This is a partner exercise developed in the course of the ReSource Protocol development. It is
based on the notion of the self as comprised of different parts or aspects, an idea common in
many Western psychotherapeutic approaches
and related to the idea of the self as a
non-unitary and constantly changing entity, common in contemplative philosophies
The exercise is done in the weekly sessions and at home. In the sessions, two participants, say
Anna and Bill, are paired and sit in front of each other. Anna tells Bill about an event of the day,
first briefly describing the event and its setting as it has occurred to her and then retelling the
event from the perspective of another inner part of her. This inner part is drawn by chance from a
list of inner parts that Anna has identified previously in the course of the training (see outline
below). In the narration of the event, she sticks to what has actually happened but interprets
everything from the perspective of the allotted inner part, resulting in different thoughts,
judgments, and emotions. Bill listens mindfully, without reacting verbally or non-verbally. He has
the list of Anna’s inner parts in front of him and tries to guess the perspective from which she is
narrating. After 5 minutes of narration, there is a minute of silence. Anna lets go of the part she
has been creeping into and tries to return to a state that can be termed “center” or “self”
This
state is not dominated by any of the parts but rather a space of non-judgmental acceptance of
everything that is - including all inner parts - and is characterized by calm, balance, and a clear
view. In this one minute, Bill also practices returning to his center or self. After this minute of
silence, Bill communicates his guess and Anna reveals the perspective she has been telling from.
Then, roles are reversed. When practiced during the week, participants do the exercise in pairs
via a smartphone app, as described for the Affect core exercise 2 (see above).
The exercise is designed, on the speaker’s side, to train the ability to detach from a certain
interpretation of the situation and adopt an alternative one. Over the course of the training, this
may result in an experiential insight into the non-unitary, impermanent and interdependent nature
of the self. This may in turn lead to a more profound understanding of the self, as well as greater
ease and flexibility in thoughts and emotions relating to it. The listener learns to take somebody
else’s perspective and understand their patterns of thoughts and emotions.
Outline of the Training
In the retreat, the core practices are introduced. They learn a first, easy variant of thought
observation by means of mental labeling. The framework for the second core exercise is the
Internal Family Systems
a model of our inner world as a network of interrelated parts.
Prototypical examples are the inner critic, the slave driver, the happy pig, the manager or the
pleasing child. These archetypes are, however, only starting points for the participants to find their
own individual parts that they commonly adopt. Using various methods of contemplation and
exploratory artwork, participants discover a first set of inner parts during the retreat that may be
changed, extended and elaborated in the course of the module. A group exercise brought into the
protocol by Tom Holmes guides participants into the collective experience of multiple self-aspects
that are present in every person and also into the state of calm and vivid spaciousness (“center” or
“self”) that can be found when identification with specific self-aspects is temporarily overcome.
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Perspective Core Exercise 2: Perspective Dyad
