Searching Within

Cast of Characters

[Pictured: Faith, Liz, Levi, Brandy, Anne, Whiner, Beth, Gullible, Tyler, Naive, Joy.]

The Cast of Characters is a therapeutic tool for understanding the different parts of the self. Rather than viewing personality as singular, this approach recognizes that we contain multiple internal voices or “parts,” each with distinct perspectives, roles, and qualities.

Therapeutic Origins

This concept appears across several therapeutic traditions:

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) developed by Richard Schwartz identifies parts as Managers (protective, preventive), Firefighters (reactive, emergency responses), and Exiles (wounded, vulnerable), all organized around a Core Self
  • Voice Dialogue created by Hal and Sidra Stone explores sub-personalities through structured conversation
  • Gestalt therapy uses empty-chair techniques to externalize and dialogue with different aspects of self
  • Psychosynthesis founded by Roberto Assagioli maps sub-personalities around a unified Self

This Cast

I was given this assignment around 1996 but didn’t fully complete it until 2025. My therapist Tim expressed concern about having too many characters—I tried to pare back, but wasn’t comfortable combining some. Each needed their own voice.

Structure: Four Columns

The cast is organized into four groups reflecting their function:

Core Self (Tyler) – the umbrella holding all parts

Column 1: Vulnerable/Spiritual/Innocent – exiled parts carrying wounds and spiritual connection

Column 2: Healthy/Functional – led by Levi, these parts manage daily life effectively

Column 3: Struggling Managers – led by Liz, protective but struggling parts

Column 4: Firefighters/Reactive – emergency responders who act impulsively when other parts are overwhelmed

Character Attributes

Standard attributes (name, age, description) establish each character’s basic identity. I’ve added my own framework:

  • Totem: Animal representation of each part
  • Mood: Emotional baseline
  • Qualities: Core characteristics that define how this part shows up
  • Role: Function within the internal system

This cast represents decades of understanding how I work internally—who speaks, who protects, who creates, who struggles, and how they all relate to each other.

Core Self – The Umbrella

TYLER

  • Role: Core Self
  • Named for: Rottweiler (named after Point Break character)
  • Age: Adult
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Rottweiler
  • Qualities: Resilience, Genuine, Passion
  • Description: Stays stuck to stay safe; doesn’t believe things can get better; doesn’t believe she has a place on the spaceship/lifeboat; stuck in familiar patterns of thinking; finds comfort in the familiar even when painful; just strong enough to do some action when spark comes, but not the best one for it.

Column 1: Vulnerable/Spiritual/Innocent

FAITH

  • Role: Healthy Self/Nurturer
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: Ageless
  • Mood: Stable
  • Totem: Unicorn
  • Qualities: Supportive, Caring, Compassionate
  • Description: Intuitive, feelings; attitude of “everything will be okay” and “things will work out all right;” nurturing parent.

SPIRIT

  • Role: Healthy Self/Spiritual Guide
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: 4
  • Mood: Stable (but not always present)
  • Totem: Woodsprites (Avatar)
  • Qualities: Forgiving, Empathetic, Honest
  • Description: Religion/intuition; just has a good feeling about people; thinks God has placed significant people in her path.

BETH

  • Role: Exile/Wounded Child
  • Named for: Mary Elizabeth (mother)
  • Age: 4
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Bunny (California or red satin)
  • Qualities: Caring, Gentle, Trusting
  • Description: Wounded child, hurt, quiet, shy; takes comfort in relationship with animals; enjoys going to bed and snuggling with teddy bear or pillows; wishes she could disappear; doesn’t know how to accept compliments; hums or sings made-up songs; freezes when afraid; loves to be held; scared that people will stay in her life and scared that they’ll leave.

NAIVE

  • Role: Exile/Unquestioning One
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: Child
  • Mood: Bipolar
  • Totem: Suffolk lamb
  • Qualities: Trustworthy, Open, Caring
  • Description: Assumes things about people and life and doesn’t check them out.

GULLIBLE

  • Role: Exile/Naive One
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: Child
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Little gray mouse
  • Qualities: Trusting, Grateful, Honest
  • Description: Naive; can’t believe that the men in her life have all lost their feelings for her; innocent; asks, “If love was there once, how can it not be there now?” Believes that love never fails.

Column 2: Healthy/Functional (Levi leads)

LEVI

  • Role: Healthy Self/Competent Leader
  • Named for: Favorite brand of jeans
  • Age: 15 to adult
  • Mood: Stable
  • Totem: Lion
  • Qualities: Authentic, Friendly, Adventurous
  • Description: Leo the Lion: tenacious, healthy leader; wears jeans, flannel shirts, sweatshirts, and high tops; likes to ride horses, climb trees, and rock climb; wears bandana headband; talented, skilled, physical ability; attended Outward Bound course; sings along with the radio; wants to stay connected to significant relationships; thinks there is a lot more to be learned/gained by staying close to others; wants to pursue.

