Bridgit Dengel Gaspard LCSW
Psychotherapist and author Bridgit Dengel Gaspard LCSW is a master in the art of Voice Dialogue. She knows how to help people access their different inner selves–inner selves they tend to suppress or ignore.
I was sharing some insights I learned from my conversation with Bridgit with some ladies at one of my virtual cocktail parties when one of them poignantly said, “It’s like the movie Inside Out.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. We each of different personas with different personalities, strengths, and flaws who reside within us. And they all serve a purpose: to protect and help us process and make meaning of our experiences.
Most importantly, we can delegate tasks to them and enlist them in helping us achieve our goals. Here are my big takeaways from my conversation with Bridgit Dengel Gaspard LCSW.
- Writing your unspoken words and thoughts in a private journal is powerful and therapeutic. To write your innermost thoughts and feelings in a journal is to process your emotions. It’s a healthy alternative to bottling them inside your body.
- You may be stuck because you’re scared of success. Success may necessitate changes in your relationships, which may feel scary and uncomfortable. People might become envious or angry because you’ve stepped into new power and have acquired a new lifestyle. Instead of hiding from other’s responses to you, wear your courageous persona, and set boundaries.
- It is healthy and normal to access your different inner selves for different situations. When you need to be more extroverted for an event, it is useful to put on the extroverted self you rarely acknowledge.
- Each inner self has a sting and a gift. Your lazy self can offer the gift of relaxation and carry the sting of apathy. Although some may experience your lazy persona as apathetic and unproductive, there will be moments when you need to relish in its gift of relaxation.
- Turn your inner critic into your ally; he always has your back. Your inner critic is trying to protect and do right by you. Thank him for his concern, yet remind him that you are the boss, and he works for you. You call the shots, not him.
- Some of your inner selves may have a distorted loyalty to your core negative beliefs. Be compassionate and empathetic with your inner selves; remind them that you are the boss, and you don’t subscribe to the negative beliefs anymore.
- Often we get stuck because we need to access a part of our personality we’re scared to put on. For example, suppose the final step to achieving your goal requires you to have a difficult conversation or do an oral presentation. In that case, you will need to access your confident persona, which you may not feel comfortable wearing.
What are your inner selves with whom you are quite familiar? What are some you tend to suppress? How can you enlist their help in accomplishing your goals this year?
