The true self is a being
The core truths around which Acceptance and Integration Training (AAIT™) is built are the principles I have experienced first-hand in my OWN life. I have witnessed evidence of them in the lives of my clients, AAIT™ trainees and reports from their clients. These principles inform the practice of AAIT™. They form, along with the phases of AAIT™, a crucible for transformation.
The first principle is that the true self is not encumbered by the limitations of a narrative. The true self is a being.
“Our true Self is who we truly are in a state of wholeness, integrated with previous shadow-stuff, without illusions of separateness. Connecting with our true Self allows us to realize that we are True Spiritual Beings, not separate personalities.”
~ Zivorad Slavinski
The true self is hidden beneath layers of reactive impulses associated with the false conditioned self. These layers are like veils woven from our wounds…the traumas and fears, the sorrows and pain of unmet needs and defeated goals, our early decisions and more…all concealing the true self.
This unintegrated psychological content enshrouds us and clouds our experience of who we are, who others are and what life is.
With AAIT™, our goal is to help our clients shift identification from this conditioning to a truer self. Our goal is to help our clients resolve their problems and realize their goals WHILE helping them disentangle from their conditioning in the current situation AND decreasing the potential for reactivity about similar situations in the future.
It sounds like a lot. It is and it’s happening every day with my clients and the clients of other AAIT™ practitioners.
Because what happens is that once a problem is resolved through acceptance and integration, we experience a greater awareness of our choice points, we feel the space between stimulus and response more clearly. This makes it easy to access the greater ease of being we typically associate with our real self.
This principle pairs with the INTEGRATION phase of AAIT™. As we integrate various aspects of our conditioned self, we become more whole, more integrated.
What questions, insights or objections do you have about the role of this principle in psychotherapy, coaching or spiritual direction?
