Transformation Process and Therapeutic Recommendations

"Transformation" comes from the Latin transformare, which means to change shape. The transformative conversion of character, as described by Dr. Naranjo, is when passion is put at the service of life, of Being. This process seems to occur when the holy war against the ego accumulates sufficient battles, truces, dialogues, and integrations, becoming a resource for living without self-deception, or with as little as possible.

The subtype Self-Preservation 2 generally does not find it interesting to work internally, as it is always seeking comfort, with a discourse where hostility is externalized, meaning it is directed at others. Thus, it is somewhat difficult for there to be a hunger for transformation

or any change in lifestyle, beyond moving from an uncomfortable situation to a less uncomfortable and adverse one.

Perhaps that’s why, at times, it is confused with an E4 or an E9, since it endures circumstances that from the outside appear to be masochistic or self-devaluing. However, this E2 does not register the suffering, submission, or rage that is stored inside, remaining latent with great repression and denial.

The privileged position that the Self-Preservation 2 lives in very well conceals the downsides of its relational condition. The privileges are like the sweets we give to children to calm their hunger, irritability, and desire for autonomy that they wish to experience.

When this character wishes to transform and begins to do so, it must burn its ships, renounce its previous life. It is not just about change but about leaving behind the inner structure that has sustained infantilism: the ways of relating and alienation that have kept the bubble of the ideal world intact.

In a transformation process, there is a deconstruction necessary to slowly dismantle the forms, behaviors, communication, beliefs, feelings, and all the interaction dynamics in order to rebuild in favor of life. This process will involve fears and resistances that continuously emerge. And it is not about destroying the ego but giving it the place where it is needed, not as master and lord.

The process requires a lot of courage, tolerance, and patience, and stepping out of the comfort zone. It can threaten emotional relationships with family, partners, and work—everything that provides security and privileges.

The first aspect that one may notice is that from the ego of the Self-Preservation 2, it is very hard to build something. Above all, building the adult self, building a more or less normal life, like the rest of humans. This difficulty affects all kinds of relationships, from friendships to work, family, and romantic ones. It impacts the full development of a profession or even motherhood.

There is a sense of being like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, without a clear direction or leaving a mark, passing superficially, without great commitment or accumulating significant experience.

The first step in the therapeutic process is realizing the false image, since this character is convinced of its spontaneity. It must see its neurotic need for everyone to love and accept it, its intolerance to criticism, and its interpretation of boundaries as flaws and humiliation.

It will be important to rescue the true nature of the child, while at the same time learning that, as a child, it was exploited, and realizing how much effort it took to hold the privileged position.

This will not be easy because, in front of its own wound, it will have the impulse to escape in order to maintain the idealized vision of itself. Faced with the reality of not being indispensable, and especially realizing the absurdity of its infantilism, it might back out and close itself off in its small and familiar world of relationships, or convert suffering into physical symptoms.

The therapist will need to convey sincere empathy for the exploited child and set limits on the tyrant child, always keeping balance between the two parts.

The Self-Preservation 2 will try to seduce by appearing needy, hurt, and unable to move forward. It is not easy to hold so much childhood suffering, so it will be crucial to stay very alert, keeping open arms while firmly setting limits on whims.

Reality

Appreciating reality and trying to live consciously in it allows one to get closer to others and gives motivation to listen. If we truly listen, we become more aware of the suffering of others, and this character is oriented toward pleasure; pain is something it does not know how to accept or handle. Pain is part of life, both for oneself and for others. Escaping from pain means disconnecting from the whole rich emotional world, and trying to cover it up with excessive positivity only nurtures the magical child fantasies and fear of adulthood.

For the Self-Preservation 2, being an adult means not having anyone to tend to their wounds.

This is a very difficult step, often requiring therapeutic accompaniment so that it can recover or perhaps rebuild the experience of the child, who, step by step, learns under the guidance of the adult to face the risks of living.

Depending on the level of disconnection and fragility, therapy must help these patients trust in the therapeutic relationship of love, so they can hold a realistic and constructive view of their limits until the ego can also support a more direct and forceful confrontation. The therapist needs constant attention to be touched by the sweetness of the patient’s inner child without being manipulated, and to maintain clear boundaries between sexuality and affection.

