies, we find ourselves in a bind. In this case of disowned aggression, I had to be vicious to this entity before we could come to any sort of amelioration. 


If you’re struggling with internal conflict and find yourself at odds with your actions and who you would like to be, please contact me. You don’t have to go through this alone, and I have not just extensive study of the maps but knowledge of my own territory. I would love to help you become the intrepid explorer of your own. 


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