by William J. Baldwin, Ph.D.

William James, the father of American psychology, wrote there was “much alarmist writing in psychopathy about degeneration,” and he suggested that “if there were devils, if there are supernormal powers, it is through the cracked and fragmented self that they enter.”

Some attached entities claim to be human, to be alive in their own bodies and aware of the current date. They are not fixated in death trauma because they haven’t died. These entities are mind fragments of living people, attached to other living people.

Multiple personality disorder was considered rare in earlier decades, if not fictitious. Mental health professionals have been extremely skeptical about the diagnosis. In recent years, though, this disorder has been identified as a valid mental condition with specific causative factors, with typical progression of the disorder, that can be treated with some success.

A number of autobiographies have been written by individuals who suffered childhood sexual trauma and developed many personalities or mind fragments as a defense. Some describe the experience of separating from their body and observing the molestation.

One woman recalled standing in the opposite corner as her grandfather fondled her while she was sitting on the toilet. Others describe watching from a place near the ceiling. One client described going out the window and siting on the roof while her father did whatever he did to her little body lying in bed. When he left her room, she returned to her body.

Out-of-body experience is not unusual as the result of sexual abuse. Splitting, or fragmenting, and leaving seems to be a part of the coping mechanism of dissociation. However, some of the “parts” do not return to the body/mind space. This can cause serious problems for the person who fragments in this way.

Even minor trauma can cause fragmentation. Who among us has not experienced some real or imagined physical, mental, or emotional trauma? During painful events in childhood, adolescence, even adulthood, mind fragments can separate from the main personality. These fragments can remain outside the body/mind space and refuse to return. With such parts missing, a person cannot operate fully in life.

This is the condition we have termed “soul fragmentation”. In this condition, the terms “mind,” “personality,” and “soul fragment” are similar in meaning. Soul fragment, however, seems more accurate. Soul fragmentation can be discovered by the client in previous lives; a person can come into this life with part of the soul essence already missing, left behind in a traumatic event during a prior lifetime. Soul fragments can be attached to another person through several lifetimes.

People describe the condition of soul fragmentation in the following ways:

“all broken up”
“shattered”
“falling apart”
“out to lunch”
“nobody home”
“not playing with a full deck”
“broken-hearted”
“he stole my heart”
“empty-headed”
“not firing on all cylinders”
“one foot in the grave”
“part of me says ‘yes,’ part of me says, ‘no’”
“need to get my head together”
“need to pull myself together”
“need to gather my thoughts”

By contrast, it is a compliment to describe a person as “having his stuff together” or being “a really together person”.

These idioms may seem like slang, yet they are often clear metaphoric descriptions of problems by people who have suffered soul fragmentation. A client may describe and experience feeling spacey, ungrounded, disconnected, like they are not in their body, with parts of the body feeling numb, not all here. Eyes may appear vacant and lackluster. Senses may seem muffled. Short attention span and poor memory both in daily life and in a therapy session can indicate the condition of soul fragmentation.

A person may sleep a lot and feel apathetic toward life. Feelings of depression may result from soul fragmentation. The client might feel as if something is missing. Clients express feelings of emptiness, having no heart, having an empty tube inside, or having a huge hole in their heart. These and other similar expressions may well indicate a collective unconscious awareness of the condition of soul fragmentation.

In counseling, most of these separated soul fragments can be located and recovered. People can recognize, recover, and integrate these inner selves. As a result, the fragmentation no longer interferes with the enjoyment of life.

Recognition of minor “splits” in the average person give mental health counselors an effective method of discovering and treating deeper issues that plague clients. In my clinical practice, I apply this knowledge with virtually everyone.

The Inner Family

It may come as a surprise to discover there is an “inner family” as well as our outer family of relatives and in-laws. The inner family is made of our selves, our inner “team” of persons, each with a specific job to perform in daily living. This team begins development when we are infants.

The Protector/Controller

In that vulnerable state when the newborn is completely dependent on others, the behavior of other people is critically important. Some primitive part of the infant consciousness recognizes that some control over the situation is necessary for survival. This recognition leads to the development of the protector/controller, the first of our inner selves. It can be quite demanding, and not pleasant for caretakers. As the individual matures, this protector/controller self can become an obnoxious personality trait.

