Guiding Philosophy
The Inner Politic
This concept is our unique vision of healing that we practice here at the IAM Center.
We live in two worlds. There is the outer world where life goes on before us. We see, view and experience it.
Then there is the inner world, made up of our thoughts and feelings based on what we
experienced during our childhood.
If we examine this inner world, we will find there is an inner politic that rules us. How this operates is difficult to grasp. When it is operating, we are confused about what is happening inside of us.
We summarize its activity in a simple formula, which we call the ABC’s.
Be the Adult, Banish the voices and nurture the Children
Let’s take a closer look at how this system operates.
Let’s start out with the idea of being in the present moment – the right now.
I am – with my entire experience and life story.
I am the accumulation of all my wisdom, successes and failures…
I am the present day ME.
When we ground our self in the Adult place (the A in the ABC’s), we able to look at this inner politic from a more mature and neutral perspective.
This Adult space is where we want to live, but often we are pulled into the Child spaces.
In the process of growing up, we are bombarded with lots of information.
In infancy, we are left to rely on others for our safety and well–being.
“Don’t go near the hot stove”, “don’t go near the steps” or “you did a good job”.
These are all ways a safe and nurturing environment is established.
But unfortunately, many of us received less than stellar information.
If we had abusive or neglectful parenting or guardianship,
we might have received messages like, “You are no good!”, “You can’t do anything right!”,
“You are useless!”, etc.
We might have also received messages from extended family members, church, school,
society.
These are messages that come from the outer world, and end up sitting on us in the inner world and wrestle with us generating great confusion.
This part of the inner politic is called the Inner Other.
It has been called the inner judge, inner critic, the gremlin.
Whatever it is called, it is not part of the true self.
It speaks to us in a you voice, “Why can’t you do anything right?!”
We usually can trace it to some historical figure or group.
If this entity is feeding us negative messages, it is up to us to figure out what that voice is and Banish it! These negative, intrusive, degrading messages that demean us are not allowed in
the sacred space of the I AM.
As the Adult, when we review what these inner voices say to us, we can see how they have
wreaked havoc in our inner world.
The damage to ourselves by these outside forces in various stages of growing up certainly
leave their mark.
We all can reflect on the ages that we had trauma.
That part of ourselves that went through that trauma, lived it and was affected by it, still takes
up a psychic state in our inner politic.
These are the Child spaces. These parts of the self need care, nurturing and re–education.
There can be more than one Child part.
There is the repressed, disowned Child, the part of ourselves that is sad, hiding, scared, unable to talk or even be in life!
In the Adult place, we have to be grounded enough to let that Child know they are safe and no more trauma like that will be allowed.
Another Child part is called the Ally Child.
It is the part of the self that allies itself with the old system, the Inner Others and perhaps historical abusers who are also in the present day.
This part of the self needs a great deal of care.
What started out as survival on the part of this Child with those abusers, has become a soldier keeping the old rules that has resulted in keeping life at bay. This Ally Child thinks the battle is still being fought and wants to pull the Adult into a false safety of compliance.
But it is an unknowing trap to live the old way!
Both the Repressed Child and the Ally Child need care.
Many want to boot the Ally Child out since it adheres to the old way.
However, what it needs is a new understanding of what happened then and be brought into a new awareness and integration of the present time with the Adult Self.
This is what is contained in:
Be the Adult
Banish the Inner Other voices
Nurture the Child parts of the true Self.
This is a system that is quick to learn and understand intellectually, but is also a daily heart practice for healing.