I like the name “hand” for the instinctual center as opposed to “gut”. Makes more intuitive sense as the doer.
I also think you’re getting at a deeper issue with therapeutic frameworks in general which is that they don’t generally promote or at least are not good at creating a daily, integrated set of practices to lead to genuine change at a deep level.
The instinctive center is the autonomic nervous system. The moving center is the hand (the body, with its chronic need for movement), which is the part of us that needs a fidget toy when there is mental work to be done. The instinctive center has more to do with the gut.
As a student of the fourth way teachings and a student of advanced hypnotherapy, I was planning to make a similar substack post on this same connection between Gurdjieff and parts therapy. I am so glad you already have done so in such a wonderful manner.
Hey, I practiced IFS for a long while, and eventually ended up practicing jungian therapy as a result - it opened doors to something beyond the personal unconscious for me.
I found it odd that Carl Jung and Swartz’s theories were so analogous, yet he seemed entirely unaware of the system that Carl Jung devised, having no real answer to the problem of when people did encounter archetypes (considered unburdened parts in the IFS framework)
I was wondering if you could illuminate something for me: do you know what were Schwartz intellectual influences? It seems to me he didn’t read much on psychological practices other than his own (not necessarily a bad thing) and just derived a system out of his own experience of working with patients and observing them
(To be clear, I think this is an extraordinary achievement, and highlights that there’s something fundamentally true about the distinct and multiple personality model)
I like the name “hand” for the instinctual center as opposed to “gut”. Makes more intuitive sense as the doer.
I also think you’re getting at a deeper issue with therapeutic frameworks in general which is that they don’t generally promote or at least are not good at creating a daily, integrated set of practices to lead to genuine change at a deep level.
The instinctive center is the autonomic nervous system. The moving center is the hand (the body, with its chronic need for movement), which is the part of us that needs a fidget toy when there is mental work to be done. The instinctive center has more to do with the gut.
Excited to see you writing here!
As a student of the fourth way teachings and a student of advanced hypnotherapy, I was planning to make a similar substack post on this same connection between Gurdjieff and parts therapy. I am so glad you already have done so in such a wonderful manner.
I am so grateful for this excellent post. I have a much clearer understanding of both IFS and Gurdjieff's framework now. Thank you!
Look forward to learning more about Gurdjieff from you!
Really looking forward to reading all your work.
Hey, I practiced IFS for a long while, and eventually ended up practicing jungian therapy as a result - it opened doors to something beyond the personal unconscious for me.
I found it odd that Carl Jung and Swartz’s theories were so analogous, yet he seemed entirely unaware of the system that Carl Jung devised, having no real answer to the problem of when people did encounter archetypes (considered unburdened parts in the IFS framework)
I was wondering if you could illuminate something for me: do you know what were Schwartz intellectual influences? It seems to me he didn’t read much on psychological practices other than his own (not necessarily a bad thing) and just derived a system out of his own experience of working with patients and observing them
(To be clear, I think this is an extraordinary achievement, and highlights that there’s something fundamentally true about the distinct and multiple personality model)