Originally published in May 2017 and revised for the new website.
The inner world can be imagined as a community populated by different parts. We notice this especially when we are undecided, when desires and needs push us in incompatible directions.
Ambivalence is not an exception to be corrected. Different impulses coexist within a person, formed through their history and continuing to influence one another.
Whatever happens in one part of a person affects their whole experience.
Who gets to speak?
As in a society, our inner community can also organise itself hierarchically. Some parts give orders and others obey; what is not listened to eventually loses its voice. An inner dictatorship often speaks through an “I must” or an “I can’t”.
Internal democracy does not mean that every impulse needs to be followed. It means giving the different parts a voice and allowing them to meet before a choice is made.
Recognising this multiplicity makes it possible to explore the relationships between parts and change the way they organise themselves. Change within a person also changes the way they come into contact with what surrounds them.