PERSONA. It is no coincidence that the “person” archetype has such a name. The fact is that in the ancient theater a persona was a mask that the actor wore during the performance, i.e. persona (mask) – meant a role. During the play, the masks were changed several times; one actor could play several roles. Therefore, in modern times, the archetype persona is its direct designation - these are the roles, our masks that we use when communicating with people. The persona is a kind of connecting part of our Self with the outside world. There will be a separate post about selfhood. In life, we sometimes come across people whom we call “sociopaths”; these are people whose Personality is very poorly developed. They are not adapted to interact with people, and on the contrary, an overly developed Person threatens to lose their own individuality. The essence of this archetype lies in self-presentation. Using the example of any building: what we see from the outside, i.e. the facade of the building is the person, but what is already inside the building, its fullness, originality is the self. Our facade can be completely different, depending on what kind of people we communicate with, what kind of team we are in. The Persona begins to form, of course, under the influence of society, even in early childhood. You and I all know that society always requires us to comply with certain standards of behavior. And it turns out that in interaction with people, let’s say in a work collective, we have qualities that show us in a more favorable light, i.e. This is our advantage, let's put it this way. For example, I am the director of a large holding company and I have two striking traits: assertiveness and emotionality. But when doing business, emotionality is not a very good quality, which brings problems and misunderstanding of people running this business with me. What to do? My psyche needs to somehow adapt to avoid pain and suffering, because what kind of business shark am I if I panic and burst into tears during business negotiations? Accordingly, the psyche begins to improve assertiveness and hides my emotionality, because in this area it is inappropriate and causes pain. Thus, we already have one of the masks, i.e. one of the parts of the Persona. We need a Persona in life in order to hide our true essence or to impress various people, and that is why there are many masks in our lives and this is normal. Moreover, if a person is in a fairly harmonious relationship with himself and society, then the mask serves as an assistant in his relationships with people and at the same time protects him. What else is important to know. A person is in dynamics all his life. Throughout our lives, we join different groups: new colleagues, family members, neighbors, people in line. And this leads to the fact that we are constantly forming and strengthening new models of behavior. Well, you won’t behave with people in line to see a therapist the same way you behave with family members at home? Or you will still?