How Much Change Is Possible?

Self-Therapy For People Who ENJOY Learning About Themselves

Changing Your Personality

People who have never experienced therapy often ask: "Do people really change?" People who have experienced good therapy know the answer is a resounding "Yes!" [If you wonder about this yourself, please read: "About Change."]

But there's a related question that even some therapists wonder about: "Can people change their basic personality?"

This answer is also a resounding "Yes." Most people don't change their whole personality in therapy, but some do.

This topic is about how they do it.

AN IMPORTANT CLUE

Most self-aware people remember times when they said something and believed it completely,
and then, maybe even later the same day, they said the exact opposite and believed that completely too!

When they noticed this they might have wondered if they were going crazy, but this apparent "craziness" gives us an important clue about how our personality works and how it can change.

Our personality consists of five different parts. These parts often disagree with each other - and most of the time we aren't even aware of it.

When we "change our mind" about something, we are changing a minor belief in one personality part.

When we change our whole personality we are changing major beliefs in at least four of the five parts of our personality.

Some day I'll probably tell you more about each of these parts and how they work, but for now I'll just use them as an example and show you how they can change.

I'm going to use a stereotypical male alcoholic as my example. [If you are a male alcoholic, please forgive these generalities. I know every person is different.]

What He Believes BEFORE He Changes:

When the alcoholic is in his Nurturing Parent he strongly believes he shouldn't drink. When he is in his Rebellious Child he just as strongly believes he should drink. When he's in ANY part he is equally sure of himself! He only knows he's confused when he notices the inconsistency between these different parts.

If he's going to overcome his addiction the alcoholic will need to become aware of his different parts and decide how to change deep beliefs about his worth and about the best ways to get along in the world. His therapist and his alcohol treatment sponsor will help him to notice the parts and the inconsistencies.

He can even change his whole personality if he needs to. If he does, he will be making major changes in what each part of his personality says to him over and over and every day of his life.

What He Believes AFTER He Changes:

The Adult part doesn't need to change unless the facts change, but every other part of this man's personality is VERY different than it was. His whole personality has changed.

1. We'd need to admit that we are hurting ourselves and those we love the way we are.
2. We'd need to admit that we don't know how to stop it without making huge changes.
3. We'd need to learn a lot about how we work while working with a good therapist.
4. We'd need to get enough support from friends, relatives, and support groups.

ANYONE CAN CHANGE ANYTHING

Only a tiny number of us will ever even try to change everything. But we all need to know we can change anything.

Many changes happen without us even being aware of them. Other changes happen naturally
as we connect with others and share our love. Some changes happen with professional help -
whether it's with a therapist, a dietitian, an MD, or a tennis instructor!

Expect, allow, and learn to take charge of all your changes.

Enjoy Your Changes!

Everything here is designed to help you do just that!

next: Problems With Anger