Find what a subpersonality needs, not just what it wants

Look past a part's demands to the need underneath, then look for an acceptable way to meet that need.

Pourquoi ça marche

Vargiu distinguishes what a subpersonality wants, its stated and often unrealistic demands, from what it needs, which he treats as basically good. Its troublesome behaviour is read as a frustrated attempt to express that good need. He places this "coordination" phase after recognizing and accepting the part, and describes moving "from what it says it wants to what it truly needs" by tracing "the reasons, the 'whys' for those wants, and then the needs behind those reasons." He presents that sequence as a dialogue between two sides, so the single-part version here is an adaptation.

Comment faire

1. Choose a demand that a part keeps making, and state what it says it wants.
2. Ask what it wants, then trace the reasons, the "whys" for that want, and then the need behind those reasons. Keep in touch with the feelings involved while you do this.
3. If you cannot give the demand directly, ask the part Vargiu's question: "Well, I can't really give you this, but is there something else I can give you instead?"
4. Look for an acceptable way to satisfy the need. Vargiu says that with enough understanding and skill, a need can be satisfied "if not fully, at least enough to maintain the process of growth."

Données probantes

The wants-versus-needs distinction and the coordination sequence are in Vargiu's chapter on subpersonalities (Synthesis, Vol. I). Vargiu's imagery work is done with a guide. Ferrucci's What We May Be has an exercise titled "Working on a Subpersonality" (chapter 4, pp. 56-57) that scripts a guided imagery walk; it is not used here. The one controlled comparison found assigned 21 clients to one of three conditions in a four-month trial: weekly psychodynamic therapy working with subpersonalities through psychosynthesis guided imagery, the same work without imagery, or minimal contact. Both active groups did better than minimal contact on their therapy aims and on self-acceptance, with no difference between imagery and non-imagery work. (observational)

That study is small, therapist-led, and its abstract does not say clients were randomly assigned; it shows that subpersonality work in therapy did better than minimal contact, not that this self-run sequence works on its own. Talking with a part about what it wants can bring up strong feelings. If you feel flooded, stop and continue with a trained therapist.

Sources

• Vargiu, J. (1974). Chapter in Synthesis, Vol. I: The Realization of the Self. The Synthesis Press, Redwood City, California. Reprinted on kennethsorensen.dk as "Subpersonalities and psychotherapy" (the editor added the subtitle and abstract).
• Feinberg-Moss, B. B., & Oatley, K. (1990). Guided imagery in brief psychodynamic therapy: Outcome and process. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 63(2), 117-129.

Erreur fréquente

Granting the demand itself instead of the need beneath it. Vargiu's point is that you can often say, "I can't really give you this," and still look for something else that meets the need.