Der innere Garten

Michaela Huber, born in 1952, is a psychological psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer in trauma treatment. Since its foundation, she has been the first chairperson of the German-speaking section of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation and co-founder of the Centre for Psychotraumatology in Kassel.

As individuals, we are not a monolith; we do not have a consistent "I." Instead, we experience many different states of feeling and being that can change from situation to situation, and often we struggle to hold our fragile selves together. Our work persona can be very different from our private persona. Our "hurt inner child" can and must often differ from the persona we present to our own children. Our feelings towards our parents can be very different from how we feel when giving a public talk, and so on.

If you need to change something in life, and there are many inner and outer opinions about it, it might help to perceive yourself as composed of various ego and emotional states. It is important to pay attention to the darker, negative, "evil" parts of oneself and to respect them before attempting to change them. Learning to transform them into "admonishers and warners" and cooperating with them, rather than fighting against them, can be beneficial. It may also help to find temporary relief from current problems by creating inner "depots" for them. Distinguishing between black and white, naivety and despair, and recognizing that desired changes can occur without the help of conscious thought can be enlightening. Additionally, reassuring oneself of one's own abilities through imaginary methods of help and developing new resources can be very helpful, with "autohypnotic" imaginations proving particularly useful.