Four Pathways To Your Authentic Self

By Therese Emmanuel Grey

One of the best ways to understand why you do what you do—or why your significant others, your in-laws and even your favorite celebrities do what they do—is to explore the universal archetypes people print from birth that influence their behavior.

Carl Jung first introduced archetypes as important insights into human behavior. Archetypes convey an energy, a thought-form that describes an aspect of our psyche.

In 1990, Canadian psychologist Caroline Hanskte teamed up with Brian Emmanuel Grey, an intuitive who was given the gift to hone in on a person’s specific psychological strengths and weaknesses—their “program,” so to speak.

Together, they identified the four primary archetypes everyone functions through at some level of their being, be it the conscious, the subconscious, the superconscious or the unconscious mind. These four archetypes are simple, yet extremely powerful. They have, over the last fourteen years, dramatically helped thousands of individuals and businesses, including multinational companies and government agencies.

Over and over again, Caroline and Brian watched people come to grips with the most difficult issues in their lives. The people dramatically improved their relationships and expressed their full potential by unfolding these archetypes.

These four universal archetypes or energies are known as our inner family archetypes, because they are best described through the concepts of Father, Mother, Boychild and Girlchild. Each archetype has a light and dark side. Through the light side, these archetypes allow us to express our highest soul potential. Through the dark side, we experience rebellion, fragmentation, pain, isolation, and ultimate soul destruction.

Everyone uses their four inner family archetypes in a conscious, subconscious, superconscious or unconscious way, albeit through different patterns. The specific pattern we imprint from birth influences how we think and feel, what we aspire to and what we reject.

If you have a conscious Boychild frame of reference, you will be very enterprising. If you have a conscious Mother frame of reference, you would rather have all of your bases covered before making a move. If your conscious archetype is Girlchild, you are an intuitive, spherical, highly creative thinker. Note: We don’t run into people who have a conscious Father archetype because the Father archetype is not automatically imprinted at the conscious level.

Now if you feel through subconscious Girlchild, you will be highly sensitive. This is different from people who inherit the tough underbelly of subconscious Boychild, subconscious Father or even the underlying adult quality of subconscious Mother.

Take a look, now, at your superconscious archetype. It encompasses the qualities you aspire to in life. Do you aspire to be the Mother, to teach and nurture life? Are you drawn to the energy of Father and pursue order, grids and blueprints in an impersonal way. Is the mystical kindness of Girlchild your ideal of beauty or do you hunger for the zestful enthusiasm of the Boychild warrior? 

Knowing which archetype governs your unconscious is also key because that archetype represents your rejected self, and you project it onto others. If Boychild is in your unconscious, you will regrettably draw “bullies” to yourself, people who push your buttons. If you have Mother in the unconscious, you will tend to magnetize abandonment. If Father is your unconscious archetype, you may encounter more than a fair share of trouble with the law, or simply the rules in your environment, and be prone to criticism. If Girlchild is your rejected archetype, you may draw to yourself wounded people who seek to prosecute you for an alleged offense.

Generally, people who function from a strong Father archetype pursue the law. They tend to have strong boundaries and seek to download a blueprint for every situation. When their Father energy goes out of balance and becomes unloving, they can become harsh and critical toward themselves and others.

People who express a strong Mother archetype live to nurture life. They love to guide and teach others, and provide stability in any given situation. When they are threatened, they respond by either going aloof or by smothering those around them with a spoiling mechanism. Either way, they avoid further giving of themselves.

People who have a strong Boychild archetype are go-getters in life. They are highly competitive and do whatever it takes to reach their goal. When their archetype goes negative, they become over-competitive, aggressive, and tend to run over others.

Those who have a strong Girlchild archetype go with the flow. They experience life through serendipity. They are highly creative, caring and intuitive. When their sensitivity is trampled, however, the unloving side of Girlchild takes over. They become victim-martyrs, prosecutors who ultimately feel superior to their persecutors.

The more familiar you become with your four inner family archetypes, the more you will recognize which archetype you patterned at the conscious, subconscious, superconscious and unconscious level. You will also learn to transcend the dark side of each archetype and overcome the limitations of your specific pattern. This is liberating and empowering. It will allow you to relate to your loved ones in a more authentic way so you can strengthen your relationships. You will understand what trips you up and where other people are coming from. You will have empathy and bring out the best in yourself and in others. You will truly know who you are and express your highest self.

Therese Emmanuel Grey is a journalist who writes about personal growth and facilitates The Inner Family Archetype Model. She co-wrote the book, Why We Do What We Do: Four Pathways to Your Authentic Self. For more information about how to work with your inner family archetypes, please visit  www.innerfamilyarchetypes.com or call her at 406-586-5913, Montana.