Reprinted with Permission
Choices of Strength and Healing | Positions of Defeat |
To choose life. | To consider death as an option. |
To have deep inner reasons to live. | To simply exist or look to others for reasons to live. |
To find safety if suicidal feelings are not controllable. | To look to others to magically stop suicidal feelings. |
To hunger for truth, despite the pain, for freedom. | To run from truth and hope for healing without pain. |
To take charge of one’s memory work. | To delegate memory work to therapists or others. |
To be a loving parent to one’s child parts. | To seek an external caregiver for one’s child parts. |
To be determined to love oneself. | To give into feelings of unworthiness or defilement. |
To defeat fear (except truly self-protective fear). | To allow life choices to be fear-driven. |
To defeat anger (except truly self-protective anger). | To displace anger onto others or let inner parts do so. |
To choose sex only in true, healthy relationships. | To allow parts to sexually act out or be victimized. |
To discover and process the trauma that causes parts to want to act out destructively or self-destructively. | To allow parts to be destructive or self-destructive. |
To be a thriver, to have an internal locus of control. | To be a victim, to have an external locus of control. |
To be the leader of one’s healing team. | To want, expect, or demand that others lead. |
To connect with others, to have close relationships. | To isolate. |
To be kind and considerate of helpers and loved ones. | To relate to others as if they are not doing enough. |
To be financially self-sufficient, or work toward this. | To expect others to take responsibility for one’s life. |
To lead. To have a mission to help others. | To be childlike, to look for others to be caretakers. |
Integration (or preserving a few co-conscious parts). | To let dissociated parts take executive control. |
To be spiritually centered. | To have a weak spiritual foundation. |