Nothing that is human is alien to me

or, anything that a person can possibly think and feel, exists in me as a possibility as well.

In group therapy, we're constantly inviting members to expand their self-image.

Frank thinks of himself as a good, kind, nice person. He would never tell someone that they're full of shit, that they're deluding themselves and likely sabotaging their relationships with their grandiosity.

Consciously, he'd never tell someone this.

But unconsciously, he would.

Unconsciously, we're the opposite of everything we consciously think about ourselves.

Jung called this the Shadow.

Frank, what would happen if you were to tell Josh that he's deluding himself, that he's a grandiose asshole?

After much wrangling, Frank admits that he'd be "just like my mother," if he were to express himself this way.

He assumes Josh would be destroyed as Frank felt, when his mother would scold him.

But, Josh would actually welcome this reaction.

Not out of masochism, but because in group we could talk about it. Sometimes Josh knows that he can be grandiose, imposing, delusional. Hearing someone tell him so wouldn't annihilate him. It wouldn't feel good, but he'd survive and even be better for it.