Onions, Garlic, and the Psyche

Psychologists are not generally known for their exquisite metaphors. But there is something to be said for their practicality.

Consider the onion.

In many experiential and depth oriented therapies, psychological work unfolds in layers. This is particularly visible in EFT and EMDR. We might begin with anxiety, only to discover a sensation underneath it, which evokes a memory, which reveals something else. As one aspect is processed, another becomes available.

The onion gives us a metaphor for depth.

Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, has used a different metaphor: garlic.

The familiar idea of “the inner child” can suggest that somewhere inside us there is one wounded younger self waiting to be found. IFS proposes something more multiple.

There may be many younger parts of us, shaped by different experiences and carrying different burdens. One may still be five. Another twelve. Another seventeen. IFS calls these wounded parts exiles.

The garlic gives us a metaphor for multiplicity.

But perhaps the two metaphors belong together.

Once we encounter one clove, there may be an entire inner world within it. And as we stay with that experience, something deeper may reveal itself.

The onion captures depth.

The garlic captures multiplicity.

In practice, the psyche seems to contain plenty of both.