While there are many parts or archetypal energies held in our psyche, there are four that seem to most commonly create challenges and obstacles to achieving our goals. The exploration and integration of these four parts can have profound impact on living a fulfilled life.

THE CHILD

This archetype is a part that holds our perception of safety, security, nurturing, belonging and self- esteem. There are many aspects to this part which include the Wounded Child, the Abandoned Child, the Dependent Child, the Innocent Child and the Wild Nature Child to name a few. The core issue with all these child parts is dependency and responsibility, when to take responsibility, when to stand up to the group.

We tend to treat our inner child the same way we were treated by our parents. A child’s concept of themselves and sense of identity mirrors that of the caregivers they had. So whatever neglect or abuse we experienced would be internalized and we would treat ourselves the same way. Even when fully grown the abused or neglected child would continue the abuse inside of self. The same holds true for the adult raised in love and nurturance.

The good news is that in exploring the child aspect buried in our bodies we can offer the love and guidance and other nurturing we may have missed and learn to form consistently healthy relationships. We can grow our self- esteem and feel good about ourselves.

When a child is not nurtured and allowed freedom of expression, a false or co-dependent self emerges. Integrating the inner child allows us to drop our guard, be vulnerable and authentic and no longer need to hide from genuine contact with others.

Keeping this child aspect underground means we will hold shame in our bodies and its repression can affect us in many ways. Spontaneity may be cut off or conversely, out of control. There may be a lack of passion or a tsunami of feeling, where pent up emotions can explode unbidden. Reclaiming the child part is vital to both stability and spontaneity, to balance, in one’s life.

As we re-parent our inner child we cultivate a deep, loving, relationship with this tender aspect of ourselves and free ourselves to experience the beauty and playfulness this archetype holds.  Rather than having one’s psyche consumed with fears of abandonment or inner abuse, the child archetype would be encouraged to inspire and create without the rigidity of the adult mind, while feeling safe and cared for by the stability of the solid Core Self.

This process of healing the inner child and all the parts occurs over a period of time. The goal would be to open the doors of communication and ensure that the resourceful Core Self stays in charge of the process.

THE VICTIM

The Victim Archetype affects and permeates the quality of an individual’s life in a very profound way. If this energy is pervasive, yet unconscious, it would be difficult to feel self- directed and powerful, in charge of one’s life. An individual might feel helpless or at the mercy of certain people and challenges and defensively seek to locate evidence of unfairness. This is a focus that leads to hypervigilance, collapse and or bitterness. While initially Victim energy appears when a child does not get what it wants or needs or are unfairly treated in some way, the progression of this archetype is that the person continues to perpetuate seeing themselves as a victim. While most people struggle to embrace this energy as it is experienced as weak or desperate, it can, when integrated, be an opportunity to create healthy boundaries, a developmental task that may not have been learned in childhood. It also transforms into a reminder of personal autonomy and strength.

Some of the behavioral characteristics of unconscious victim energy are self-contraction, feeling stuck in either external causality or internal states of feeling and a weighty feeling of aloneness where life feels unfair.

Once claimed and expressed the potential to live a hero’s journey is invoked with an experience of expansion, a belief in personal ability, choice and accountability. The primary objective of working with the Victim archetype would be to develop self –accountability, learn forgiveness, release the hold of external circumstances or the past and commit to the authority of one’s own personal power.

THE ADOLESCENT

While adolescence is often viewed as the chaotic precursor to young adulthood, looked at developmentally, the stage of adolescence mirrors very accurately what archetype represents. An adolescent is locked in a struggle to determine who they are.

If the Child archetype serves the force for togetherness and belonging, the adolescent serves the second force that drives all humanity…the need for autonomy. They are trying to develop a sense of identity separate from their parents and decide how they will express themselves in their lives.

An adolescent unable to accomplish this developmental task can become defiant, confused, despondent, either retreating inside, acting in or acting out. It is a time of experimenting with relationship, sexuality, drinking, and many other activities that the teenager sees as part of the adult world. The adolescent is extremely self -absorbed and this is marked by an egocentrism that can take two forms, the imaginary audience and the personal fable. The imaginary audience can be made of admirers or judges and although only existing in the teen’s mind is very real to the adolescent. In the young person’s mind, they are always on stage, sure that all eyes are on them and that they are being evaluated. Their evaluation of themselves is often harsh and matches how they perceive others judging them.

Teenagers also have an exaggerated sense of their own uniqueness and indestructibility called the personal fable. They will tend to believe that whatever the experience, they are feeling it more deeply than anyone ever has before. They also think they are somehow exempt from the serious consequences of their actions, thereby taking high risks in their search for pleasure.

These developmental insights give us a clue to understanding the nature of this archetype. With integration the teen part can encourage passion and a belief in oneself and ultimately a balance between what one wants and what is a responsible and accountable choice in terms of one’s behavior. Left in the shadow of our unconscious, inner conflict along with a desire for freedom may cause acting out and turning a blind eye to consequences.  As our inner child craves security, this part craves freedom and attention. They are at odds with each other and when the teen acts out it can lead to affairs, substance abuse, or behaviors not necessarily in the person’s best interests. The driver of this archetype is a strong need for self-expression without constriction.

THE CRITIC

This energy has the power to be extremely debilitating if left unexplored. It is relentless in finding negativity not only outside of ourselves, but with ourselves. While discernment can be a highly effective and prized quality to include when making choices, perpetually finding fault and criticizing excludes all possibility of enjoying satisfaction in one’s life. A destructive voice of criticism delivered consistently in our minds can sabotage self- esteem and even negate accomplishments that the individual does succeed with. Nothing is ever good enough and not only does this inner critic evaluate themselves this way, always lacking, but they attract people into their lives who do the same.

Where does this voice come from? Some of the content may come from things we heard in childhood, actual messages we have internalized based on people’s reactions to us or the events around us.

Our perception of a critical parent’s opinion is swallowed whole and we cannot separate the behavior they may not like, from ourselves. To the child everything is personal. We may become adults but we perpetuate and continue to listen to an evaluation of ourselves forgetting where it even came from. Unquestioned we continue to judge and condemn ourselves and if left unchecked the inner critic can wage inner chaos.

The task in exploring this archetype is first understanding whose voice we have internalized and then clearing the beliefs we made up about ourselves as children. The Core Self would actively correct and counterbalance the negative messages and replace them with realistic, positive ones. Then our critic can serve a useful function helping us learn from mistakes and improve. We accept that striving for perfection is futile and instead find helpful ways to grow and accept ourselves as human beings, flaws and all.

For there to be harmony in our psyche, we focus our goal on validating and accepting all aspects of ourselves with equal understanding and compassion. This exploration will increase the student’s self- awareness and ultimately empower them to be clear about who they are and which part of themselves is in charge.

When one takes guidance from the solid Core Self then one’s behavior reflects inner values and that will inevitably translate into living a life with greater purpose and integrity.

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About Tasha Simms M.A. M.P.C.A