Submitted by IA on
There’s self, there’s other and there’s other-other. We know the first two. The third may sound a little weird.
Rather pejorative names like sub- personalities, semi-autonomous fragments, dissociated aspects, etc. have been given to what are actually adaptive, protective behaviors. At different times in our lives we felt it necessary to reveal – even highlight – some parts of ourselves and conceal or deny others. Hence other-other…
The unintended consequence is that this internal shuffling process results in our feeling that these are separate, both from each other (like cards in a deck) and ultimately from ourselves. Our other-others are tasked with interacting in the world and thus always leaving true components of self in the shadows.
That makes it hard to trust ourselves or feel that we belong.
Integrated Awareness is a set of tools to enable feeling whole again.