System Mapping for Plurals

What is System Mapping and Why Should I Do it?

Having multiple people live in your headspace can feel confusing and overwhelming. Sometimes that overwhelm can be caused by system members not feeling seen or validated by those more skilled at communication and system awareness. Mapping out who's who in your system may help foster better communication, decrease headspace chaos, and bring out all the experiences each system member brings to the table. Some systems don't find mapping helpful and that's ok too! This article is intended for those whose systems generally agree that providing a who's who of the headspace is a good idea.

What If I Don't Know Who's In My System?

It is not unusual to not have a clear idea of what your inner world looks like. Every system is different. Your system may be somewhere on the spectrum between members showing up as vague sensations, to members who exist as versions of "you" at different ages, to a full system of members with their own personalities and fully realized identities, thoughts and opinions. Different mapping ideas in this article may be helpful for different levels of communication and awarenes within systems. Have fun exploring ideas that feel useful to you and see what and who you can discover within your own inner world!

The ideas listed here are just a few of the possibilities. Put your system creativity to use as you build your own map. Some headmates may be able to participate fully. Other headmates may need someone to help them participate or may need to be tracked by someone else in the system until they feel comfortable or available for communication about themselves.

Please note I made up all these names and ideas based on working with my own system and those of my collaborators. There are no rules!

Doodle Mapping can be fun way to see how each system member wants to be represented! In this system you might notice there is a small baby and a face in a cloud, as well as more traditional looking figures. They have also depicted a broom, a swing, water, and a sun to portray maybe roles they hold or things that feel good or important to them.

Grab some paper and fun writing implements and let your system reveal itself! This is how I personally learned more about my system as I watched each member of my system doodle out a little image of themselves. If someone in your system has some artistic talent, they might love this way of showing more about themself. But there is no talent required here - just the ability to put pen - or crayon - or paintbrush - to paper and say "Hey I'm here!"

Using actual Post It Notes can be a quick and easy way for each system member to share a few things about themselves. Posting these on a wall or bulletin board might be a fun way for everyone to have access whenever they want.

Post It Notes can be a fun way for each system member to jot down a few details they want their headmates to know about them. They can be moved around in various configurations to indicate maybe who is fronting, who is co-con, or where anyone is relative to the rest of the system at any given moment.

Sociogram Mapping highlights inner connections between headmates. In this map you can see two people who are co-conscious and the various ways they connect to others in the system. You might notice some of these are one way connections, and some move back and forth.

A sociogram is a simple diagram that shows relationships and connections. This type of mapping may be helpful to assess who in the system is aware of whom, and to notice how communication flows. You could also add in symbols that reflect if this a positive connection or if there is some tension or conflict between headmates. Naming these dynamics is a positive step towards better inner communication. This is a map that may need to be redrawn regularly to indicate emerging shifts in relationships between headmates.

This Body map shows various sensations throughout the body. Headmates may not always show up with distinct traits. In this case, communication from people in the system takes the form of tightness in the throat, gut sensations, clenching, and a cloud of dissociation.

Anything can be considered a communication from a headmate. If your system doesn't express itself in words, images,or obvious relationship connections, you may be able to map out who's who by tracking body sensations. A simple mindful body scan might help yous notice where headmates are feeling tense, excited, overwhelmed or a myriad of other internal experiences. Mapping this out on a simple drawing of a body may help bring clarity.

Similar to Somatic Mapping, Body Placement mapping can render a bit more detail about system mates. In this map you might notice that somatic experiences are paired with understanding about various specific system members.

This form of mapping takes Somatic Mapping and layers on specific insights about who is experiencing those particular sensations. You might notice that there is a hole in the chest filled with grief, then realize this is accompanied by knowledge of which system member is currently experiencing that grief. It seems fairly common for system members to "live" in various places in and around the body. Drawing a simple body shape and sketching this out may be helpful.

I have what I call my ministage in my office. It is a roll top desk with the pull-down writing area used as a "stage". Around my office are various figures that can be used to play on that stage. One use of the ministage is for systems to allow system members to choose objects to represent themselves and then arrange themselves on the stage area. Once arranged, we can also use the stage to work through conflict, gain insight, role play interactions with outsiders, or any other thing we discover together in session. You don't need your own ministage - just ask inside if there are toys or objects your system members would like to use to represent themselves. Recently, my system has been pulling stuffed animals off my office shelves and arranging them on my bed.

Scatter Mapping takes the chaos inside and throws it onto a page. In this example, there is a wall, an image that is undefined, and some commentary on various inner experiences that have not yet been fully fleshed out.

This could be a fun way to express yourselves when feeling scattered inside. Grab something to write on and scatter all the random pieces of your system onto a piece of paper. Taking what is inside your headspace and getting it out where you can see it in front of you can really help gain clarity and understanding.

Architectural Mapping is more about the where than the who. In this map, this system has created various places for headmates to go.

Architectural Mapping can be extremely helpful when system members are searching for safety or room to process apart from other headmates. If you have a nature loving person, they might want to create a forest, lake or park to wander through. Having a nursery with toys, comfort items and maybe even someone assigned the role of nanny or caregiver can create a safe internal space for littles who have never known comfort. Some externally manipulated systems may have architectural features built into the system by outsiders which may need to be explored or explained. This can be one of the most creative ways for your system to collaborate - by creating a map of places system members can go whenever they like for whatever purpose. Your system might even want to create communal spaces for headmate meetings.

Does one of these system mapping ideas light up your system? Do you have a favorite way you've mapped out your headspace? Leave a comment below and share for everyone!