I think it was my fourth or fifth session when my therapist suggested something called a "Multiple Selves Exercise". At first, I thought it was stupid and the thought of role playing was confronting and uncomfortable. Whenever I had thought about who I was, I always felt a unified self who had been the same throughout the course of my life. My therapist suggested we observe my experiences more closely, and I started to notice that I had multiple ways of behaving depending on which overwhelming emotion I was experiencing at the time.
My therapist called these my other selves. My emotional selves, designed to take on the brunt of emotional experiences when they became a little bit too much for me.
I agreed to participate in the exercise because after all, I did sign myself up for therapy. I had been unable to take charge over my thoughts and feelings for the better part of my life and it was starting to take a real toll on me. I felt completely out of control and I had been here before. Many times.
You didn't think a single phone call from my mother was the reason I ended up in therapy, did you?
YOU ARE READING
Me, My Selves & I
Non-FictionComing to terms with the parts of yourself that you would rather not admit exist, is not always an easy endeavour. After years of being self destructive, angry and feeling out of control, a young woman hopes that through therapy, she will gain cont...
