The dimensions of the Self

Distinction between Content Self, Process Self and Context Self

To understand the structure of identity from this psychotherapeutic model, it is necessary to break down the "I" into three functional dimensions. The first is the Self as Content (or Conceptualized Self).

This is the story we tell ourselves about ourselves: our labels, roles, eva luations, and memories.

It is the resume of our mind: "I am smart," "I am shy," "I am a victim," "I am an engineer."

The second dimension is the Self as Process. It refers to the fluid connection to the present moment; it is the part of us that is noticing and experiencing internal and external events in real time ("now I am noticing cold," "now I am thinking about dinner").

The third dimension, and the most crucial for psychological flexibility, is Self as Context.

This is the "I" that is most difficult to define in words because it is not a thing or a thought, but the place from which things happen. It is the perspective of the pure observer.

If we imagine our mind as a house, the Content Self would be the furniture and pictures (our ideas), the Process Self would be the activity of living in the house, and the Context Self would be the physical space of the rooms that allows the furniture to exist.

This "I" cannot be damaged by the contents; it is the immutable container of all our life experience.

While our thoughts and emotions are constantly changing, the perspective from which we observe them remains stable throughout life.

The danger of over-identification with roles or labels

Pathology and suffering are intensified when we totally merge with the Contained Self.

When we believe we are our labels, we lose the ability to adapt to change.

For example, imagine a person who has built his or her entire identity around the concept "I am an elite athlete."

If this person suffers an injury that prevents them from competing, they not only lose an activity, they feel they lose their very existence.

Being fused with the content ("athlete"), the disappearance of that role is experienced as a psychological death, generating depression and identity crisis.In the same way, negative labels can become prisons.

If someone blindly identifies with the label "I am a toxic person" or "I am a failure", he or she will inevitably act to confirm that identity, seeking internal coherence.

Self as Context offers a way out of this trap. It allows us to see that we have roles (worker, partner, friend), but that we are not those roles. We are the stage where those roles are played.

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