ABSTRACT
The first inkling I had of it was while working with a participant in a growth group on one of her subpersonalities. I suddenly had the feeling that I knew this subpersonality better than the client did. I risked a few statements from the point of view of the subpersonality, and the client responded with full-hearted assent, as if I had got it right. Afterwards this woman said that it was almost spooky, to hear the exact right words – the way this subpersonality always spoke, so to say. Those who are familiar with psychosynthesis (Whitmore 2004) will know about subpersonalities, and I have written myself about them at some length (Rowan 1990). Those who are familiar with the work of Alvin Mahrer (1996) will be aware that in his form of experiential therapy this kind of thing often happens. His terminology is different, and instead of subpersonalities he speaks of deeper potentials which can come to the surface during therapy, and which both client and therapist can experience directly. Similarly, Robert Johnson (1986) shows that the same thing can happen in Jungian psychotherapy. He calls them inner personalities, and says that they can come from complexes or archetypes. The reason why the therapist can often be in such good touch with them is that there is not the same degree of resistance to them which might be experienced by the client. What is warded-off by the client is unlikely to be warded-off by the therapist.