PETER

  • Role: Manager/Perfectionist
  • Named for: Play on word “perfectionist”
  • Age: Adult
  • Mood: Bipolar
  • Totem: Well-groomed monkey (breed TBD)
  • Qualities: Efficient, Fair, Committed
  • Description: Everything has to be perfect; intense; extremely detailed; determined to stick to promise of “will always be friends” when leaving friends during moves.

BILL

  • Role: Manager/Responsible One
  • Named for: Brother
  • Age: Young adult
  • Mood: Stable
  • Totem: Draft horse
  • Qualities: Responsible, Committed, Trustworthy
  • Description: Responsible; always shows up for class or work; motivated by feelings of guilt; trying to be good; trying to earn love; rejects his list of bad faults or qualities; relationship impractical.

BRANDY

  • Role: Healthy Self/Creator
  • Named for: Own hobbit D&D character from college
  • Age: 22
  • Mood: Stable with positive energy
  • Totem: Hobbit
  • Qualities: Creative, Generous, Resourceful
  • Description: Creator, organizer, idea generator, designer; paints the design on the bedroom wall; fixes mechanical things like woodworking, leather craft; makes costumes.

JOY

  • Role: Healthy Self/Learner
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: 8 or 9
  • Mood: Stable
  • Totem: Fox (Tod from Fox and the Hound)
  • Qualities: Mindful, Curious, Genuine
  • Description: Intellect; a joy for learning; delights in gaining knowledge; the thinker, the whiz kid; likes to journal, analyze, study; loves talking together, arguing, asking questions and explanations; loves to write letters.

ANNE

  • Role: Healthy Self/Sexual Self
  • Named for: Lena Marianne (middle name)
  • Age: 22-24, maybe 32
  • Mood: Stable
  • Totem: Finnish woman
  • Qualities: Loving, Sincere, Accepting
  • Description: Healthy sexuality; biological attraction; enjoys a man’s body; needs to learn proper way to deal with sexual dysfunction.

Column 3: Struggling Managers (Liz leads)

LIZ, THE CONTROLLER

  • Role: Manager/Critic
  • Named for: Mary Elizabeth (mother’s name)
  • Age: Young adult
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Highland cow
  • Qualities: Assertive, Engaged, Reliable
  • Description: Bossy, critical parent; wants to remember the bad stuff about people and past relationships; mostly wants to get rid of distracting male relationships.

THE KID

  • Role: Healthy Self/Playful One
  • Named for: Nickname from sister
  • Age: 11
  • Mood: Hypomania
  • Totem: Kid goat (baby goat doing sideways jumps)
  • Values: Playful, Humorous, Authentic, Adventurous
  • Description: Clown, punky, easily jealous, wants to be the center of attention, high energy, adventurous, looking to find own place in life, wants to go on vacation; eats while standing up; learns by doing; thinks relationships are a competition of who will get the guy.

WHINER

  • Role: Exile/Unheard One
  • Named for: The characteristic
  • Age: 6, 13, or 16 (complaints)
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Saint Bernard/German Shepherd mix puppy (taken away)
  • Qualities: Honest, Authentic, Persistent
  • Description: Doesn’t like rules, doesn’t want to grow up; says “no one loves me,” “life is hard,” “I’m tired”; doesn’t get heard, which keeps the cycle going of complaining more; has suicidal ideation (though doesn’t fully understand the term); doesn’t believe there’s anything good left in the world.

Column 4: Firefighters/Reactive

JESSIE

  • Role: Firefighter/Frantic One
  • Named for: Aunt Jesse (mother’s sister)
  • Age: TBD
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Alley cat (spiky fur, matted, grime)
  • Qualities: Passionate, Self-caring, Hopeful
  • Description: Crazy, out of control, rushing, nervous energy, doing too much, frantic, impatient, panicky, bites fingernails; doom and gloom attitude; doesn’t study for class or read textbooks; procrastinates; hinders balancing the checkbook; seeks sexual relationships in order to feel better; gullible; naive; can’t believe that the men in her life have all lost their feelings for her; innocent; asks, “If love was there once, how can it not be there now?” Wants to believe that love never fails; jealous of friends.

MARY

  • Role: Firefighter/Rage Keeper
  • Named for: Mary Elizabeth (mother)
  • Age: TBD
  • Mood: Depression
  • Totem: Scottish Wildcat
  • Qualities: Honest, Assertive, Independent
  • Description: Expresses rage, angry; cruel, destructive, hateful; pursues unhealthy sexuality; has fantasies of death and destruction; doesn’t like rules, doesn’t want to grow up, thinks life is a disaster; says “no one loves me,” “life is hard”; when not in a rage, pouts; wants to shut down, be snotty and obnoxious.

Working with the Cast

Naming these parts creates shorthand for understanding what’s happening internally. When working with anyone familiar with this cast, I can say “Peter is running the show” or “Beth is scared” or “Levi needs to step in” – and immediately convey complex internal dynamics without lengthy explanation.

This framework isn’t static. Parts evolve, relationships between them shift, and understanding deepens over time. The cast helps track who’s active, who’s overwhelmed, who needs support, and who’s best equipped to handle different situations. It’s a map for navigating internal terrain.