The Russian Doll Metaphor And The Sense Of Ego

The Russian doll metaphor is a good tool in therapy. With them, the psychologist can make the patient see his problems as conditions independent of himself.

Separating self-concept from psychological problems is a natural process for some people; however, there are others who cannot or do so with difficulty. When these problems make it difficult for a person to see who they are, introspection is recommended. Russian dolls can help with this process.

The sense of the ego in therapy

The sense of the ego is being built in human beings since the experiences of early childhood, when the “I” starts to be differentiated from the “you” as the ability to abstract and differentiate certain experiences of an individual from another, recognizing their own.

It is from there that they begin to build their own autobiography and experience of the individual, in addition to their self-assessment and perspective taking.

Certain thoughts, memories, sensations, emotions, etc., are linked to the ego experience. Ego processes show up at many times in most therapeutic processes.

The ego as content and the parts of Russian dolls

The ego as content refers to contact with the verbal signals that are provided in early childhood and influence human behavior. At an early age, the context provides descriptions of the individual that, together with their own, combine the “as I am” .

It can be said that the ego as content is the main anchor of psychological problems due to the rigidity sustained in the account with which the person works for certain stories.

For example, if it was very important for an individual to be a “good person” and he took this to an extreme, he could perform certain behaviors that move towards this characteristic of his self-concept, without taking into account certain aspects of the environment. This could have consequences for him, as perhaps his environment is taking advantage of this trend.

The ego as a process and the parts of Russian dolls

The ego as a process implies a process of self-awareness in relation to the very processes that combine the history constructed in the individual. It constitutes an “awareness” of the psychological processes that are taking place in the present moment and their relation to other past events.

Thus, the ego as a process facilitates the anchoring of behavior in the here and now to act flexibly according to present circumstances.

The ego as a process is usually private and can be shared with others verbally. This indicates awareness of certain affective and sensory states. In the Russian doll metaphor, both the ego as process and the ego as content would be reflected in the dolls stored inside the larger doll.

The ego as context and the Russian doll in its entirety

The ego as context suggests the perspective of continuity of the ego, since the individual is aware of what he is experiencing. The ego as context provides the individual with a sense of transcendence, knowing that he is more than his story.

In short, the ego as context provides the individual with a disidentification with his own history. With this, he observes himself as a continuum, functioning as a “container”  that holds certain experiences, distancing himself from them.

In the Russian dolls metaphor, it can be said that the ego as a context is the biggest doll that keeps the others.

The Russian Dolls Metaphor and Ego Processes

Russian dolls are a set of traditional dolls from larger to smaller sizes. The largest doll holds the smallest ones, the second largest also contains the smallest ones, and so on.

The following text is an example of how to use the Russian doll metaphor to help people break their identification with their problems or concerns, reducing anxiety and generating greater psychological flexibility:

The Russian doll metaphor is anchored in the flexibility processes provided by acceptance and commitment therapy. However, Russian dolls can be used in various therapeutic processes, helping people to get in touch with their own experiences – or their memories – that generate discomfort.