The Feelings Beneath Superpowers
Using An Icebreaker Question for Therapeutic Assessment
My favorite get-to-know-you question is this: “If you could have a superpower, what would it be?” The reason why? It usually tells me about what that person struggles with, and usually what they want to feel differently. What does your favorite potentially tell me about you?
Invisibility - I usually see people who choose to be invisible feel a lot of distress being perceived or wish to escape their everyday obligations. I might be on the lookout for social anxiety, a history of abuse/experiencing current abuse, don’t feel like their life is within their control (people-pleasers tend to feel this way - because they feel like they can’t say no), or want more privacy. Compared to those who choose the power of flight (see below), I see these people as very much being in their heads a lot.
Ability to Fly - I see a desire to escape, wanting freedom. More so than invisibility, I see the people that choose flying as their superpower as wanting a very visceral feeling of freedom, and they have no problem being seen, just hate being controlled or constrained by expectations. Giving them more autonomy and agency in their life tends to be very effective towards making them happier. They tend to respond well to physical activity as a form of coping and somatic, or body-based, interventions in therapy tend to land better.
Superstrength - When someone wants to be strong, I’ve noticed a trend in them disliking vulnerability. Therapy might be hard for them because it calls for vulnerability, and romantic relationships tend to get hard at a certain point for the same reason. They tend to view themselves as a protector of others, and really hold onto grief, especially when someone they care about is hurt. These people tend to want to feel powerful or capable of overcoming challenges. They may have been abused at some point, or at had been in a position where they had been made to feel powerless.
Shapeshifting - People I see that want to shapeshift tend to be doing that already. They might be exploring aspects of their own identity, in a time of transition and transformation personally, neurodivergent folks might be masking a lot, or people-pleasers tend to become whoever others want them to be. There might be some body-image concerns, or fears around being noticed or perceived, where shapeshifting might give them more control over how others see them.
Mind-Reading - This is something I hear from a lot of my more autistic or neurodivergent clients! Because they have so much trouble picking up on subtleties, they just want to hear what is going on underneath so that they don’t have to guess anymore. I see people who have been bullied wanting this as well, wanting to avoid making social missteps, or feeling more connected with others by foreseeing anything that might push them away (sound familiar people-pleasers?). Those with trust issues also tend to choose this power, because they’ve been hurt by lies and deception, and they don’t want to ever feel that way again.
Time Travel - Depression tends to bring this superpower up a lot. They linger in the past, thinking about past mistakes, wishing to fix actions they regret, or long for a past time that felt better. This definitely includes a lot of people who are grieving. People with a fear of missing out, fear of making choices, struggle with indecision, or those who are anxious about getting it wrong tend to choose this superpower. I see those who would want to time travel as not staying in the present and would use more mindfulness in therapy.
Teleportation - This is what superpower I tend to choose, and I often see this in those who feel stuck. They come into therapy ready for a change and tend to expect it to come fast. These people tend to want to get out and live more and are tired of the constraints preventing them from doing so. Inefficiency tends to really bother these clients, and so they might spend a lot of time just venting about the unending red-tape at work, or how mind-boggled they are that people in their lives keep making the same mistakes. Slowing down, and getting them to take a more active role in their life tends to be a goal in therapy.
How do these sound to you? If you found yours, did it resonate? Did I make a mistake? I’m always happy to hear more, so if you get into therapy with me, feel free to strike up a conversation about this. If you didn’t see your chosen superpower, what would you have picked? What do you think it says about you? What feelings are you struggling with? If life were magically better, what would you feel instead?