The first one to be manipulated by the baby’s protector/controller is the mother. She gives food on demand, changes diapers when needed, and can be controlled by whining and crying. Mother and infant quickly understand the language by which the infant can ensure survival. The protector/controller guards the infant’s vulnerability. As the infant matures, the adult is not so vulnerable and does not need the constant intrusion of the protector/controller. It may, however, continue to impose its original purpose, to protect the child from others. As an adult, the protector/controller can interfere with intimacy between love partners.

The Pleaser

Usually it is more difficult to control the father. Historically, fathers leave the care of infants to the mother, though there is a growing change in this pattern. Most fathers spend much time away from home; children have limited contact with them. The child learns to please the father to receive attention. This pleaser self becomes effective in manipulating people by being sensitive to their needs, in the hope that they will serve its own needs. This doesn’t always happen. When the pleaser self is allowed to control behavior, it may focus totally on other people and neglect the inner child altogether.

The Perfectionist

The perfectionist self attempts to do things right so it will appear acceptable to other people and thus avoid criticism. The perfectionist is concerned only with appearances, as is the pusher.

The Pusher

The pusher self drives us to complete goals, to be productive, to appear useful. Neither the pusher not the perfectionist is in touch with consensus reality, only self-centered inner reality. Both interfere with close contact in personal relationships. The pusher also interferes with any kind of relaxation.

The Critic

The perfectionist opens the way to the formation of the inner critic. The job of the critic self is to catch errors before anyone else does, berating us in the process. We can correct our mistakes and others will think we are perfect. If we are perfect, we do not displease anyone. The vulnerable inner child is again saved from outside threat to survival. It is also protected from the intimacy of meaningful human interaction.

The critic points out so many errors and infractions of the rules of the-way-we-should-be that our self-esteem suffers. We learn early in life the rules of home, family, society—the way we are expected to be. Some invisible model of behavior exists that we are supposed to emulate. The critic self is quick to point out how often we fail to meet the standards of behavior and do not live up to the perfection of that model. Self-esteem, self-image, and self-confidence are undermined. This certainly leads to feelings of inferiority.

The Disowned Selves

We also have disowned selves, those parts of us we deny as being too sensitive, too caring, too sneaky, too weak, too sexy, too showy, too good, too capable, too angry—characteristics we judge to be unacceptable. These disowned selves are often attributes we project onto other people. When we judge others, feel hate toward others, distrust others, or have other strong negative reactions toward individuals or groups, we are seeing direct representations of our disowned selves. On the other hand, if we emotionally overvalue someone else, they are also representations of our disowned selves.

The Inner Children

Healing the inner child is a popular topic. Many books and seminars have been offered on the subject of the wounded inner self. The term “inner child” is a popular description for “subpersonality,” the psychological definition of mind fragment.

The term suggests a single “inner child”. This is misleading. In the human condition, there are many inner children, or mind fragments, of various ages, including prebirth. A fragment can split off if the incoming soul recognizes that the parents, or unwed mother, is considering an abortion. If the soul perceives that the family it is coming into will cause physical and emotional difficulty for the infant, the gentle, sensitive part can split away while the tough part remains.

This sensitive part might remain outside the body/mind space entirely. Such a split actually allows the child to survive in the early years, as the tough part is in charge of life. Here is an example:

A male client in his late thirties realized he was unable to enjoy intimate relationships requiring sensitivity and responsiveness. He wanted to change this behavior pattern. The client had been born into a low-income family with several children. His youth was spent in a tough New York City neighborhood.

In our session, he discovered a prebirth split; his sensitive part chose not to be part of childhood, and it separated. With his stronger, more insensitive side in control, he effectively survived his family and social environment in childhood and adolescence. As an adult, he was successful in business, assertive to the point of aggressiveness, and was fully aware of his insensitivity. When discovered, the sensitive soul fragment was more than willing to take its rightful place within. He was delighted to feel again, to interact from that place of caring and compassion.

Excerpt from Healing Lost Souls: Releasing Unwanted Spirits From Your Energy Body

See Part II here.