identity-explorer

name	identity-explorer
description	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...
scenarios	["I don't know who I am anymore after this change","I keep saying 'that's not me' but maybe I'm using that as an excuse","I want to understand which parts of my identity I chose vs inherited","내가 누구인지 모르겠어, 너무 혼란스러워","그건 나답지 않은데 — 진짜 나답지 않은 건지 확인하고 싶어","정체성이 흔들리는 것 같아, 정리가 필요해"]
compatibility	{"optional":["think-tool"],"remote_mcp_note":"think-tool이 있으면 정체성 방어 패턴과 진짜 핵심 정체성을 더 정밀하게 구분할 수 있습니다. Claude 설정 → MCP Servers에서 remote SSE 엔드포인트를 추가하세요."}

Identity Explorer

When to Use / When Not to Use

Use when:

• A major change (role, relationship, loss) is disrupting self-concept
• Someone resists growth with persistent "that's not me" framing
• Self-concept clarity is low — feeling very different across contexts

Not for:

• Short-term mood states without a deeper pattern
• Simple career questions without an identity component

Process

Two parts that belong together: map the current identity, then notice where it's being defended at a cost.

Part 1 — Identity Audit

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]

Part 2 — Identity Threat Detection

Signals of identity-protective behavior:

• "I'm not the kind of person who..." (rule stated as identity, not preference)
• Disproportionate emotional reaction to factually minor feedback
• Persistent avoidance: "That's just not me"
• Self-sabotage at the edge of growth
• "If I do X, then who am I?"

Threat analysis:

1. Name the protected identity claim. What self-concept is being defended?
2. Assess the cost of protection. What is being given up? What doors are closing?
3. Test the claim's origin. Chosen deliberately? Adopted from parent/culture? A coping mechanism that has outlived its use?
4. Distinguish core from constructed. Some elements are genuinely core — removing them would damage, not free. Others are constructions that have become cages.
5. Name the underlying fear. Identity threats always have a fear underneath (not enough without this label, loss of belonging, others' perception).

Output Template

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:

• "If you didn't define yourself by [X], who would you be?"
• "What part of your identity do you want to keep because it's truly yours — not because it's comfortable?"
• "What would you do differently if your sense of self didn't depend on this?"

What Claude Does / What You Do

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

Related Skills

• shadow-persona — for what is being performed vs suppressed
• ego-state-identifier — when identity questions surface as automatic reactions
• values-explorer — when identity feels misaligned with values
• fear-inventory — when identity threat feels like a specific fear