[Ailist] Re: "Getting Ready" for AI/Gestalt Center Support Programs

[Howard Ditkoff]

In response to David's quote:

"Your experience fits my conviction and experience that we do indeed have 
powerful ability to move beyond the selves that we have lived for years."

David,

As one of the people who you know is equally interested in Appreciative 
Inquiry and MBTI and how they interplay, this is a topic of importance to 
me. It is my strong belief that when we look at MBTI type we must be aware 
that there is the persona (the type a person portrays), the conscious self 
(the type they feel like inside), and then there is the lost self (the parts 
of the person that were repressed due to anything from shaming by parents to 
socialization).

I have used AI with tremendous success both with myself and my business 
partner, and with many of our clients, in helping them recover parts of this 
"lost self". And when those parts are recovered, we can see remarkable 
shifts in the type that they now feel like inside. My partner and I, for 
instance, both started off as strong INTJ's. Personally, my F has flourished 
to the point where I struggle to know whether I am really an INTJ or INFJ. 
Frankly, I think the truth is I'm a blend right between them - which is 
actually a perfect explanation for why I love the work I do.

My partner on the other hand has found a strong ISFP component. He was a 
born musician, but was pushed strongly out of that field into more rigorous 
analytical fields. As we used Appreciative Inquiry for personal development, 
he regained a lot of his "lost self" and is feeling more whole.

I have since seen much of the same with many clients. In fact, this is very 
much built into the particular approach to AI that I use with personal 
development clients.

Best,
Howard Ditkoff
Emergent Associates, LLC
http://www.emergentassociates.com