Compositionwork: A Method for Self Exploration and Development

The multiplicity of the dialogical self (Hermans, 1999, 2002) is a developmental challenge and opportunity. Being stretched between opposites or conflicting I-positions may be painful and make one long for peace and unity. On the other hand, discovering one’s inner multiplicity can be enriching and fulfilling when one learns to surrender to its totality, in which imperfection has its necessary place. Compositionwork is a method to discover and get in contact with the richness of one’s self. By means of it the landscape of mind is externalized and composed in the form of an artistic, symbolic landscape, consisting of natural elements like sand and stones. It speaks back to its composer in the nonverbal language of shapes, colors, forms and patterns and invites to enter into a dialogue with it. This dialogue involves the two fundamental dimensions of the self: the sensory, affective, preverbal world of the right brain and the more reflective linear and linguistic world of the left hemisphere. In this way it offers optimal conditions for learning and transformation (Greenberg, 2002).