Reflection

It is essential for the Self-Preservation 2 to delve into the cognitive aspect of its character: paying attention to how emotions are supported by crazy ideas, irrational beliefs. This means becoming aware of how it gets carried away by a chaotic feeling that it believes is the only truth, and how emotions drive it to act out without taking the time to feel deeply or process what is happening to them, giving it a broader meaning. They need to take the time to recognize the crazy idea behind the experience and start seeing it as subjective truth.

It is important to take time for reflection. This is linked to the ability to contain anxiety, paying attention to thoughts and sometimes avoiding the impulse of rigid thoughts, opening up to something new.

Although discipline is very difficult for this trait, the practice of meditation can help this process of reflection and anxiety containment. It could be gradually organized to get used to being in the experience of doing nothing and quieting the mind, as transmitted by Claudio Naranjo in the SAT programs.

Seeing, Listening, Caring

The Self-Preservation 2 must realize that one of its abilities is to bring joy to others, but this is not just about making others laugh; it is about seeing them, listening to them, and caring for them. Paying attention to what others share with them allows them to avoid frequent interpretations and develop authentic empathy for the sake of the other, instead of creating dependency. It allows them, above all, to take a more peripheral position in relationships and learn to set boundaries, transforming the crazy idea that if someone sets boundaries, it means they don't love them. It’s about opening up to love without being so attached to being loved.

It’s also important to pay attention to all the times they use seduction to gain affection or admiration. If seduction returns to its authentic nature, as a way of finding intimate and erotic pleasure with another, there is hope that it will recover a deeper enjoyment and sexual freedom.

Equanimity

They need to realize that they have both good and bad things, just like everyone else, and that if they try to hide the bad so only the good is seen, they cannot know what they truly are. And to recognize that learning, at all levels, is a journey, to silence the ideal self, which

only wants to be in the most recognized place. It’s about seeing themselves realistically, in their defects and talents, and at the same time, developing resilience to frustrations and failures. Obviously, this involves giving up the childish view of oneself and appreciating adult life as a place of internal power, not dependent on external recognition.

Order and Chaos

They need to understand that chaos leads to misery. One can only build by following order. And order is not boring; it is a virgin space to create. It is very important to understand this because they have lived a chaotic life internally, believing that this chaos was different, fun, spontaneous; it didn’t follow the norms of normality.

When I created a family, I realized that this chaos is incompatible with a couple and family life. Trying to change this has to do with not being seduced by comfort and self-indulgence and including order and some discipline in my daily life.

Ana Escoda

Here is another testimony:

A practice that often softens this old wound is recognizing my stature in front of the dimension of the cosmos, through the exercise of gratitude. Recognizing life as an opportunity and not as a condemnation. Rebuilding what Claudio called devotional love, distorted from the beginning by opposition to the flows of life and rivalry with any authority that imposes a will greater than mine. I am practicing admiration for people who can give me an example of this quality of love and who can feel small in front of great abstract ideas; not as someone who bargains or seeks to control, but as someone who accepts and recognizes their superiority with serenity and confidence that life can be more than a valley of tears. Prayer, certainly, can be very helpful. Also, meditation.

Fernando Ramos

In this description, we can see how recognizing one's abilities, placing oneself in the "stature" they have, combined with the practice of admiring love, helps the Self-Preservation 2 to build confidence. That is, to act "as if" they were humble (the virtue corresponding to Pride). It seems done and said. However, it is a difficult experience for someone who has survived by putting themselves above everything and everyone.

Recognizing arrogance and its roots, spread across the entire system of the Self-Preservation 2, is not a punctual task but a continuous one, for life, in an evolving process.

At first, the most important thing is to ruthlessly discover the traps and tricks of this character. Recognizing oneself in whim, in the desire for protection, in the pretense of privilege, in victimism as a strategy to be seen as a good person, in the ways it makes others guilty for what happens to them, in seeking to obtain without effort, and being admired and recognized without earning it, in the selfish trap of looking out for oneself and in self-benefit disguised as false goodness, etc.

By repeatedly seeing these traps of the ego, they lose strength and start falling. They stop believing them. The traps reappear many times, like an automatic mechanism, but they become more visible, ridiculous, and senseless. In front of them, smiling and leaving them alone is also a good measure. Not giving them importance and stopping following them.

