Recognizing your Self

Many of us begin therapy because we’ve become disconnected from ourselves. We may be feeling lost, stuck, numb, or have the unsettling sense that something is off. We know something isn’t quite right, even if nothing is glaringly wrong. You might even feel like you’ve become a stranger to yourself.

If your goal is to get back to yourself, it’s important to know what you’re looking for. The Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapeutic modality believes there are 13 characteristics present in everyone’s core selves. These traits can serve as a beacon for reconnecting with your truest self. Learning to notice these characteristics through mindfulness, self-reflection, and working with an IFS therapist can set you on the path back to you.

The 8 C’s of Self

• Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it

  Curiosity: desire to know; interest leading to inquiry

  Calm: free from agitation, excitement, or disturbance

  Connectedness: joined together

  Creativity: the ability to create or consider something with imaginative skill

  Confidence: belief in one’s capabilities, qualities, or circumstances

  Courage: mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand fear, challenge, or difficulty

  Clarity: having a full, detailed, and orderly mental grasp of something

The 5 P’s of Self

• Presence: being wholly in the moment with focus and intentionality

   Patience: remaining calmly steadfast despite difficulty or adversity

   Perspective: the capacity to view things in their true relations and relative importance

   Playfulness: engaging with levity and frivolity

   Persistence: going on resolutely

  
  

When we are connected with ourselves, we feel a profound difference in our lives. In my experience, that difference can be summed up with one final characteristic. It’s something most of us are striving towards, and something The Peaceful Place believes in wholeheartedly. When we know ourselves, we know…

Peace: a state of tranquility, freedom, harmony, and security