Self-Irritation

Piece by: Jan-Hendrik Lourens (NIP)

Acrylic paint on canvas

This piece gives insight into the relationship that I have with myself, and I believe all of us have with ourselves. The experience of being frustrated and irritated with parts of your own character. In my pursuit of becoming a counselor in the clinical realm, I have stumbled upon and looked into various different theories for counselling therapy, one of which is called Internal Family Systems (IFS). My understanding of IFS is that we are beings with extremely complex and fluid characters. That the experiences we have and the things that happen to us during our childhood, adolescents, and adult life constantly shape different parts of our character, and instead of thinking about ourselves as beings with a single character, we can think of ourselves as beings with multiple characters within us, all being influenced by the things that we do and the people that we meet. This helped me realize that it is okay to be frustrated and irritated with certain parts of myself. Furthermore, in regards to building our self-concept, we must accept and love the parts of our character that we feel frustrated with. Ultimately life is nothing beyond our perception and our own attitude towards the outside world. The same goes for internally. The way that we perceive ourselves and the relationship we have with our perception of self is crucially important for mental well-being. Look inward and love yourself holistically, or at least try, I know it’s hard.