In that letting go of following them and fighting with them, arises a creative search for more virtuous answers, which involve giving what can be honestly given, asking for what is truly needed, recognizing oneself in the right measure of one's own values and talents to serve them, without placing oneself above or below. And from there, thanking for all the gifts that life offers, in every detail, experience, and person... and entering into deep connection with the divine that manifests in the whole we are part of.

At this point in the evolutionary journey, the Self-Preservation 2 connects more and more with its essential being, which responds to the high-frequency vibration of great freedom. One "is" without the need to do anything extraordinary, like a little bird that sings and flies freely, and by being what it is, in its simplicity it brings joy and shares selfless happiness to those around, without any pretense.

This flying can guide them to service towards others, to loving and selfless service that does not seek to be reciprocated. It does not expect a return, a change. It can give without more, in whatever is needed. In its inner being, it feels free, and that brings a profound joy that it longs to share with others.

This process of awareness also allows them to stop resorting to victimization as a strategy that might seem opposite to superiority, but which is its polarity: not being "above or below."

Part of the transformation is going through the internal misery hidden by its false love, its false abundance, its apparent availability. When talking about Humility, Naranjo always recommends not confusing it with humiliation. It’s not about feeling miserable but

recognizing oneself as just another person, and knowing how to recognize the value and power of others.

For this step, it is very important to recover childhood experiences of humiliation. This recognition is very difficult because E2 character has responded to humiliation with egoic pride, which it puts at the service of avoiding suffering. In the therapeutic process, it’s useful to sustain the healthy pride of the child and diminish the capricious pride of the little one who wants to be powerful. It’s essential to learn to discern between dignity and grandiose pride.

E2 things have helped me in working with the ego: being a mother and practicing yoga. Being a mother has been a very strong shock. It has taught me to love, to be there for another person above myself and my own egoic needs. I’ve had to leave aside my ambitions and whims. Transforming my life in a more responsible way. Cooking, keeping the spaces in the house clean; cleaning habits. Pleasure has changed. It’s no longer the whim of doing what I want when I want; now, the pleasure of being there for my daughter, listening to her, and seeing her fills my soul. It’s very powerful to see how she reproduces my habits and ways of acting and thinking. She is a mirror that makes me feel the need to transform them. A habit like easily getting angry is transforming into patience. I’ve always struggled when people don’t act at the rhythm I want, and she has been my teacher.

Yoga has supported me in working on patience and being there for others, in being fascinated with the power of slowness. It has also helped me go through situations that easily cause me anxiety or stress, with posture and breathing.

I’ve had to think about the future. Things like having a home and a stable life project. As an artist, I’ve always had privileged pleasure; and it had worked for me, until my daughter came. Now, I have to build financial independence. And the knowledge I have, I need to capitalize on it.

With my partner, I’ve wanted to separate since the first year, and I’ve had to work to keep us together out of love for my daughter. It’s very important for her to have both of us present.

I’ve gotten into financial problems and all sorts of issues due to my need to help others, and this has ultimately affected my daughter. I’m finally beginning to see that people don’t need what I think they need. I’m starting to think and feel that people do what they can with their lives.

Frida Islas Suárez

Self-Preservation in the service of life helps this character learn to preserve. In very concrete aspects, like economic sustenance, taking care of their own health, or caring for others.

Embarking on a relationship or project, being alone with oneself makes it require more skills, and there are more challenges that give the opportunity to commit to going further. It’s important that this "deception" is part of the psychotherapeutic strategy of the one accompanying the process, as in this way the patient will be able to take risks and follow the path of self-knowledge.

Testimony:

When I started my psychotherapeutic process, at a time of great need and vulnerability, I felt very helped by a female therapist who lived two hours away from my city. I would take the bus every fifteen days. In the first session, I spent most of the time crying; I just cried without knowing what was happening to me, and she patiently accompanied me and told me to take the time I needed. I spent over a year going back and forth. I didn’t realize until years later that the whole process of going to therapy with her required an effort, a discipline, daring to go alone, saving money, in a consistency that structured me to take care of myself and see for myself.