Use when someone is questioning who they are, feeling unlike themselves, or going through a period of identity confusion or crisis. Also triggers when someone resists change with that's not like me" — which often signals identity-protective...
Use when:
Not for:
Two parts that belong together: map the current identity, then notice where it's being defended at a cost.
Don't ask all questions at once. One focused question per dimension, based on what's most relevant to the current situation.
Mapping dimensions:
| Dimension | What to map |
|---|---|
| Role inventory |
| Professional, relational, personal/social roles — chosen/inherited/accidental? |
| Values alignment | Where do actions and stated values match? Where is there friction? |
| Narrative coherence | Is there a coherent story with a protagonist who has agency? Are there unintegrated chapters? |
| Self-concept clarity | Same person across contexts (work, family, friends, alone)? |
Audit Output:
Current Identity Map
--------------------
Roles: [list with chosen/inherited/accidental tag]
Core self-narrative: [how they tell their own story, 1-2 sentences]
Values-behavior alignment: [where aligned / where gaps]
Self-concept clarity: [high / medium / low — what drives the assessment]
Strongest identity anchor: [the most central role or value]
Most questioned element: [what they're least certain about]
Signals of identity-protective behavior:
Threat analysis:
Audit output (above) + when threat detected:
Identity Threat Detection
-------------------------
Protected identity claim: [what self-concept is being defended]
Cost of protection: [what's being given up to maintain it]
Origin of this claim: [chosen / adopted from X / coping mechanism]
Core or constructed: [assessment]
Underlying fear: [what would happen if this identity element changed]
Reframe: [what if protecting this is self-limitation, not self-preservation?]
End with one of these closing questions:
| Claude | You |
|---|---|
| Maps the current identity across dimensions | Reflect on which roles feel chosen vs inherited |
| Detects identity-protective patterns in language | Sit with whether the protection is still serving you |
| Names the fear beneath the identity defense | Do the harder work of questioning what's really core |
| Offers a reframe without prescribing a change | Decide what to keep and what to let evolve |
shadow-persona — for what is being performed vs suppressedego-state-identifier — when identity questions surface as automatic reactionsvalues-explorer — when identity feels misaligned with valuesfear-inventory — when identity threat feels like a specific fear