Plurality 
    Team   MJ   Barker 
                                                                             Introduction 
                    Welcome  to  my  free  book  on  plurality.  These  free  books  are  collections  of  the  pieces  that  I’ve  written 
                    on  various  subjects  over  the  years  for  those  who  would  rather  print  them  off  as  a  hard  copy  book,  or 
                    read  them  -  collected  together  -  on  an  e-reader.  I  aim  to  update  these  books  with  any  new  writing  on 
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                                                                       Contents 
                    Introduction                                                                                                              1 
                    Contents                                                                                                                  2 
                    What   is   plurality?                                                                                                    3 
                    Introducing   the   team                                                                                                  5 
                    Plural   Selves   FAQ                                                                                                     7 
                    Plurality   and   trauma   –   1   –   theory                                                                           19 
                    Plurality   and   trauma   –   2   –   practices                                                                        34 
                    Plural   mindfulness   /   mindful   plurality                                                                          49 
                    ‘No   Bad   Parts’:   Some   Plural   Thoughts   on   The   New   Internal   Family   Systems   Book                    67 
                    Balancing   fight,   flight,   freeze   and   fawn:   A   plural   perspective   1                                      86 
                    Balancing   fight,   flight,   freeze   and   fawn:   A   plural   perspective   2                                      92 
                    Taking   ourselves   seriously                                                                                          97 
                    Plural   conversation   about   fear(others)/shame(self)                                                              105 
                    Accompanying   vs.   abandoning   ourselves                                                                           113 
                    Mind   the   gap:   On   slowing   down   and   making   space                                                        129 
                    Staying   with   the   Big   Feels                                                                                    139 
                    Attachment,   emotion   and   plural   parts   work                                                                   163 
                    Relationship   conflict   and   the   community   of   selves                                                         182 
                    Further   Resources                                                                                                   185 
                    Thank-you   for   reading                                                                                             186 
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                     What   is   plurality? 
       Plurality  is  an  umbrella  term  for  any  way  in  which  people  experience  themselves  as  different  selves, 
       parts,  or  states  at  different  times.  Some  may  use  the  word  multiplicity  to  capture  the  same  idea.  One 
       version  of  this  which  has  become  part  of  common  understanding  is  the  idea  that  we  have  an  ‘inner 
       critic’  side  who  tells  us  we’re  not  good  enough  and  should  do  better.  Another  popularly  understood 
       version   is   the   sense   that   we   might   have   an   ‘inner   child’   and/or   ‘inner   parent’. 
       People  often  find  it  easiest  to  recognise  plurality  in  themselves  when  they  reflect  on  how  they  are  in 
       different  relationships,  or  situations.  Trevor  Butt’s  research  found  that  most  people  experience  and 
       express  quite  different  character  traits  with  different  people  in  their  lives,  despite  retaining  a  sense 
       that  they  were  ‘being  themselves’  in  all  those  relationships.  For  example  a  person  might  being  mostly 
       serious,  quiet,  and  intellectual  with  one  friend  or  family  member,  and  mostly  humorous,  outgoing  and 
       emotionally  open  with  another.  We  might  also  reflect  on  the  sides  of  us  who  emerge  when  working, 
       socialising,   in   conflict,   in   crisis,   or   going   to   bed   at   night,   for   example. 
       Probably  the  only  media  depiction  of  plural  experience  is  in  the  context  of  mental  health.  Films  like 
       Sybil,  Fight  Club,  Me,  Myself  and  Irene,  Identity,  and  Split  ,  and  TV  shows  like  United  States  of  Tara  , 
       represent  people  with  plural  experience  mostly  in  a  mental  health  context.  They’re  depicted  as  mad  - 
       and   often   also   as   bad   -   with   one   or   more   alter-egos   who   are   violent   and/or   evil. 
       The  American  Psychiatric  Association  Diagnostic  and  Statistical  Manual  (DSM  5)  now  uses  the  term 
       Dissociative  Identity  Disorder  (DID)  for  plural  experience  rather  than  Multiple  Personality  Disorder 
       (MPD).  DID  is  diagnosed  if  a  person  has  two  or  more  distinct  identities  or  personality  states,  each 
       with  its  own  relatively  enduring  pattern  of  perceiving,  relating  to,  and  thinking  about  the  world  and  the 
       self.  To  be  diagnosed  they  must  also  experience  dissociation  -  or  forgetting  -  when  in  different  states, 
       and  it  must  impact  them  adversely.  It’s  estimated  that  around  1-3%  of  people  are  diagnosable  with 
       DID. 
       An  alternative  approach  to  plurality  can  be  found  in  the  work  of  therapists  and  authors  such  as  Hal 
       and  Sidra  Stone,  and  Richard  Schwartz,  in  the  US,  and  Mick  Cooper  and  John  Rowan  in  the  UK. 
       They  propose  that  we’re  all  plural  rather  than  singular,  and  put  forward  therapeutic  techniques  for 
       engaging  with  the  different  sides  of  ourselves  such  as  voice  dialogue:  bringing  different  selves  into 
       conversation  through  talking  -  or  journalling  -  between  them.  In  such  work  the  goal  is  not  integration, 
       or  becoming  a  singular  self,  but  rather  improving  communication  between  the  different  selves.  The 
       aim   is   that   they   can   come   to   understand   each   other   and   work   better   as   part   of   a   team   or 
       constellation:   rather   as   systemic   therapy   would   work   with   a   family   system. 
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