Be your true Self – YOUR way

Trauma and/or ADHD? Stop worrying you're 'too much' and be more you

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when navigating ADHD and trauma recovery. You might constantly receive messages to tone it down or conform. But what if your unique sensitivities and intensity aren't something to suppress, but an expression of your Self?

This is where psychosynthesis and its concept of The Ways offers an empowering perspective. Developed by Roberto Assagioli, psychosynthesis is a transpersonal approach that honours your inherent wholeness and the unique ways your soul seeks to express itself. Instead of shaming you into being less, it celebrates the diverse paths individuals have taken throughout history to live authentically.

The Ways – seven types of soul expression – provide a framework for understanding not only yourself but also your loved ones. Imagine gaining self-empathy for your sensitivities, like experiencing misophonia on the Way of Beauty, or recognising your drive to make a difference on the Way of Action.

It’s not about fitting into a box but about recognising and giving yourself permission to fully embody your unique gifts and interests. For ADHDers especially, who often hear they are too much, The Ways offer a powerful reminder that your full, whole self is exactly what's needed for personal growth and to contribute to the world.

Exploring The Ways can help you:

• Connect with your unique purpose and potential
• Find greater purpose, meaning and joy in your daily life
• Develop deeper empathy for yourself and others and
• Integrate all parts of yourself for true wholeness.

Are you ready to support your soul as it unfurls and blossoms? Listen to the Feel Better Every Day Podcast wherever you get your podcasts or watch here.

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#TraumaRecovery, #ADHD, #EmotionalRegulation, #SelfCare, #WholeSelf, #Psychosynthesis, #TheWays, #SoulExpression, #InherentWholeness, #Neurodivergent, #FeelBetterEveryDay, #PieroFerrucci, #InevitableGrace, #RobertoAssagioli, #Subpersonalities, #Transpersonal, #PurposeDrivenLife, #FindingMeaning, #InnerPeace, #WorldPeace, #HealingJourney, #MindBodySoul, #AuthenticSelf, #ShineBright, #SelfEmpathy, #SensorySensitivity, #Misophonia, #WayOfBeauty, #WayOfAction, #WayOfIllumination, #WayOfUniversalLove, #WayOfDanceAndRitual, #WayOfScience, #WayOfDevotion, #WayOfTheWill, #InnerWork, #PersonalGrowth, #GuidedImagery, #JournalPrompts, #SoleToSoulCircle, #SelfCareCoaching, #EveMenezesCunningham, #PodcastForHealing, #ADHDFriendly, #TraumaInformed

Full transcript

In a world in which so many of us, especially with trauma histories and ADHD, get so many messages shaming people into being less, to tone it down, to homogenise, and one of the things I love most about The Ways is it really respects seven different ways. Very different ways in which people throughout history that have been researched, their souls were expressing themselves.

Hi, you're listening to the Feel Better Every Day Podcast. I'm Eve Menezes Cunningham and I'm here to help you create the life you don't have to retreat from. I'm doing this by helping you take better care of yourself. That's the lower case self care and also that upper case Self, that highest, wisest, truest, most brilliant, joyful and miraculous part of yourself. I do this by sharing trauma-informed and ADHD-friendly self-care ideas and I would love to hear how you're getting on and what questions you might have.

In today's episode, we're working with one of my favourite elements of psychosynthesis known as The Ways. It’s the different ways in which our souls express themselves. So in a world in which so many of us, especially with trauma histories and ADHD, so many messages shaming people into being less, to tone it down, to homogenise and one of the things I love most about The Ways is it really respects seven different ways, very different ways in which people throughout history that have been researched, their souls were expressing themselves. And it helps us have more empathy for whichever resonates most for ourselves and also to better understand loved ones and others in our lives. Now I'm not suggesting that we're up there with the geniuses that Piero Ferrucci studied for his gorgeous book, Inevitable Grace: Breakthroughs in the Lives of Great Men and Women, Guides to Your Self-Realisation.

I talk about The Ways in 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing, but if you have a chance to read Piero's gorgeous book I highly recommend it.

Welcome to episode 62 and it's an introduction. My core counselling training was in psychosynthesis and it was developed by Roberto Assagioli who was an Italian who had been massively influenced by Eastern philosophies as well as through his work with Freud and Jung.

Probably best known for his parts work in psychosynthesis (it's known as subpersonalities), psychosynthesis is a transpersonal approach so we're working with the parts of ourselves that are beyond the personal.

We're always, anytime I'm working with a client, I'm looking at what might be trying to emerge at a soul level as well as whatever the actual issue is, whether it's about boundaries or whatever it might be. All of our parts are ultimately trying to help us. By getting curious about them and befriending them rather than trying to annihilate them, we can properly integrate.

Another way in which we integrate psychosynthesis, it sounds so jargony, but the idea is that synthesis, it was initially called bio-psychosynthesis, so very influenced by yogic philosophy for example, that union between body and mind, everything coming together. One of the ways in which we can synthesise is by working with our inherent wholeness and by connecting with the ways in which our unique soul is trying to express itself in this lifetime in the world.

We're all different. By connecting with our own unique gifts and interests we can not only live more in line with our potential and purpose, finding joy, purpose and meaning as we develop, but we can also better support others and contribute to the world at large by being our full whole selves.

How many times as ADHDers do you hear that you're too much? You're not. It's time to shine. I'm recording this a little bit in advance but we've just had a Full Moon which is always a reminder to shine.

I was really fortunate to interview Piero Ferrucci who'd continued Assagiolie's work on the ways in this beautiful book I mentioned, Inevitable Grace, and pre-internet he had done enormous research looking at these phenomenal people that most of us will have heard of even if we're not familiar with them. His other books include the beautiful Power of Kindness and so many more.

When we disown negative parts of ourselves, so I say that as if like negatives in air quotes, we project them onto others. I don't think anyone is looking around at 2025 thinking it's idyllic. It is pretty grim, it's certainly very interesting and by working with the parts of ourselves that we so often project onto others and owning them we're contributing to personal peace and world peace.

I know that sounds a bit grandiose but we all have so much more power and responsibility than we often believe. Especially in the face of such an onslaught of horrors.

I love the way, I don't want to like spoil anything and this is very much an introduction, but there are seven ways in which the soul expresses itself and, in all of them, the transpersonal experiences, their breakthroughs, the self-actualisation.

It's not easy but it is possible. By familiarising ourselves with what those who've come before us have done – and I'm aware like as I've been working on this episode I'm thinking of people I would fit into The Ways in modern times (eg, Simone Biles, the Way of the Will, AOC, Way of Action) because the book was written a good while ago.

As you find out more, I hope that you will give yourself permission to imagine your own soul unfurling and blossoming.

If you're a subscriber to my free newsletter you'll receive some journal prompts to help you with that.

And if you're a member of the Sole to Soul Circle (which you can join for less than two euros a week) you'll be receiving a recording of one of my favourite guided imagery practices from Piero Ferrucci's book to help you connect with your own sense of purpose, meaning and joy.

Access additional resources to support your own purpose, meaning and joy at selfcarecoaching.net/home/purpose-meaning-and-joy or look at selfcarecoaching.net/services/psychosynthesis.

I go into more depth into the ways in the book and of course Piero's book is phenomenal and I highly recommend it. I recommend all of his books.

We're going to start with the Way of Beauty and some of the examples he uses for this are Chekhov, Schuman, Van Gogh, Gaughin and Kafka. It's very much about learning to set aside stereotypes and worn out attitudes and to learn it all over again without fear of hesitation of being ourselves. So