@W Ryan Fowler I'm not saying the work of Jung is not valuable. On the contrary. My point is that we seem to greatly underestimate how much we tend to unconsciously act out whatever we accept as part of our identity. Jung was/is a very influential thinker, and perceived authority reinforces this effect, and people seem to be quick to accept as part of their *identity* whatever he conceptualized. Which I think @Zachary Zandstra demonstrated too (that's what "triggered" me, since it is more likely that the question that popped into his mind -- "are you *my* anima?" -- is not very likely to originate from what's encoded in his DNA, and more likely to originate from culture - Jung in particular; and "my" suggests that it's conceptualized as part of his identity / attachment of a meaning of this concept to identity). I believe we need to exercise caution in attaching to such concepts as part of our identity, since we seem to tend to underestimate the consequences of doing so. This is probably the most difficult aspect of practicing self-awareness. (since we look/act through our "current identity" which is sort of like a lens, a filter which affects how we see ourselves, the world and others, how we act, i.e. it is a feedback loop in a way, which can easily be turned into a TRAP if we are not discerning enough with accepting such concepts as part of our identity)

@W Ryan Fowler From my experience, in regards to which therapeutic approach works best... it depends. On what's in the person's psyche at any given time. Generally speaking I think the IFS model (a sort of synthesis of psychoanalysis, psychodynamics and other things) is probably the closest to how the mind actually works, but it's not perfect either. At least much of it is seems to align with what neuroscientists find as well. Here is an excerpt from the book "Internal Family Systems. Skill Training Manual" comparing CBT vs IFS approaches: THE SCIENCE OF UNBURDENING EXILES AND HEALING WOUNDS Exiled parts are wounded, vulnerable and often young. They carry burdens from experiences that terrify, shame or exploit – sometimes all three. With their burdensome feelings and beliefs, they are heavy and threatening to the internal system. But without these burdens they are playful, creative and life-affirming. We believe that exiled parts, like protectors, live in the mind and utilize unintegrated neural networks in the brain. In addition, exiles primarily live within implicit memory (unconscious, tenacious, emotional and without a cohesive narrative). The healing of trauma starts in the mind when we access the imagination, a powerful neuroplastic agent (Doidge, 2007), and continues as we convert implicit to explicit memory so thebrain can integrate dysregulated neural networks. The unburdening process allows exiled parts to let go, release their pain, feel whole again and reintegrate with the inner system of parts. This process seems consistent with memory reconsolidation, a form of neuroplasticity that changes existing emotional memory at the synaptic level (Ecker, 2012). Memory reconsolidation includes four phases: accessing, reactivation, mismatch and erasure. 1) In the accessing phase of memory reconsolidation the client identifies and retrieves implicit emotional memory. In IFS, we do this when we help the client find, focus on and flesh out a target part.